Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 17, 2025

Scalable Quantum Integrated Circuits on Superconducting Two-Dimensional Electron Gas Platform
Published on: August 2, 2019
Quantum computing universal thermalization dynamics in a (2 + 1)D Lattice Gauge Theory
Niklas Mueller1,2, Tianyi Wang3,4,5, Or Katz4,6,7
1Center for Quantum Information and Control, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA. niklasmu@unm.edu.
Abstract:
Simulating non-equilibrium phenomena in strongly-interacting quantum many-body systems, including thermalization, is a promising application of near-term and future quantum computation. By performing experiments on a digital quantum computer consisting of fully-connected optically-controlled trapped ions, we study the role of entanglement in the thermalization dynamics of a Z2 lattice gauge theory in 2+1 spacetime dimensions. Using randomized-measurement protocols, we efficiently learn a classical approximation of non-equilibrium states that yields the gap-ratio distribution and the spectral form factor of the entanglement Hamiltonian. These observables exhibit universal early-time signals for quantum chaos, a prerequisite for thermalization. Our work, therefore, establishes quantum computers as robust tools for studying universal features of thermalization in complex many-body systems, including in gauge theories.
Related Concept Videos
Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics
The relation between entropy and disorder can be illustrated with the example of the phase change of ice to water. In ice, the molecules are located at specific sites giving a solid state, whereas, in a liquid form, these molecules are much freer to move. The molecular arrangement has therefore become more randomized. Although the change in average...
Trends in Lattice Energy: Ion Size and Charge
Fermi Level Dynamics
Electron affinity in semiconductors refers to the energy gap between the minimum of its conduction band and the vacuum level and it is a critical parameter in determining how easily a semiconductor can accept additional electrons.
The work...
Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics
The Quantum-Mechanical Model of an Atom
First Law: Particles in Two-dimensional Equilibrium
Newton's first law tells us about...

