Exploring the Quantum Dynamics of Staggered Spin Chains in D-Wave

Quantum annealing is a method to solve optimization problems efficiently by exploiting quantum phenomena, such as tunneling. Commercially available annealers, like the D-Wave machine, are based on superconducting circuit technology and have been used to solve real-world optimization problems. On the other hand, these quantum annealers can serve as a testbed to explore many-body quantum phenomena with unprecedented levels of control. Recently, the quench dynamics of a quantum Ising chain were studied on a D-Wave machine. For short annealing times, the kink density as a function of annealing time was found to follow a power law that agrees with Kibble-Zurek scaling theory. In this talk, we will present theoretical results on the quantum dynamics of an Ising chain with bonds of alternating strength. The alternating bond strength introduces many-body interference, which represents a signature of quantum coherence. These theoretical predictions will be compared with data from D-Wave.