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Simulating electron transfer on noisy quantum computers

Gajewski, Marvin 1; Somoza, Alejandro D. 1; Schmiedinghoff, Gary; Stadler, Pascal; Marthaler, Michael; Horstmann, Birger 1
1 Helmholtz-Institut Ulm (HIU), Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)

Abstract:

While simple spin-boson models have been realized on quantum hardware, simulating extended electronic networks with local vibrational environments remains a fundamental challenge in the presence of non-equilibrium, long-lived electronic-vibrational (vibronic) coherence. We present a framework for the digital-analog simulation of open quantum systems governed by Hamiltonians with linear-vibronic coupling (LVC) and structured vibrational environments. Our approach exploits the intrinsic dissipation of qubits in near-term quantum hardware as a resource to emulate vibrational relaxation, combined with a model-specific error mitigation scheme to filter out noise sources incompatible with the target open system. We validate our strategy by resolving the vibronic transfer spectra of a one-dimensional donor-acceptor chain on IBM superconducting processors, reproducing non-Markovian dynamics and scaling the chain length up to 10 electronic sites, an unprecedented scale for chemical dynamics on quantum computers. Our model of vibronic electron transfer offers a portable, application-oriented benchmark for simulating long-lived entangled states on NISQ computers.


Verlagsausgabe §
DOI: 10.5445/IR/1000193969
Veröffentlicht am 11.06.2026
Originalveröffentlichung
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-73700-1
Cover der Publikation
Zugehörige Institution(en) am KIT Helmholtz-Institut Ulm (HIU)
Publikationstyp Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Publikationsjahr 2026
Sprache Englisch
Identifikator ISSN: 2041-1723
KITopen-ID: 1000193969
Erschienen in Nature Communications
Verlag Nature Research
Band 17
Heft 1
Seiten Art.Nr: 4779
Vorab online veröffentlicht am 28.05.2026
Nachgewiesen in Scopus
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