Sensing Information Scrambling

Stephen Hawking infamously calculated that a black hole can convert a pure quantum state into a mixed thermal state, thereby destroying its information content and violating unitarity. (Most) modern theories of quantum gravity resolve this “black hole information paradox” by demonstrating that the information is not actually lost, but rather very scrambled in the emitted black hole Hawking radiation. In this project, we are implementing a measurement protocol in collaboration with the Advanced Quantum Testbed to distinguish quantum information scrambling from thermalization dynamics. In particular, we are measuring Out-of-Time-Order Correlators (OTOCs) using superconducting transmon devices to quantify this distinction. Stay tuned for results!