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Topological state permutations in time-modulated non-Hermitian multiqubit systems with suppressed nonadiabatic transitions

Ievgen I. Arkhipov1,*, Philippe Lewalle2,3, Franco Nori4,5, Şahin K. Özdemir6,†, and K. Birgitta Whaley2,3

  • 1Joint Laboratory of Optics of Palacký University and Institute of Physics of CAS, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, 17, listopadu 12, 771 46 Olomouc, Czech Republic
  • 2Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
  • 3Berkeley Center for Quantum Information and Computation, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
  • 4Quantum Information Physics Theory Research Team, Quantum Computing Center, RIKEN, Wakoshi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
  • 5Physics Department, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1040, USA
  • 6Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri 63103, USA

  • *Contact author: ievgen.arkhipov@upol.cz
  • †Contact author: sahin.ozdemir@slu.edu
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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 033242 – Published 11 September, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/m17d-whsf

Abstract

Non-Hermitian systems have been at the center of intense research for over a decade, partly due to their nontrivial energy topology formed by intersecting Riemann manifolds with branch points known as exceptional points (EPs). This spectral property can be exploited, e.g., to achieve topologically controlled state permutations that are necessary for implementing a wide class of classical and quantum information protocols. However, the complex-valued spectra of typical non-Hermitian systems lead to instabilities, losses, and breakdown of adiabaticity, which impedes the practical use of EP-induced energy topologies in quantum information protocols based on state permutation symmetries. Indeed, in a given non-Hermitian multiqubit system, the dynamical winding around EPs always results in a predetermined set of attenuated final eigenstates, due to the interplay of decoherence and nonadiabatic transitions, irrespective of the initial conditions. In this work, we address this long-standing problem by introducing a model of interacting qubits governed by an effective non-Hermitian Hamiltonian that hosts a special type of EPs while maintaining a completely real energy spectrum, ensuring the absence of losses in the system’s dynamics. We demonstrate that such non-Hermitian Hamiltonians enable the realization of genuine, in general, non-Abelian permutation groups in the multiqubit system’s eigenspace while dynamically encircling these EPs. Our findings indicate that, contrary to previous beliefs, non-Hermiticity can be utilized to achieve controlled topological state permutations in time-modulated multiqubit systems, thus paving the way for the advancement and development of quantum information protocols in real-world non-Hermitian quantum systems.

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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 033242– Published 11 September, 2025
  • Received 14 February 2025
  • Accepted 8 August 2025
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