Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Metastability is a ubiquitous phenomenon in non-equilibrium physics and classical stochastic dynamics. It arises when the system dynamics settles in long-lived states before eventually decaying to true equilibria. Remarkably, it has been predicted that quantum metastability can also occur in continuous-time and discrete-time open quantum dynamics. However, the direct experimental observation of metastability in open quantum systems has remained elusive. Here, we experimentally observe metastability in the discrete-time evolution of a single nuclear spin in diamond, realized by sequential Ramsey interferometry measurements of a nearby nitrogen-vacancy electron spin. We demonstrate that the metastable polarization of the nuclear spin emerges at around 60,000∼250,000 sequential measurements, enabling high-fidelity single-shot readout of the nuclear spin. Our results represent a concrete step towards uncovering non-equilibrium physics in open quantum dynamics, which is practically relevant for the utilization of metastable information for various quantum information processing tasks.
Source: Nature Communications
Language: English
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,990
OpenAlex ID: W4415958385