IBM Q Experience as a versatile experimental testbed for simulating open
  quantum systems
The advent of Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) technology is changing
rapidly the landscape and modality of research in quantum physics. NISQ
devices, such as the IBM Q Experience, have very recently proven their
capability as experimental platforms accessible to everyone around the globe.
Until now, IBM Q Experience processors have mostly been used for quantum
computation and simulation of closed systems. Here we show that these devices
are also able to implement a great variety of paradigmatic open quantum systems
models, hence providing a robust and flexible testbed for open quantum systems
theory. During the last decade an increasing number of experiments have
successfully tackled the task of simulating open quantum systems in different
platforms, from linear optics to trapped ions, from Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
(NMR) to Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics. Generally, each individual experiment
demonstrates a specific open quantum system model, or at most a specific class.
Our main result is to prove the great versatility of the IBM Q Experience
processors. Indeed, we experimentally implement one and two-qubit open quantum
systems, both unital and non-unital dynamics, Markovian and non-Markovian
evolutions. Moreover, we realise proof-of-principle reservoir engineering for
entangled state generation, demonstrate collisional models, and verify revivals
of quantum channel capacity and extractable work, caused by memory effects. All
these results are obtained using IBM Q Experience processors publicly available
and remotely accessible online.
Guillermo García-Pérez Matteo A. C. Rossi Sabrina Maniscalco