We report systematic experimental observation of coherent, topology-dependent inter-horizon correlations in thermofield double (TFD) states implemented on IBM quantum processors. Using a 100-qubit ladder geometry mapped onto the heavy-hex topology of ibm_fez (156 qubits, Heron r2 architecture), we demonstrate signal ratios R_fit spanning 1.2–202.7 across runs/seeds, with best single-seed R_fit = 23.93 (Run #11) and record multi-seed median R_fit = 102.7 (Run #2, 5 seeds, range 63.5–202.7), validated by pre-registered GO/NO-GO criteria across 14 experimental runs spanning January 24-30, 2026. Our experimental framework incorporates two rigorous anti-artifact controls (see Fig. 6-7): (1) SCRAMBLE control applies identical circuit depth with incorrect topology, destroying the signal (reduction factor > 10×); (2) ECHO control (Loschmidt reversal) applies the coupling layer twice, annihilating coherent contributions (reduction factor 8.6-50.5×, consistent with expected finite-size echo saturation for N~50 effective subsystems (see Gorin et al. [14] for saturation plateau theory)). Both controls maintain > 95% local fringe retention, confirming they do not trivially destroy coherence. A critical discovery emerged from our January 30, 2026 validation campaign (see Fig. 5): quantum processor calibration drift can cause signal collapse within less than one hour on hardware with identical offline calibration snapshots. Runs #11-#12 achieved R_fit = 23.93 and 18.4 respectively (GO-1 PASS, GO-3 PASS), while Run #13 executed only 53 minutes later on the same backend collapsed to R_fit = 1.20 (GO-1 FAIL). This finding establishes that offline Health Scores do not reliably predict experimental success, and defines an operational envelope requiring Health > 80% (Grade B or better) for empirically associated with high-probability signal stability. The observed second-harmonic (2ω) dominance in the phase-dependent signal (A₂ω/A₁ω > 40×, R² > 0.99, see Fig. 9) is consistent with theoretical predictions for bilinear left-right correlations. A stride sweep (s = 2-5, see Fig. 4) reveals a signal-coherence trade-off, with s = 3 identified as optimal. Total quantum processor time across all 14 runs: approximately 45 minutes. These results establish a validated, falsifiable experimental framework for probing analog quantum gravity signatures on NISQ hardware, with explicit calibration-conditional bounds. The methodology may provide a validated framework applicable to analog Hawking radiation platforms where topology-controlled correlations play a central role (see Section 5.4). Note: Results demonstrated primarily on IBM ibm_fez; multi-device validation on additional backends is recommended to establish cross-platform generalizability.
We report systematic experimental observation of coherent, topology-dependent inter-horizon correlations in thermofield double (TFD) states implemented on IBM quantum processors. Using a 100-qubit ladder geometry mapped onto the heavy-hex topology of ibm_fez (156 qubits, Heron r2 architecture), we demonstrate signal ratios R_fit spanning 1.2–202.7 across runs/seeds, with best single-seed R_fit = 23.93 (Run #11) and record multi-seed median R_fit = 102.7 (Run #2, 5 seeds, range 63.5–202.7), validated by pre-registered GO/NO-GO criteria across 14 experimental runs spanning January 24-30, 2026. Our experimental framework incorporates two rigorous anti-artifact controls (see Fig. 6-7): (1) SCRAMBLE control applies identical circuit depth with incorrect topology, destroying the signal (reduction factor > 10×); (2) ECHO control (Loschmidt reversal) applies the coupling layer twice, annihilating coherent contributions (reduction factor 8.6-50.5×, consistent with expected finite-size echo saturation for N~50 effective subsystems (see Gorin et al. [14] for saturation plateau theory)). Both controls maintain > 95% local fringe retention, confirming they do not trivially destroy coherence. A critical discovery emerged from our January 30, 2026 validation campaign (see Fig. 5): quantum processor calibration drift can cause signal collapse within less than one hour on hardware with identical offline calibration snapshots. Runs #11-#12 achieved R_fit = 23.93 and 18.4 respectively (GO-1 PASS, GO-3 PASS), while Run #13 executed only 53 minutes later on the same backend collapsed to R_fit = 1.20 (GO-1 FAIL). This finding establishes that offline Health Scores do not reliably predict experimental success, and defines an operational envelope requiring Health > 80% (Grade B or better) for empirically associated with high-probability signal stability. The observed second-harmonic (2ω) dominance in the phase-dependent signal (A₂ω/A₁ω > 40×, R² > 0.99, see Fig. 9) is consistent with theoretical predictions for bilinear left-right correlations. A stride sweep (s = 2-5, see Fig. 4) reveals a signal-coherence trade-off, with s = 3 identified as optimal. Total quantum processor time across all 14 runs: approximately 45 minutes. These results establish a validated, falsifiable experimental framework for probing analog quantum gravity signatures on NISQ hardware, with explicit calibration-conditional bounds. The methodology may provide a validated framework applicable to analog Hawking radiation platforms where topology-controlled correlations play a central role (see Section 5.4). Note: Results demonstrated primarily on IBM ibm_fez; multi-device validation on additional backends is recommended to establish cross-platform generalizability.
Experimental measurement data of the QITE formalism (Quantum-Inspired Thermal Equilibrium) on IBM quantum processors of the Heron R2 generation with 156 physical qubits. Altogether 75+ jobs on two different backends (ibm_kingston and ibm_fez), over 830,000 shots, carried out on 8, 10, and 11 April 2026. Seven experiment series: (1) Static phases (R=0.5 / 1.0 / 2.0): three clearly separated Hamming-weight distributions (16.3σ significance), positive ZZ correlations under QITE (+0.318 at R=2.0) versus negative ones in the null experiment (−0.061). Controlled comparison experiment with null hypothesis (identical circuit structure with random parameters). (2) Real-time feedback loop (8 cycles): two targeted perturbations (R=3.0 and R=0.3); the system returns autonomously to equilibrium within 2 cycles. First demonstration of dynamic controllability of a QITE quantum collective on a real quantum computer. (3) Cross-backend reproducibility: identical results on ibm_kingston and ibm_fez — deviations within a few percent. (4) Zero-noise extrapolation (ZNE): circuit folding (1×, 3×, 5×) with Richardson extrapolation. Result: coherence 0.474 → 0.474 extrapolated (improvement: −0.0005). The optimized circuit (depth 13, 120 CZ gates) already operates at the hardware noise floor — ZNE cannot improve it further because the circuit is already near-optimal. (5) Scaling comparison 27 vs. 156 qubits: the 27-qubit version on the same backend (ibm_kingston) shows ZZ correlation of 0.788 against 0.318 at 156 qubits (Δ = +0.470). Circuit depth drops from 13 to 6, CZ gates from 120 to 13. Confirms: the QITE signal scales with gate quality. (6) Extended feedback loop (20 cycles): four extreme perturbations — R=3.0 (excess), R=0.3 (deficit), R=5.0 (5-fold excess), R=0.1 (10-fold deficit). Maximum coherence C=0.785 (highest value ever measured). The system reorganizes itself after each perturbation within 2–4 cycles. Long-term stability demonstrated across 20 cycles and 436 seconds of total runtime. (7) 3-minute stability demonstration (20 cycles, 262.7 seconds): dedicated long-term test with two targeted shocks (R=4.0 and R=0.2). Result: ones_fraction remains between 0.491 and 0.499 over 4.4 minutes (maximum deviation from equilibrium: 0.009). Drift across the entire runtime: +0.003. Complete recovery after both shocks. 18/18 non-shock cycles stable. First demonstration of a self-correcting quantum field on a real quantum computer over several minutes. Circuit optimization relative to 8 April: reduction of circuit depth from 295 to 13 (factor 22×), two-qubit gates from 1,946 to 120, by exclusive use of native Heron R2 gates (CZ, SX, RZ, X) and direct lambda encoding via RY(θ) with θ = 2·arctan(λ₂/λ₁). The system demonstrably produces controllable, correlated, self-organizing quantum states on real hardware — no simulation, no theory, but physical measurement data of a concrete technical system. All 59 IBM job IDs are contained in the raw data and verifiable on quantum.ibm.com. German patent applications Az. 10 2025 003 906.9 (QITE) and Az. 10 2025 004 891.2 (QISE). Final document (12 April 2026) — 21 sections, 9 experiment series, 372 individual quantum measurements. Extensions compared to the previous version: Section 19: 9-minute experiment (209 cycles, 156 qubits, 4096 shots) Phase A: null test (23 cycles, R=1.0) — baseline control measurement Phase B: 8 shocks (R=0.1 to R=8.0) incl. double shock — complete recovery after each shock Section 20: overall summary of all 9 experiment series (8–12 April 2026) Section 21: raw-data appendix with SHA-256 checksums of all 9 JSON files Core results: 372 quantum measurements on IBM Heron R2 (ibm_kingston, ibm_fez) Dynamic range R=0.1 to R=8.0 (factor 80) with complete self-correction The null test proves: recovery is an active process, not a hardware artefact No drift, no collapse across 209 consecutive measurements Optimized circuit: depth 13, 120 CZ gates, at the hardware noise floor (ZNE-confirmed)
On 4-5 July 2026, an identical shock protocol was executed on the same 156-qubit IBM Heron R2 architecture (ibm_fez) but with the QITE lambda feedback replaced by uniformly random rotation angles per cycle. This random-angle null control preserves every structural variable — RY+RZ+CZ layer, Heavy-Hex CZ coupling, 4096 shots/cycle, seed 20260602, the same 150 cycles, and the same six shocks at the same cycles (20/40/60/80/100/120), the same target qubits (q78, q69, q67, q47, q37, q16) with the same amplitudes (l1,l2) — while removing only the decentralized per-qubit lambda feedback dynamics. Backend selection was driven by queue availability; both are 156-qubit Heron R2 devices with identical architecture, and calibration differences cannot account for the qualitative burst-count contrast reported below. The result is a clean negative: zero collective bursts across all six shocks. The four non-parametric statistical tests (identical methodology to v1) all confirm the absence of shock-driven collective response: (1) permutation test yields p = 1.0 for shock alignment against the noise-saturated per-cycle transitions; (2) pairwise Pearson correlation between per-transition delta-p1 vectors drops from r_mean = +0.65 in the multi-shock run to r_mean = +0.017 in the null; (3) cross-session hypergeometric overlap between null "top-active" qubits and the v1 multi-shock top-active set is not significant (Jaccard = 0.11, p = 0.24); (4) Mann-Whitney U on shock-cycle max|delta p1| versus baseline shows ratio 0.989 with p = 0.89 — statistically indistinguishable from noise. Baseline global coherence exp(-8*Var(p1)) sits at 0.413 +/- 0.022 across all 150 cycles under random angles, versus 0.99 +/- 0.01 under QITE feedback in v1 — two distinct dynamical regimes. That the shock protocol itself executed correctly on the null run is verified locally at the target qubit: for each of the six shocks, the measured p1[q_target] at the shock cycle agrees with the theoretical prediction from theta_shock = 2*atan2(l2, l1) to within <5% (q78 shock: predicted 0.016, measured 0.018; q69 shock: predicted 0.985, measured 0.939; and so on for all six). One cycle after each shock, the target qubit returns to the random baseline distribution — with no feedback dynamics, there is no restoring trajectory. The shocks are physically executed; what is absent is the collective response. Causal conclusion: the QITE per-qubit lambda feedback dynamics are necessary for the observed collective burst phenomenology. The circuit structure (RY+RZ+CZ on Heron R2 Heavy-Hex topology) and shock protocol alone do not produce bursts. Six identical shocks on QITE-stabilized baseline produce 10 collective bursts with 6/10 shock-aligned (p = 0.008); the same six shocks on random baseline produce zero. This 10-vs-0 hardware contrast, verified by four independent non-parametric tests, establishes feedback necessity as a falsifiable causal claim rather than a phenomenological observation. The v2 bundle contains the complete null-control primary data (150-cycle JSONL, consolidated JSON, p1 numpy matrix), all IBM Runtime job IDs with per-cycle timestamps, Tee'd console logs of both the initial run and the resume run (a mid-run job-poll stall on 4 July required a resume from cycle 7 with deterministic per-cycle RNG seeds), five analysis figures including direct null-vs-multi comparison plots, the full side-by-side statistical comparison JSON, the v1 multi-shock p1 matrix and statistical test outputs for reanalysis, an 8-page supplement PDF (Section 5) integrating with the v1 paper, and SHA-256 checksums of every file in MANIFEST_v2.json. Backend (v2 null control): IBM Heron R2 (ibm_fez), 156 qubits, 4096 shots/cycle.Companion patents: DPMA Az. 10 2025 003 906.9 (QITE), 10 2025 004 891.2 (QISE).Predecessor (v1): Westrick, Reproducible Collective Burst Modes on 156 Qubits: Decentralized Per-Qubit QITE Lambda Field on IBM Heron R2, 1 June 2026. On 1 June 2026, a decentralized per-qubit lambda field was implemented on the IBM Heron R2 processor (ibm_kingston, 156 qubits) and probed with a multi-shock excitation protocol. Unlike the predecessor work (Westrick, Controllable Quantum Collective States on 156 Qubits: Experimental Results of the QITE Formalism on IBM Heron R2, 12 April 2026), which tested a globally controlled QITE quantum collective, each qubit here carries its own lambda state and receives, in the feedback loop, only its own measurement statistic p1_i. The only inter-qubit coupling propagates physically through the CZ gates of the Heavy-Hex topology. Six shocks were applied at six different positions on the chip: central (q*=78), nearest neighbor (d=1), intermediate (d=3, d=5), deep (d=8), and edge (d=12). Each individual shock triggered a chip-wide burst within 1-8 cycles (peak |delta p1| between 0.308 and 0.366; 10 to 22 simultaneously active qubits). Four additional spontaneous bursts were detected between shocks, for a total of 10 bursts in 150 cycles. The 6/6 reproducibility was verified by four independent non-parametric statistical tests, all positive: (1) permutation test p = 0.008 against chance alignment; (2) pairwise burst-vector Pearson correlation r_mean = +0.65 with all 15 pairs above noise; (3) cross-session reproducibility 9/10 qubit overlap between two independent IBM Quantum sessions, hypergeometric p = 0.008; (4) Mann-Whitney U test of burst amplitude versus Phase-A baseline, ratio 2.7, p < 0.0001. This bundle contains the complete primary data (raw JSON logs, NumPy matrices), all 27 visualizations, IBM job IDs of every submitted job, console logs of all runs, the pre-registration documents with locked detection thresholds, and SHA-256 checksums of every file (MANIFEST.json) for independent verification. Backend: IBM Heron R2 (ibm_kingston), 156 qubits, 4096 shots/cycle.Patent filings: DPMA Az. 10 2025 003 906.9 (QITE), 10 2025 004 891.2 (QISE).Predecessor: Westrick, Controllable Quantum Collective States on 156 Qubits, 12 April 2026.
Cryogenic control electronics accumulate systematic, non-zero-mean bias — from thermal cycling of mounts, flux leakage, and dielectric memory — that a feedback loop integrates until its actuator authority is exhausted and the integrator saturates. A controller that alarms on amplitude thresholds sees this failure only after correction is no longer available. This paper reports a precursor estimator that reads the dynamics of the control signal for the onset of systematic drift, built deliberately as a finite observer in the sense of the first Finite Cognition paper: a declared error budget, an explicit competence boundary, and fail-closed abstention. Its evidence is presented in two declared strata. First, a fresh, fully archived Monte-Carlo run of record on a declared control-loop model: across 30 seeds × 7 sensor-environment conditions × two drift polarities, with every threshold frozen before the batch, the estimator detected drift before saturation in 246/354 eligible collapse runs (69.5%, 95% interval 64.5–74.1%), with per-condition detection ranging from 25.5% (all disturbances combined) to 100% (dropout; 92.4–100), median leads of 7–17 s, and zero false interdicts across 210 healthy runs within the declared calibration window (0.0–1.8%) — a bound the long-horizon batch shows is conditional on the mandated recalibration schedule. Second, an archived read of live IBM quantum-hardware calibration telemetry (a 156-qubit Heron device, June 2026): the same governed detector family flagged the two genuinely degraded qubits and the sole sustained relaxation-time decline within that window (T_1 falling 88.0 → 19.1 µs across 43 returned calibration snapshots spanning 42 calendar days) — an event a longer archived record later resolves into the first, longest and deepest of four recurring excursions on the same qubit, at a cost to this detector family the paper states while staying silent on a bad-but-stable qubit and the 154 others. The estimator holds advisory-only authority under the programme's interface contract: it emits verdicts and writes nothing to the plant. This record supersedes an earlier version whose simulation table could not be traced to a quantum-specific run; the run of record reported here, code and data archived, is the evidence this paper stands on.
Cryogenic control electronics for quantum hardware accumulate systematic, non-zero-mean bias that integrates in a feedback loop until the actuator saturates; a threshold controller detects this only after saturation. We present a precursor estimator that detects the onset of systematic drift from the dynamics of the control signal, built as a finite observer (declared error budget, explicit competence boundary, fail-closed abstention) in the sense of a companion paper on the physical limits of finite observation. It uses path-functional invariants (a Fisher–Rao metric stability bound, a maximum-likelihood bias decoder, a cumulative-damage functional) rather than eigenvalue analysis, which we show is neither necessary nor sufficient for finite-time survival. In simulation, across 30 seeds × 7 sensor-environment conditions (including a 1/f dephasing spectrum), it detects 96.7% of drift-collapse scenarios before saturation at a 12 s median lead with 0% false positives over 210 healthy runs. On real data, the same governed outlier-and-drift detector, applied to live publicly accessible IBM quantum-hardware calibration time-series (a 156-qubit IBM Heron device), flags genuinely degraded qubits and catches a real relaxation-time decline (one qubit's T1 falling 88.0→19.1 µs, −78%, over 43 days) while staying silent on a qubit that is poor but stable and on the other 155 — detection of change, not of mere badness. The work is TRL 4: an advisory detection layer, not a deployed controller, and it does not emulate entanglement, non-local correlation, or contextuality. The contribution is the integrated, calibrated estimator and its operating discipline, demonstrated in simulation and against real hardware-calibration data.
We report the first experimental observation of analog Hawking radiation signatures on a 156-qubit superconducting quantum processor (IBM Heron R2). Using a spatially-varying XY spin chain with engineered coupling profile J(x) = J₀[1 - κ·tanh((x-x_h)/w)], we create an analog event horizon where excitation transport is kinematically forbidden. Our Multi-Horizon Interleaved Layout (MHIL) architecture enables up to four simultaneous "Hawking universes" with O(1) circuit depth scaling, achieving 156-qubit operation in only 44 transpiled layers. We demonstrate: (i) spatial localization of entanglement flux at the analog horizon with ratio F_h/F_far = 83.2× under optimized error mitigation (44.3× under standard reproducible conditions); (ii) temporal causality with monotonic signal development (R² > 0.99); (iii) the characteristic ⟨XX⟩ ≈ -⟨YY⟩ anti-correlation signature (r = 0.997) consistent with squeezed pair production; and (iv) effective temperature scaling β ∝ 1/κ consistent with the Hawking relation. Statistical validation via shuffle control demonstrates 91.6% signal degradation under random bit permutation (p < 0.001), providing strong evidence that the observed signal relies on multi-qubit spatial correlations consistent with XY dynamics. Multi-scale validation across 20-80 qubits confirms 100% peak position accuracy at the horizon. We emphasize that our results demonstrate kinematic analogs—spatial localization and pair-correlation signatures—not thermodynamic Hawking temperature. The bond correlator F(link) = ⟨XX⟩ + ⟨YY⟩ serves as a transport proxy; Bell-CHSH analysis yields S ≈ 0.4 < 2, confirming correlations without certified entanglement. All experimental data, including IBM Quantum job identifiers, are provided for independent verification. Key Results (Bullet Summary for Cover Letter) 156-qubit Hawking analog — Largest quantum simulation of analog Hawking radiation to date 83.2× flux localization ratio — Order of magnitude above detection threshold (10×) O(1) depth scaling — MHIL architecture enables 20→156 qubit scaling in constant depth 91.6% shuffle validation — Rigorous statistical control ruling out marginal artifacts Multi-scale reproducibility — Validated across Mini (20q), Medium (40q), Large (80q) configurations Full transparency — All IBM Quantum job IDs provided for external verification PACS / Subject Codes 03.67.Ac (Quantum algorithms, protocols, and simulations) 04.70.Dy (Quantum aspects of black holes, evaporation, thermodynamics) 75.10.Pq (Spin chain models)
Cryogenic control electronics for quantum hardware accumulate systematic, non-zero-mean bias that integrates in feedback loops until actuator saturation. We present a precursor estimator that detects the onset of systematic drift from control-signal dynamics before saturation. Designed as a finite observer, it operates to a declared error budget, carries an explicit boundary of competence, and abstains—fails closed—outside it. The estimator uses path-functional invariants rather than eigenvalue or linearisation analysis. In simulation across 30 seeds and seven sensor-environment conditions, it detects 96.7% of drift-collapse scenarios before saturation, with a 12-second median lead and 0% false positives across 210 healthy runs. Applied to live, publicly accessible IBM quantum-hardware calibration time-series from a 156-qubit IBM Heron device, it flags degraded qubits and detects a real relaxation-time decline while raising no alarm on a poor-but-stable qubit or the remaining 155 qubits. This is a TRL-4 detection layer: advisory, validated in simulation and on hardware calibration data, and not a deployed controller.