Observation of Localization Using a Noisy Quantum Computer

Abstract: Quantum dynamics in a strongly disordered quantum many-body system show localization properties. The initial state memory is maintained owing to slow relaxation when the system is in the localized regime. This work demonstrates how localization can be observed using a noisy quantum computer by evaluating the magnetization and twist overlap in a quantum spin chain after short-time evolution. The quantities obtained from quantum-circuit simulation and real-device computation show their apparent dependence on disorder strength, although real-device computation suffers from noise-induced errors significantly. Using the exact diagonalization of the Hamiltonian, we analyze how noise-induced errors affect those quantities. The analysis also suggests how the twist overlap can reflect the information on the eigenstates of the Hamiltonian.