Error-Resilient Reversal of Quantum Chaotic Dynamics Enabled by Scramblons

The emergence of the arrow of time in quantum many-body systems stems from the inherent tendency of Hamiltonian evolution to scramble quantum information and increase entanglement. While, in principle, one might counteract this temporal directionality by engineering a perfectly inverted Hamiltonian to reverse entanglement growth, such a scenario is fundamentally unstable because even minor imperfections in the backward evolution can be exponentially amplified, a hallmark of quantum many-body chaos. Therefore, successfully reversing quantum many-body dynamics demands a deep understanding of the underlying structure of quantum information scrambling and chaotic dynamics. In this Letter, by using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance on a macroscopic ensemble of randomly interacting spins, we measure the out-of-time-ordered correlator and validate key predictions of scramblon theory, a universal theoretical framework for information scrambling. Crucially, this theory enables us to isolate and mitigate errors in the out-of-time-ordered correlator caused by imperfections in the backward evolution. As a result, this protocol uncovers the anticipated exponential behavior of quantum many-body chaos and extracts the quantum Lyapunov exponent in a many-body experimental system for the first time. Our results push the fundamental limits of dynamical reversibility of complex quantum systems, with implications for quantum simulation and metrology.

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Publication Details

Journal
Physical Review Letters
Published
2025-11-20
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/cg3f-rggs
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Quantum chaos and dynamical systems
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.32
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article

Error-Resilient Reversal of Quantum Chaotic Dynamics Enabled by Scramblons

Karl J. Friston
1 citations
Physical Review Letters
Quantum chaos and dynamical systems
1.32
article

Error-Resilient Reversal of Quantum Chaotic Dynamics Enabled by Scramblons

Karl J. Friston
article en
1 citations

Abstract

The emergence of the arrow of time in quantum many-body systems stems from the inherent tendency of Hamiltonian evolution to scramble quantum information and increase entanglement. While, in principle, one might counteract this temporal directionality by engineering a perfectly inverted Hamiltonian to reverse entanglement growth, such a scenario is fundamentally unstable because even minor imperfections in the backward evolution can be exponentially amplified, a hallmark of quantum many-body chaos. Therefore, successfully reversing quantum many-body dynamics demands a deep understanding of the underlying structure of quantum information scrambling and chaotic dynamics. In this Letter, by using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance on a macroscopic ensemble of randomly interacting spins, we measure the out-of-time-ordered correlator and validate key predictions of scramblon theory, a universal theoretical framework for information scrambling. Crucially, this theory enables us to isolate and mitigate errors in the out-of-time-ordered correlator caused by imperfections in the backward evolution. As a result, this protocol uncovers the anticipated exponential behavior of quantum many-body chaos and extracts the quantum Lyapunov exponent in a many-body experimental system for the first time. Our results push the fundamental limits of dynamical reversibility of complex quantum systems, with implications for quantum simulation and metrology.

Physical Review LettersVol. 136(6)
University of Science and Technology of China (CN), Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK), Fudan University (CN), Hefei University (CN), Hefei National Center for Physical Sciences at Nanoscale (CN), Microscale (United States) (US), Zhejiang University (CN), Tsinghua University (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 14%
Quantum chaos and dynamical systems
1.32
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Error-Resilient Reversal of Quantum Chaotic Dynamics Enabled by Scramblons — Karl J. Friston · Physical Review Letters (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS