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:2610.39074

HERA: Assessing an Autonomous Agent for Quantum Device Measurement

Zachary W. Gomez, Nathan Bittner, Jordan McCourt, Qingrui Cao, Sandesh S. Kalantre, Benjamin H. Alexander, Zhiren Zheng, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Aaron Sharpe

Published Oct 29, 2026• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Large language model agents have begun to carry out laboratory measurements, but their scientific conclusions are useful only if they hold up under scrutiny. Demonstrating this requires controlled studies because models are stochastic and the context a model is given steers its conclusions. Here we introduce HERA, an autonomous agent designed to carry out cryogenic transport measurements of quantum devices. HERA draws on a knowledge base curated by lab members that holds measurement protocols, software tools, and literature references. We assessed HERA with a blinded trial against an expert on the stacking order of two multilayer graphene devices, an ablation of its knowledge base, and hundreds of offline replays in which models designed the trial's central measurement without running it. HERA's conclusions matched the expert's sealed conclusions on both tested devices. The ablation and the replay studies measured the impact of the knowledge base across different models, showing that with it every model designed better measurements and reasoned more soundly. To test how readily HERA extends to a new problem, we tasked it with finding and characterizing superconductivity in a different material system. This required a few hours of expert time to develop a new experimental protocol, after which HERA did both autonomously. These results show that, with a knowledge base designed for the task, language model agents are capable of sound experimental science.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2610.39074

Related papers

Automating quantum computing laboratory experiments with an agent-based AI framework

Shuxiang Cao, Zijian Zhang, Mohammed Alghadeer +5 more

Fully automated self-driving laboratories promise high-throughput, large-scale scientific discovery by reducing repetitive labor. However, they require deep integration of laboratory knowledge, which is often unstructured, multimodal, and hard to incorporate into current AI systems. This paper introduces the "k-agents" framework, designed to support experimentalists in organizing laboratory knowledge and automating experiments with agents. The framework uses large-language-model-based agents to encapsulate laboratory knowledge, including available operations and methods for analyzing results. To automate experiments, execution agents break multistep procedures into agent-based state machines, interact with other agents to execute steps, and analyze results. These results drive state transitions, enabling closed-loop feedback control. We demonstrate the system on a superconducting quantum processor, where agents autonomously planned and executed experiments for hours, successfully producing and characterizing entangled quantum states at human-level performance. Our knowledge-based agent system opens new possibilities for managing laboratory knowledge and accelerating scientific discovery.

arXiv:2412.07978•Patterns•Sep 24, 2025•21 citations

Collaborative AI agents for autonomous experimental research with solid-state quantum spins

El Mustapha Mansouri, Eikichi Kimura, Masato Koga +1 more

An autonomous research laboratory could conduct an entire study, from formulating questions to preparing manuscripts. Artificial intelligence (AI) offers one route towards this goal. Recent AI systems take on several research roles, but may draw conclusions that the evidence does not support. Here, we present an autonomous research laboratory in which agents based on large language models assess one another's work and can stop or redirect investigations. They can generate and reject research questions, require separate theoretical checks and conduct experiments designed to challenge their claims. We demonstrate these capabilities by investigating ensembles of quantum spins in diamond. The agents derived the minimum number of calibration settings needed to predict responses to a defined family of microwave pulse sequences. They checked the result computationally and designed experiments to distinguish competing predictions. An initial experiment agreed with the theoretical predictions, but repeated reference measurements showed that the signal was drifting during data collection. The agents therefore treated the result as inconclusive and revised the measurement protocol without relaxing the acceptance criteria. The revised experiment met those criteria and supported the theoretical predictions. This study demonstrates that collaborating AI agents can select research questions, derive theoretical results and test their predictions experimentally.

cs.AICross-listedarXiv:2610.40589•Oct 30, 2026•0 citations

Evaluating Verified Autonomy in Quantum Engineering

Naixu Guo, Changhao Li, Siyu Cheng +6 more

Reliable quantum engineering is essential for turning quantum phenomena into practical technologies. As quantum platforms grow in scale and complexity, their characterization and operation require increasing human effort and coordination. Scientific artificial intelligence agents, which can plan experiments, operate instruments, and analyze observations, offer a promising route towards autonomous quantum engineering. Yet whether current agents can perform reliably in this setting has not been systematically established. To fill this gap, we developed Quantum-Harbor, a virtual laboratory that provides a controlled execution environment for agents to interact with quantum systems. This design enables direct verification of both the actions taken and the conclusions drawn. Building on this framework, we introduce QIQCBench, a benchmark of $49$ expert-authored tasks spanning multiple layers including calibration and control, error correction and compilation, sensing and networking. Across $17$ frontier agentic systems, QIQCBench reveals wide variation in verified performance. These results expose a substantial gap between demonstrating capability and achieving reliable operation, and establish Quantum-Harbor as a foundation for measuring progress towards verified autonomy in quantum engineering.

quant-pharXiv:2609.17439•Sep 16, 2026•0 citations

Large Language Model-Assisted Superconducting Qubit Experiments

Shiheng Li, Jacob M. Miller, Phoebe J. Lee +14 more

Superconducting circuits have demonstrated significant potential in quantum information processing and quantum sensing. Implementing novel control and measurement sequences for superconducting qubits is often a complex and time-consuming process, requiring extensive expertise in both the underlying physics and the specific hardware and software. In this work, we introduce a framework that leverages a large language model (LLM) to automate qubit control and measurement. Specifically, our framework conducts experiments by generating and invoking schema-less tools on demand via a knowledge base on instrumental usage and experimental procedures. We showcase this framework with two experiments: an autonomous resonator characterization and a direct reproduction of a quantum non-demolition (QND) characterization of a superconducting qubit from literature. This framework enables rapid deployment of standard control-and-measurement protocols and facilitates implementation of novel experimental procedures, offering a more flexible and user-friendly paradigm for controlling complex quantum hardware.

quant-pharXiv:2603.08801•Mar 11, 2026•0 citations

Autonomous Quantum Simulation through Large Language Model Agents

Weitang Li, Jiajun Ren, Lixue Cheng +1 more

We demonstrate that large language model (LLM) agents can autonomously perform tensor network simulations of quantum many-body systems, achieving approximately 90% success rate across representative benchmark tasks. Tensor network methods are powerful tools for quantum simulation, but their effective use requires expertise typically acquired through years of graduate training. By combining in-context learning with curated documentation and multi-agent decomposition, we create autonomous AI agents that can be trained in specialized computational domains within minutes. We benchmark three configurations (baseline, single-agent with in-context learning, and multi-agent with in-context learning) on problems spanning quantum phase transitions, open quantum system dynamics, and photochemical reactions. Systematic evaluation using DeepSeek-V3.2, Gemini 2.5 Pro, and Claude Opus 4.5 demonstrates that both in-context learning and multi-agent architecture are essential. Analysis of failure modes reveals characteristic patterns across models, with the multi-agent configuration substantially reducing implementation errors and hallucinations compared to simpler architectures.

quant-pharXiv:2601.10194•Jan 16, 2026•0 citations

Agentic AI for Scientific Reasoning in Autonomous Quantum Sensing Experiments

Takuya Isogawa, Ryotaro Okabe, Nutdech Phadetsuwannukun +2 more

We implement an agentic AI workflow built around a large language model (LLM) agent for autonomous experiments with nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. NV centers are a widely used platform for quantum sensing, and the ability to control many measurements from a computer makes NV experiments a natural setting for autonomous workflows. We make two main contributions. First, we demonstrate an autonomous NV experiment workflow that combines persistent project records, quantitative calculation and data analysis tools, and deterministic experiment control. In one autonomous experiment, the agent selected a single NV center, calibrated its resonant frequency, measured \(T_2^\ast\) with Ramsey measurements, and added a Carr--Purcell--Meiboom--Gill (CPMG) measurement to check a weak feature that could be related to nearby \(^{13}\mathrm{C}\). Second, we introduce two offline benchmarks that evaluate the agent's reasoning separately from laboratory execution. We evaluated both benchmarks with GPT-5.4, GPT-5.5, and GPT-5.6 Sol. In the Ramsey checkpoint benchmark, greater reasoning effort generally improved recognition of a residual resonance calibration offset. By contrast, in the pulsed optically detected magnetic resonance (pODMR) data evaluation benchmark, pulse sequence information alone produced more false positive resonance judgments at higher reasoning effort. Requiring an expected signal calculation kept false positive rates low across all three models and reasoning settings. The results suggest a clear division of labor for autonomous experiments. The agent forms scientific hypotheses and uses quantitative tools to evaluate data, while deterministic code controls the hardware and enforces safety constraints.

quant-pharXiv:2607.25145•Jul 29, 2026•0 citations
Large language model agents have begun to carry out laboratory measurements, but their scientific conclusions are useful only if they hold up under scrutiny. Demonstrating this requires controlled studies because models are stochastic and the context a model is given steers its conclusions. Here we introduce HERA, an autonomous agent designed to carry out cryogenic transport measurements of quantum devices. HERA draws on a knowledge base curated by lab members that holds measurement protocols, software tools, and literature references. We assessed HERA with a blinded trial against an expert on the stacking order of two multilayer graphene devices, an ablation of its knowledge base, and hundreds of offline replays in which models designed the trial's central measurement without running it. HERA's conclusions matched the expert's sealed conclusions on both tested devices. The ablation and the replay studies measured the impact of the knowledge base across different models, showing that with it every model designed better measurements and reasoned more soundly. To test how readily HERA extends to a new problem, we tasked it with finding and characterizing superconductivity in a different material system. This required a few hours of expert time to develop a new experimental protocol, after which HERA did both autonomously. These results show that, with a knowledge base designed for the task, language model agents are capable of sound experimental science.
Fully automated self-driving laboratories promise high-throughput, large-scale scientific discovery by reducing repetitive labor. However, they require deep integration of laboratory knowledge, which is often unstructured, multimodal, and hard to incorporate into current AI systems. This paper introduces the "k-agents" framework, designed to support experimentalists in organizing laboratory knowledge and automating experiments with agents. The framework uses large-language-model-based agents to encapsulate laboratory knowledge, including available operations and methods for analyzing results. To automate experiments, execution agents break multistep procedures into agent-based state machines, interact with other agents to execute steps, and analyze results. These results drive state transitions, enabling closed-loop feedback control. We demonstrate the system on a superconducting quantum processor, where agents autonomously planned and executed experiments for hours, successfully producing and characterizing entangled quantum states at human-level performance. Our knowledge-based agent system opens new possibilities for managing laboratory knowledge and accelerating scientific discovery.
An autonomous research laboratory could conduct an entire study, from formulating questions to preparing manuscripts. Artificial intelligence (AI) offers one route towards this goal. Recent AI systems take on several research roles, but may draw conclusions that the evidence does not support. Here, we present an autonomous research laboratory in which agents based on large language models assess one another's work and can stop or redirect investigations. They can generate and reject research questions, require separate theoretical checks and conduct experiments designed to challenge their claims. We demonstrate these capabilities by investigating ensembles of quantum spins in diamond. The agents derived the minimum number of calibration settings needed to predict responses to a defined family of microwave pulse sequences. They checked the result computationally and designed experiments to distinguish competing predictions. An initial experiment agreed with the theoretical predictions, but repeated reference measurements showed that the signal was drifting during data collection. The agents therefore treated the result as inconclusive and revised the measurement protocol without relaxing the acceptance criteria. The revised experiment met those criteria and supported the theoretical predictions. This study demonstrates that collaborating AI agents can select research questions, derive theoretical results and test their predictions experimentally.
Reliable quantum engineering is essential for turning quantum phenomena into practical technologies. As quantum platforms grow in scale and complexity, their characterization and operation require increasing human effort and coordination. Scientific artificial intelligence agents, which can plan experiments, operate instruments, and analyze observations, offer a promising route towards autonomous quantum engineering. Yet whether current agents can perform reliably in this setting has not been systematically established. To fill this gap, we developed Quantum-Harbor, a virtual laboratory that provides a controlled execution environment for agents to interact with quantum systems. This design enables direct verification of both the actions taken and the conclusions drawn. Building on this framework, we introduce QIQCBench, a benchmark of 494949 expert-authored tasks spanning multiple layers including calibration and control, error correction and compilation, sensing and networking. Across 171717 frontier agentic systems, QIQCBench reveals wide variation in verified performance. These results expose a substantial gap between demonstrating capability and achieving reliable operation, and establish Quantum-Harbor as a foundation for measuring progress towards verified autonomy in quantum engineering.
Superconducting circuits have demonstrated significant potential in quantum information processing and quantum sensing. Implementing novel control and measurement sequences for superconducting qubits is often a complex and time-consuming process, requiring extensive expertise in both the underlying physics and the specific hardware and software. In this work, we introduce a framework that leverages a large language model (LLM) to automate qubit control and measurement. Specifically, our framework conducts experiments by generating and invoking schema-less tools on demand via a knowledge base on instrumental usage and experimental procedures. We showcase this framework with two experiments: an autonomous resonator characterization and a direct reproduction of a quantum non-demolition (QND) characterization of a superconducting qubit from literature. This framework enables rapid deployment of standard control-and-measurement protocols and facilitates implementation of novel experimental procedures, offering a more flexible and user-friendly paradigm for controlling complex quantum hardware.
We demonstrate that large language model (LLM) agents can autonomously perform tensor network simulations of quantum many-body systems, achieving approximately 90% success rate across representative benchmark tasks. Tensor network methods are powerful tools for quantum simulation, but their effective use requires expertise typically acquired through years of graduate training. By combining in-context learning with curated documentation and multi-agent decomposition, we create autonomous AI agents that can be trained in specialized computational domains within minutes. We benchmark three configurations (baseline, single-agent with in-context learning, and multi-agent with in-context learning) on problems spanning quantum phase transitions, open quantum system dynamics, and photochemical reactions. Systematic evaluation using DeepSeek-V3.2, Gemini 2.5 Pro, and Claude Opus 4.5 demonstrates that both in-context learning and multi-agent architecture are essential. Analysis of failure modes reveals characteristic patterns across models, with the multi-agent configuration substantially reducing implementation errors and hallucinations compared to simpler architectures.
We implement an agentic AI workflow built around a large language model (LLM) agent for autonomous experiments with nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. NV centers are a widely used platform for quantum sensing, and the ability to control many measurements from a computer makes NV experiments a natural setting for autonomous workflows. We make two main contributions. First, we demonstrate an autonomous NV experiment workflow that combines persistent project records, quantitative calculation and data analysis tools, and deterministic experiment control. In one autonomous experiment, the agent selected a single NV center, calibrated its resonant frequency, measured T2∗T_2^\astT2∗​ with Ramsey measurements, and added a Carr--Purcell--Meiboom--Gill (CPMG) measurement to check a weak feature that could be related to nearby 13C^{13}\mathrm{C}13C. Second, we introduce two offline benchmarks that evaluate the agent's reasoning separately from laboratory execution. We evaluated both benchmarks with GPT-5.4, GPT-5.5, and GPT-5.6 Sol. In the Ramsey checkpoint benchmark, greater reasoning effort generally improved recognition of a residual resonance calibration offset. By contrast, in the pulsed optically detected magnetic resonance (pODMR) data evaluation benchmark, pulse sequence information alone produced more false positive resonance judgments at higher reasoning effort. Requiring an expected signal calculation kept false positive rates low across all three models and reasoning settings. The results suggest a clear division of labor for autonomous experiments. The agent forms scientific hypotheses and uses quantitative tools to evaluate data, while deterministic code controls the hardware and enforces safety constraints.