Simulation of open quantum system dynamics based on the generalized quantum master equation on quantum computing devices

The simulation of open quantum system dynamics, namely the reduced dynamics of a quantum system coupled to a quantum bath, is the cornerstone of quantum rate theory, optical response theory and decoherence science, which are central concepts in modern physics and chemistry.

The generalized quantum master equation (GQME) formalism provides a universal framework for simulating the dynamics of open quantum systems. Using this framework allows one to derive a formally exact equation of motion, i.e., the GQME, for the reduced density matrix that describes the state of a system coupled to a bath, without employing commonly made restrictive assumptions such as weak system-bath coupling and Markovity. Within this GQME, the e?ect of the bath on the time evolution of the system's reduced density matrix is fully captured by a memory kernel superoperator.

In this work we develop a general-purpose GQME-based quantum algorithm for simulating open quantum system dynamics.

Starting out from the memory kernel as the input, we solve the GQME for the system's non-unitary time evolution superoperator.

We then use dilation techniques to convert the non-unitary time evolution superoperator into a unitary time evolution superoperator in an extended Hilbert space, which can be implemented on quantum circuits. The GQME-based quantum algorithm is demonstrated with the spin-boson benchmark model, including implementations on the IBM QASM quantum simulator and IBM quantum computers.