Efficient simulation of quantum mechanical problems can be performed in a quantum computer where the interactions of qubits lead to the realization of various problems possessing quantum nature. Spin-Boson Model (SBM) is one of the striking models in quantum physics that enables to describe the dynamics of most of the two-level quantum systems through the bath of harmonic oscillators. Here we simulate the SBM and illustrate its applications in a biological system by designing appropriate quantum circuits for the Hamiltonian of photosynthetic reaction centers in IBM's 5-qubit quantum computer. We consider both two-level and four-level biomolecular quantum systems to observe the effect of quantum tunnelling in the reaction dynamics. We study the behaviour of tunneling by changing different parameters in the Hamiltonian of the system. The results of SBM can be applied to various two-, four- and multi-level quantum systems explicating electron transfer process.
Efficient simulation of quantum mechanical problems can be performed in a quantum computer where the interactions of qubits lead to the realization of various problems possessing quantum nature. Spin-Boson Model (SBM) is one of the striking models in quantum physics that enables to describe the dynamics of most of the two-level quantum systems through the bath of harmonic oscillators. Here we simulate the SBM and illustrate its applications in a biological system by designing appropriate quantum circuits for the Hamiltonian of photosynthetic reaction centers in IBM's 5-qubit quantum computer. We consider both two-level and four-level biomolecular quantum systems to observe the effect of quantum tunnelling in the reaction dynamics. We study the behaviour of tunneling by changing different parameters in the Hamiltonian of the system. The results of SBM can be applied to various two-, four- and multi-level quantum systems explicating electron transfer process.
Quantum computers are the promising candidates for simulation of large quantum systems, which is a daunting task to perform in a classical computer. Here, we report the experimental realization of quantum tunneling of a single particle through different types of potential barriers by performing digital quantum simulations using IBM quantum computers. We consider two and three-qubit systems to visualize the tunneling process and illustrate its unique quantum nature. We observe the tunneling and oscillations of the particles in a step-well, double-well, and multi-well potentials through our experimental results. One may extend the proposed quantum circuits and simulation techniques used here for observing the tunneling phenomena for multi-particle systems in different potentials.
Digital quantum computers have the potential to simulate complex quantum systems. The spin-boson model is one of such systems, used in disparate physical domains. Importantly, in a number of setups, the spin-boson model is open, i.e., the system is in contact with an external environment which can, for instance, cause the decay of the spin state. Here, we study how to simulate such open quantum dynamics in a digital quantum computer, for which we use an IBM hardware. We consider in particular how accurate different implementations of the evolution result as a function of the level of noise in the hardware and of the parameters of the open dynamics. For the regimes studied, we show that the key aspect is to simulate the unitary portion of the dynamics, while the dissipative part can lead to a more noise-resistant simulation. We consider both a single spin coupled to a harmonic oscillator, and also two spins coupled to the oscillator. In the latter case, we show that it is possible to simulate the emergence of correlations between the spins via the oscillator.
Abstract The spin-boson model, involving spins interacting with a bath of quantum harmonic oscillators, is a widely used representation of open quantum systems that describe many dissipative processes in physical, chemical and biological systems. Trapped ions present an ideal platform for simulating the quantum dynamics of such models, by accessing both the high-quality internal qubit states and the motional modes of the ions for spins and bosons, respectively. We demonstrate a fully programmable method to simulate dissipative dynamics of spin-boson models using a chain of trapped ions, where the initial temperature and the spectral densities of the boson bath are engineered by controlling the state of the motional modes and their coupling with qubit states. Our method provides a versatile and precise experimental tool for studying open quantum systems.
Open quantum system approaches are widely used in the description of physical, chemical and biological systems. A famous example is electronic excitation transfer in the initial stage of photosynthesis, where harvested energy is transferred with remarkably high efficiency to a reaction center. This transport is affected by the motion of a structured vibrational environment, which makes simulations on a classical computer very demanding. Here we propose an analog quantum simulator of complex open system dynamics with a precisely engineered quantum environment. Our setup is based on superconducting circuits, a well established technology. As an example, we demonstrate that it is feasible to simulate exciton transport in the Fenna–Matthews–Olson photosynthetic complex. Our approach allows for a controllable single-molecule simulation and the investigation of energy transfer pathways as well as non-Markovian noise-correlation effects.
This paper proposes a novel quantum computer architecture design rooted in the principles of quantum biology. Traditional quantum computing architectures often struggle with decoherence and scalability, presenting significant hurdles to practical implementation. This work posits that quantum effects, previously observed and utilized within biological systems, offer a potentially more robust and efficient approach. Specifically, we explore how processes like quantum entanglement, quantum tunneling, and quantum coherence – frequently employed by biological organisms for tasks ranging from photosynthesis to bird navigation – can be harnessed within a computational framework. The core claim is that by directly mimicking and leveraging these biological mechanisms, we can design quantum computer architectures exhibiting improved fidelity, reduced error rates, and enhanced scalability. The architecture presented here incorporates several key elements, including a novel qubit design inspired by photosynthetic reaction centers and a control system modeled after biological feedback loops. Mathematical formulations are provided to illustrate the principles of operation and to quantify the potential improvements. The research presents a fundamental shift in perspective, transitioning from purely physics-based approaches to one that draws upon the remarkable efficiency and resilience found in nature's quantum systems.
In a generic quantum mechanical description of a molecule interacting with its thermal environment, the molecule is represented as a few level system (in the simplest description just two, for example, ground and excited states) and the environment is often modeled as a bath of harmonic oscillators. The resulting theoretical framework is known as the spin–boson model, a term that seems to have emerged in the Kondo problem literature (which deals with the behavior of magnetic impurities in metals) during the 1960s, but is now used in a much broader context. Indeed, it has become one of the central models of theoretical physics, with applications in physics, chemistry, and biology that range far beyond the subject of this book. Transitions between molecular electronic states coupled to nuclear vibrations, environmental phonons, and photon modes of the radiation field fall within this class of problems. The present chapter discusses this model and some of its mathematical implications. The reader may note that some of the subjects discussed in Chapter 9 are reiterated here in this more general framework. In Sections 2.2 and 2.9 we have discussed the dynamics of the two-level system and of the harmonic oscillator, respectively. These exactly soluble models are often used as prototypes of important classes of physical system. The harmonic oscillator is an exact model for a mode of the radiation field and provides good starting points for describing nuclear motions in molecules and in solid environments. It can also describe the short-time dynamics of liquid environments via the instantaneous normal mode approach. In fact, many linear response treatments in both classical and quantum dynamics lead to harmonic oscillator models: Linear response implies that forces responsible for the return of a system to equilibrium depend linearly on the deviation from equilibrium—a harmonic oscillator property! We will see a specific example of this phenomenology in our discussion of dielectric response in Section 16.9.