New modes of operating commercial quantum annealing processors

The standard mode of operating a quantum annealing (QA) processor involves initializing all qubits in the ground state of a transverse field Ising model (TFIM) Hamiltonian possessing a strong global transverse field. The transverse field is then lowered through the anneal and the evolution ends with a final Ising Hamiltonian that is diagonal in the computational basis. Finally, a measurement in the computational basis is used to sample low-energy states of the final Ising Hamiltonian.

Recent proposals for expanding the capabilities of QA processors include diabatic quantum annealing, wherein the system is intentionally excited mid-anneal, and facilitating measurement of qubits mid-anneal in any desired basis. These new capabilities would enable QA processors to be used as programmable quantum dynamics simulators. In this talk, I will demonstrate these capabilities on a 1200+ qubit D-Wave Advantage2™ prototype processor. I will demonstrate coherent evolution of single and two-qubit subsystems after excitation in the presence of a finite transverse field.