We introduce the correlation-efficient time-evolution (CETE) algorithm for simulating quantum many-body dynamics. CETE recasts each step of time evolution as a time-independent correlation problem: the ansatz begins from a mean-field single Slater determinant and is then correlated to capture the true time-evolved state. We derive this exact ansatz from a contraction of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation onto the space of two electrons. Unlike conventional evolution by sequential short-time propagators, which must both correlate and decorrelate the state as the degree of correlation fluctuates in time, CETE correlates only once. This substantially reduces circuit depth, extending accessible simulation times on near-term quantum devices. We demonstrate the approach by simulating the electronic time evolution of the hydrogen molecule and the helium hydride ion, highlighting the potential for the CETE algorithm to simulate strongly correlated systems on near-term devices.

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• Electronic structure of atoms & molecules
• Quantum algorithms
• Quantum many-body systems
• Density matrix methods
• Electron-correlation calculations