Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2603.15608

Benchmarking quantum simulation with neutron-scattering experiments

Yi-Ting Lee, Keerthi Kumaran, Bibek Pokharel, Allen Scheie, Colin L. Sarkis, David A. Tennant, Travis Humble, André Schleife, Abhinav Kandala, Arnab Banerjee

quant-phcond-mat.str-elSubmitted Mar 16, 2026• Announced Mar 17, 2026• 0 citations• Revised Apr 16, 2026 (v3)
v1 · Mar 16, 2026v2 · Mar 25, 2026v3 · Apr 16, 2026
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Realistic simulation of quantum materials is a central goal of quantum computation. Although quantum processors have advanced rapidly in scale and fidelity, it has remained unclear whether pre-fault-tolerant devices can perform quantitatively reliable material simulations. We demonstrate that a superconducting quantum processor operating on up to 50 qubits can already produce meaningful, quantitative comparisons with inelastic neutron-scattering measurements of KCuF$_3$, a canonical realization of a gapless Luttinger liquid system with a strongly correlated ground state and a spectrum of emergent spinons. The quantum simulation is enabled by a quantum-classical workflow for computing dynamical structure factors (DSFs). The resulting spectra are benchmarked against experimental measurements using multiple metrics, highlighting the impact of circuit depth and circuit fidelity on simulation accuracy. Finally, we extend our simulations to a 1D XXZ Heisenberg model with next-nearest-neighbor (NNN) interactions and a strong anisotropy, producing a gapped excitation spectrum, which could be used to describe the CsCoX$_3$ compounds above the Néel temperature. Our results establish a framework for computing DSFs for quantum materials in classically challenging regimes of strong entanglement and long-range interactions, enabling quantum simulations that are directly testable against laboratory measurements.

Related papers

A Validation Framework for Quantum Simulation of Spin Dynamics against Inelastic Neutron Scattering and Classical Simulation

Gilles Buchs, Elaine Wong, Anshumitra Baul +16 more

Establishing quantum simulations as reliable tools for materials research requires quantitative validation against experiments and, where available, classical many-body calculations. For dynamical spin response, such validation remains challenging because experiment, classical simulation, and quantum simulation do not produce the same native observables. This challenge is increasingly relevant as quantum simulation protocols for dynamical response progress from theory to hardware-level benchmarking against neutron scattering data. The longer-term goal is to extend validation to classically intractable regimes accessible through future fault-tolerant implementations. Here, we develop a cross-pipeline validation framework for quantum simulation of dynamical spin response, using inelastic neutron scattering and classical many-body simulation as complementary experimental and computational anchors. The framework brings these pipelines to common momentum- and energy-resolved comparison levels through explicit forward and inverse observable maps, propagates uncertainty via covariance matrices or resampling, tests robustness to structured distortion, and evaluates agreement using a hierarchy of complementary metric families. It distinguishes stochastic uncertainty from robustness-induced distortion, carries both through the comparison chain, and uses the resulting metric-level uncertainty and distortion information to support layered validation at the pipeline, solver, and model levels. We also introduce actuator-aware feedback logic to improve agreement without obscuring the physical origin of any remaining mismatch. We close by outlining future extensions of this methodology, including upstream uncertainty and distortion modeling, adaptive feedback, asymmetric validation beyond full classical benchmarking, fault-tolerant workflows, and community infrastructure for reproducible validation.

quant-pharXiv:2607.01568•Jul 3, 2026•0 citations

Simulating Neutron Scattering on an Analog Quantum Processor

Nora M. Bauer, Victor Ale, Pontus Laurell +4 more

Neutron scattering characterization of materials allows for the study of entanglement and microscopic structure, but is inefficient to simulate classically for comparison to theoretical models and predictions. However, quantum processors, notably analog quantum simulators, have the potential to offer an unprecedented, efficient method of Hamiltonian simulation by evolving a state in real time to compute phase transitions, dynamical properties, and entanglement witnesses. Here, we present a method for simulating neutron scattering on QuEra's Aquila processor by measuring the dynamic structure factor (DSF) for the prototypical example of the critical transverse field Ising chain, and propose a method for error mitigation. We provide numerical simulations and experimental results for the performance of the procedure on the hardware, up to a chain of length $L=25$. Additionally, the DSF result is used to compute the quantum Fisher information (QFI) density, where we confirm bipartite entanglement in the system experimentally.

arXiv:2410.03958•Oct 4, 2024•0 citations

Benchmarking dynamical-structure-factor protocols in programmable neutral-atom geometries

Matteo Grotti, Sergi Julià-Farré, Elisa Ercolessi +1 more

The dynamical structure factor is a central observable in condensed-matter physics, providing direct insight into the excitation spectrum and dynamical response of quantum materials. While it is traditionally accessed in real materials through inelastic neutron scattering, recent works have shown that analogous information can be extracted in quantum simulators using suitable dynamical protocols. So far, these approaches have been demonstrated mainly in paradigmatic integrable one-dimensional models. In this work, we use numerical emulations of a neutral-atom quantum processing unit to assess the feasibility of measuring the dynamical structure factor in a broader class of Ising-like spin systems. Beyond the standard one-dimensional transverse-field Ising chain, we benchmark the protocol in chains with dimerized interactions and in the two-dimensional transverse-field Ising model, where spectral properties are difficult to access with classical numerical methods at large scales. We further analyze the robustness of the protocol under realistic experimental conditions, including finite simulation times, pulse modulation, positional disorder, and laser noise. Our results show that neutral-atom quantum simulators can provide a practical route to probing dynamical response functions in regimes where classical simulations become increasingly demanding, paving the way toward experimental implementation.

quant-pharXiv:2609.07634•Sep 8, 2026•0 citations

Progress towards neutron-scattering simulation on an analog quantum processor

Nora M. Bauer, Victor Ale, Pontus Laurell +4 more

Neutron-scattering characterization of materials allows for the study of entanglement and microscopic structure but is inefficient to simulate classically for comparison to theoretical models and predictions. However, quantum processors, notably analog quantum simulators, have the potential to offer an unprecedented, efficient method of Hamiltonian simulation by evolving a state in real time to compute phase transitions, dynamical properties, and entanglement witnesses. To elucidate the response of materials to neutron scattering, we present a method for simulating the spin dynamics in the transverse field Ising chain on QuEra's Aquila processor by calculating the dynamic structure factor (DSF) and propose a method for error mitigation. We provide numerical simulations and experimental results for the performance of the procedure on the hardware, up to a chain of length $L=25$. Additionally, the DSF result is used to compute the quantum Fisher information (QFI) density, where we confirm bipartite entanglement in the system experimentally.

Physical Review A•Feb 25, 2025•3 citations

Quench Spectroscopy of Magnetic Excitations on a Superconducting Quantum Processor

D. A. Millar, G. W. Pennington, N. T. M. Siow +5 more

The elementary excitation spectrum of a many-body quantum system encodes many key properties, including phenomena as diverse as transport, thermalisation and ground state structure. Excitation spectra of strongly correlated systems are typically encoded in dynamical structure factors, which are demanding to measure experimentally and challenging to compute classically. Here we use quench spectroscopy on a superconducting quantum processor to extract excitation spectra of spin chains of $L=101$ spins. By tailoring the combination of quench protocol and observable, we selectively access distinct excitation sectors across several phases of the spin-$1/2$ XXZ chain, resolving free magnons, multi-magnon bound states, and two-spinon continua. Notably, we demonstrate that the protocol does not rely on ground state preparation: in the classically challenging gapless regime, we extract spectra directly from the quench dynamics of easily prepared product states, a procedure that is natural and straightforward on quantum hardware. Our work establishes quench spectroscopy as a fast and flexible probe of many-body excitation spectra on digital quantum hardware, introduces a novel quench protocol that does not require costly state preparation routines, and provides a scalable route towards regimes where classical simulation may become intractable.

quant-pharXiv:2607.02673•Jul 6, 2026•0 citations

Reconstructing the spatial structure of quantum correlations in materials

Allen O. Scheie, Pontus Laurell, Elbio R. Dagotto +2 more

Quantum correlations are a fundamental property of quantum many-body states. Yet they remain experimentally elusive, hindering certification of genuine quantum behavior, especially in quantum materials. Here we show that the momentum-dependent dynamical susceptibility measured via inelastic neutron scattering enables the systematic reconstruction of a general family of quantum correlation functions, which express the degree of quantum coherence in the fluctuations of two spins at an arbitrary mutual distance. Using neutron scattering data for the compound KCuF 3 —a system of weakly coupled S = 1 / 2 Heisenberg chains—and numerically exact quantum Monte Carlo data, we show that quantum correlations possess a radically different spatial structure with respect to conventional correlations. Indeed, they exhibit a different emergent length scale—the quantum coherence length—which is finite at any finite temperature (including when long-range magnetic order develops). Moreover, we show theoretically that coupled Heisenberg spin chains exhibit a form of quantum monogamy, with a trade-off between quantum correlations along and transverse to the spin chains. These results highlight real-space quantum correlators as an informative, model-independent means of probing the underlying quantum state of real quantum materials. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Physical Review Research•Aug 19, 2024•7 citations
Realistic simulation of quantum materials is a central goal of quantum computation. Although quantum processors have advanced rapidly in scale and fidelity, it has remained unclear whether pre-fault-tolerant devices can perform quantitatively reliable material simulations. We demonstrate that a superconducting quantum processor operating on up to 50 qubits can already produce meaningful, quantitative comparisons with inelastic neutron-scattering measurements of KCuF3_33​, a canonical realization of a gapless Luttinger liquid system with a strongly correlated ground state and a spectrum of emergent spinons. The quantum simulation is enabled by a quantum-classical workflow for computing dynamical structure factors (DSFs). The resulting spectra are benchmarked against experimental measurements using multiple metrics, highlighting the impact of circuit depth and circuit fidelity on simulation accuracy. Finally, we extend our simulations to a 1D XXZ Heisenberg model with next-nearest-neighbor (NNN) interactions and a strong anisotropy, producing a gapped excitation spectrum, which could be used to describe the CsCoX3_33​ compounds above the Néel temperature. Our results establish a framework for computing DSFs for quantum materials in classically challenging regimes of strong entanglement and long-range interactions, enabling quantum simulations that are directly testable against laboratory measurements.
Establishing quantum simulations as reliable tools for materials research requires quantitative validation against experiments and, where available, classical many-body calculations. For dynamical spin response, such validation remains challenging because experiment, classical simulation, and quantum simulation do not produce the same native observables. This challenge is increasingly relevant as quantum simulation protocols for dynamical response progress from theory to hardware-level benchmarking against neutron scattering data. The longer-term goal is to extend validation to classically intractable regimes accessible through future fault-tolerant implementations. Here, we develop a cross-pipeline validation framework for quantum simulation of dynamical spin response, using inelastic neutron scattering and classical many-body simulation as complementary experimental and computational anchors. The framework brings these pipelines to common momentum- and energy-resolved comparison levels through explicit forward and inverse observable maps, propagates uncertainty via covariance matrices or resampling, tests robustness to structured distortion, and evaluates agreement using a hierarchy of complementary metric families. It distinguishes stochastic uncertainty from robustness-induced distortion, carries both through the comparison chain, and uses the resulting metric-level uncertainty and distortion information to support layered validation at the pipeline, solver, and model levels. We also introduce actuator-aware feedback logic to improve agreement without obscuring the physical origin of any remaining mismatch. We close by outlining future extensions of this methodology, including upstream uncertainty and distortion modeling, adaptive feedback, asymmetric validation beyond full classical benchmarking, fault-tolerant workflows, and community infrastructure for reproducible validation.
Neutron scattering characterization of materials allows for the study of entanglement and microscopic structure, but is inefficient to simulate classically for comparison to theoretical models and predictions. However, quantum processors, notably analog quantum simulators, have the potential to offer an unprecedented, efficient method of Hamiltonian simulation by evolving a state in real time to compute phase transitions, dynamical properties, and entanglement witnesses. Here, we present a method for simulating neutron scattering on QuEra's Aquila processor by measuring the dynamic structure factor (DSF) for the prototypical example of the critical transverse field Ising chain, and propose a method for error mitigation. We provide numerical simulations and experimental results for the performance of the procedure on the hardware, up to a chain of length L=25L=25L=25. Additionally, the DSF result is used to compute the quantum Fisher information (QFI) density, where we confirm bipartite entanglement in the system experimentally.
The dynamical structure factor is a central observable in condensed-matter physics, providing direct insight into the excitation spectrum and dynamical response of quantum materials. While it is traditionally accessed in real materials through inelastic neutron scattering, recent works have shown that analogous information can be extracted in quantum simulators using suitable dynamical protocols. So far, these approaches have been demonstrated mainly in paradigmatic integrable one-dimensional models. In this work, we use numerical emulations of a neutral-atom quantum processing unit to assess the feasibility of measuring the dynamical structure factor in a broader class of Ising-like spin systems. Beyond the standard one-dimensional transverse-field Ising chain, we benchmark the protocol in chains with dimerized interactions and in the two-dimensional transverse-field Ising model, where spectral properties are difficult to access with classical numerical methods at large scales. We further analyze the robustness of the protocol under realistic experimental conditions, including finite simulation times, pulse modulation, positional disorder, and laser noise. Our results show that neutral-atom quantum simulators can provide a practical route to probing dynamical response functions in regimes where classical simulations become increasingly demanding, paving the way toward experimental implementation.
Neutron-scattering characterization of materials allows for the study of entanglement and microscopic structure but is inefficient to simulate classically for comparison to theoretical models and predictions. However, quantum processors, notably analog quantum simulators, have the potential to offer an unprecedented, efficient method of Hamiltonian simulation by evolving a state in real time to compute phase transitions, dynamical properties, and entanglement witnesses. To elucidate the response of materials to neutron scattering, we present a method for simulating the spin dynamics in the transverse field Ising chain on QuEra's Aquila processor by calculating the dynamic structure factor (DSF) and propose a method for error mitigation. We provide numerical simulations and experimental results for the performance of the procedure on the hardware, up to a chain of length L=25L=25L=25. Additionally, the DSF result is used to compute the quantum Fisher information (QFI) density, where we confirm bipartite entanglement in the system experimentally.
The elementary excitation spectrum of a many-body quantum system encodes many key properties, including phenomena as diverse as transport, thermalisation and ground state structure. Excitation spectra of strongly correlated systems are typically encoded in dynamical structure factors, which are demanding to measure experimentally and challenging to compute classically. Here we use quench spectroscopy on a superconducting quantum processor to extract excitation spectra of spin chains of L=101L=101L=101 spins. By tailoring the combination of quench protocol and observable, we selectively access distinct excitation sectors across several phases of the spin-1/21/21/2 XXZ chain, resolving free magnons, multi-magnon bound states, and two-spinon continua. Notably, we demonstrate that the protocol does not rely on ground state preparation: in the classically challenging gapless regime, we extract spectra directly from the quench dynamics of easily prepared product states, a procedure that is natural and straightforward on quantum hardware. Our work establishes quench spectroscopy as a fast and flexible probe of many-body excitation spectra on digital quantum hardware, introduces a novel quench protocol that does not require costly state preparation routines, and provides a scalable route towards regimes where classical simulation may become intractable.
Quantum correlations are a fundamental property of quantum many-body states. Yet they remain experimentally elusive, hindering certification of genuine quantum behavior, especially in quantum materials. Here we show that the momentum-dependent dynamical susceptibility measured via inelastic neutron scattering enables the systematic reconstruction of a general family of quantum correlation functions, which express the degree of quantum coherence in the fluctuations of two spins at an arbitrary mutual distance. Using neutron scattering data for the compound KCuF 3 —a system of weakly coupled S = 1 / 2 Heisenberg chains—and numerically exact quantum Monte Carlo data, we show that quantum correlations possess a radically different spatial structure with respect to conventional correlations. Indeed, they exhibit a different emergent length scale—the quantum coherence length—which is finite at any finite temperature (including when long-range magnetic order develops). Moreover, we show theoretically that coupled Heisenberg spin chains exhibit a form of quantum monogamy, with a trade-off between quantum correlations along and transverse to the spin chains. These results highlight real-space quantum correlators as an informative, model-independent means of probing the underlying quantum state of real quantum materials. Published by the American Physical Society 2024