Observation of the correspondence between Landau-Zener transition and Kibble-Zurek mechanism with a superconducting qubit system

We present a direct experimental observation of the correspondence between Landau-Zener transition and Kibble-Zurek mechanism with a superconducting qubit system. We develop a time-resolved approach to study quantum dynamics of the Landau-Zener transition. By using this method, we observe the key features of the correspondence between Landau-Zener transition and Kibble-Zurek mechanism, e.g., the boundary between the adiabatic and impulse regions, the freeze-out phenomenon in the impulse region. Remarkably, the scaling behavior of the population in the excited state, an analogical phenomenon originally predicted in Kibble-Zurek mechanism, is also observed in the Landau-Zener transition.