Quantum simulation of parity-time symmetry breaking with a superconducting quantum processor

  1. Shruti Dogra,
  2. Artem A. Melnikov,
  3. and Gheorghe Sorin Paraoanu
The observation of genuine quantum effects in systems governed by non-Hermitian Hamiltonians has been an outstanding challenge in the field. Here we simulate the evolution under such
Hamiltonians in the quantum regime on a superconducting quantum processor by using a dilation procedure involving an ancillary qubit. We observe the parity-time ()-symmetry breaking phase transition at the exceptional points, obtain the critical exponent, and show that this transition is associated with a loss of state distinguishability. In a two-qubit setting, we show that the entanglement can be modified by local operations.