Observation of disorder-free localization using a (2+1)D lattice gauge theory on a quantum processor

Disorder-induced phenomena in quantum many-body systems pose a challenge for analytical and numerical approaches at relevant time and system scales. To reduce the cost of disorder sampling, we investigated quantum circuits initialized in states that form tunable superpositions over all disorder configurations, which in lattice gauge theories can be interpreted as superpositions over gauge sectors. On the experimentally accessible timescales, we observed localization in the absence of disorder in one and two dimensions: Perturbations failed to diffuse despite fully disorder-free evolution and initial states. However, entropy measurements revealed that superposition-prepared states fundamentally differ from those obtained by direct disorder sampling. Leveraging superposition, we propose an algorithm with a polynomial speedup in sampling disorder configurations, a long-standing challenge in many-body localization studies.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Science
Published
2026-07-02
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adr9680
Primary Topic
Quantum many-body systems
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Observation of disorder-free localization using a (2+1)D lattice gauge theory on a quantum processor

A. Eickbusch, J. Cogan, P. Conner, I. Drozdov et al.
Science
Quantum many-body systems
article

Observation of disorder-free localization using a (2+1)D lattice gauge theory on a quantum processor

A. Eickbusch, J. Cogan, P. Conner, I. Drozdov, Gaurav Gyawali, Austin G. Fowler, S. Heslin, Brooks Foxen, Tyler A. Cochran, L. Faoro, Sean Demura, Alex Greene, Dmitry A. Abanin, Eliott Rosenberg, T. I. Andersen, Jonathan A. Gross, Bob B. Buckley, Sayan Das, J. Atalaya, C. Gidney, Agnetta Y. Cleland, J. Bovaird, Aaron Szasz, Tom Westerhout, B. Chiaro, Steve Habegger, Shashwat Kumar, Michael C. Hamilton, Z J Chen, Andreas Bengtsson, G. Bortoli, R. Gosula, Roberto Collins, Alexander Del Toro Barba, R. Fatemi, Nicholas Bushnell, M. Ansmann, Matthew P. Harrigan, R. Chen, W. Giang, Noureldin Yosri, Ryan Babbush, D. M. Debroy, D. Graumann, D. Buell, Alexandre Bourassa, A. L. Crook, L. B. Ioffe, Agustín Di Paolo, M. R. Hoffmann, E. Forati, Suhas Ganjam, M. Hansen, A. Huff, Joseph C. Bardin, Kunal Arya, F. Arute, Kostyantyn Kechedzhi, Brian Burkett, Yuri D. Lensky, Hung-Shen Chang, W. J. Huggins, Sean D. Harrington, R. Acharya, C. Erickson, M. Broughton, Alejandro Grajales Dau, L. BRILL, A. Asfaw, P. Donohoe, A. Cabrera, Google Quantum AI and Collaborators, A. Bilmes, V. Ferreira, J. Campero, A. H. Karamlou, G. Hill, A. Dunsworth, H.-Y. Huang, N. Astrakhantsev, A. Elbag, D. Browne, C. Earle, B. Buchea, W. Courtney, T. Burger, J. Claes, E. Jeffrey, D. Gilboa, B. Ballard, L. Flores Burgos, L. Aghababaie Beni, J. Hilton, S. V. Isakov, J. Berndtsson, M. Elzouka, S. Meeks, L. De Lorenzo, P. Heu, R. Gasca
article en

Abstract

Disorder-induced phenomena in quantum many-body systems pose a challenge for analytical and numerical approaches at relevant time and system scales. To reduce the cost of disorder sampling, we investigated quantum circuits initialized in states that form tunable superpositions over all disorder configurations, which in lattice gauge theories can be interpreted as superpositions over gauge sectors. On the experimentally accessible timescales, we observed localization in the absence of disorder in one and two dimensions: Perturbations failed to diffuse despite fully disorder-free evolution and initial states. However, entropy measurements revealed that superposition-prepared states fundamentally differ from those obtained by direct disorder sampling. Leveraging superposition, we propose an algorithm with a polynomial speedup in sampling disorder configurations, a long-standing challenge in many-body localization studies.

ScienceVol. 393(6806)
Google (United States) (US), University of Connecticut (US), Radboud University Nijmegen (NL), Princeton University (US), Cornell University (US), University of Massachusetts Amherst (US), Laboratoire de physique des Solides (FR), Radboud University Medical Center (NL), Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences (NL), Auburn University (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 9%
Quantum many-body systems
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.