Study on quantum thermalization from thermal initial states in a superconducting quantum computer

Abstract

Quantum thermalization in contemporary quantum devices, in particular quantum computers, has recently attracted significant theoretical interest. Unusual thermalization processes, such as the Quantum Mpemba Effect (QME), have been explored theoretically. However, there is a shortage of experimental results due to the difficulty in preparing thermal states. In this paper, we propose a protocol to indirectly address this challenge. Moreover, we experimentally validate our protocol using IBM quantum devices, providing results for unusual relaxation in equidistant quenches as predicted for the IBM qubit. We also assess the formalism introduced for the QME, obtaining results consistent with the theoretical predictions. This demonstration underscores that our protocol can provide an alternative way of studying thermal states physics when their direct preparation may be too difficult.