Reliability of digitized quantum annealing and the decay of entanglement

TL;DR

This study demonstrates a high-fidelity digital-analog quantum annealing simulation on an NMR quantum computer, analyzing how entanglement levels influence the protocol's reliability under various noise conditions.

Contribution

It presents a detailed experimental simulation of quantum annealing with over 2000 gates and explores the relationship between entanglement and protocol fidelity.

Findings

Achieved over 80% success rate in quantum annealing simulation.

Analyzed the impact of noise levels on entanglement and protocol fidelity.

Found that entanglement level correlates with simulation reliability, but is not a definitive indicator.

Abstract

We performed a banged-digital-analog simulation of a quantum annealing protocol in a two-qubit Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) quantum computer. Our experimental simulation employed up to 235 Trotter steps, with more than 2000 gates (pulses), and we obtained a protocol success above 80%. Given the exquisite control of the NMR quantum computer, we performed the simulation with different noise levels. We thus analyzed the reliability of the quantum annealing process, and related it to the level of entanglement produced during the protocol. Although the presence of entanglement is not a sufficient signature for a better-than-classical simulation, the level of entanglement achieved relates to the fidelity of the protocol.