Microstructural Topology as a Prescriptor for Quantum Coherence: Towards A Unified Framework for Decoherence in Superconducting Qubits

Quantum Physics [Submitted on 5 Apr 2026] Microstructural Topology as a Prescriptor for Quantum Coherence: Towards A Unified Framework for Decoherence in Superconducting Qubits Vinayak P. Dravid, Akshay A. Murthy, Peter Lim, Gabriel T. dos Santos, Ramandeep Mandia, James M. Rondinelli, Mark C. Hersam, Roberto dos Reis In superconducting quantum circuits, decoherence improvements are frequently obtained through process interventions that simultaneously modify surface chemistry, microstructural topology, and device geometry, leaving mechanistic attribution structurally underdetermined. Predictive materials engineering requires measurable structural statistics to be separated from geometry-dependent coupling coefficients into independently testable factors. We introduce the concept of classical and quantum microstructure. In that context, we formulate a channel-wise separable framework for decoherence in superconducting transmon qubits in which each loss channel is described by a reduced prescriptor. Here, a channel-specific microstructural state variable is determined independently of device geometry, and a geometry-dependent coupling functional is computable from field solutions without reference to surface chemistry. We derive this product form from a spatially resolved kernel representation and establish a perturbative separability criterion that defines the regime where independent variation of the variables is valid. The framework specifies five prescriptor classes for dominant loss pathways in transmon-class devices. Falsifiability is operationalized through a pre-committed 2x2 experimental protocol in which the variables must satisfy independent ratio checks within propagated uncertainty. A Minimum-Dataset Specification standardizes reporting for cross-laboratory inference. Part I establishes the conceptual and mathematical architecture; coordinated experimental validation is reserved for Part II. Comments: Part I of a two-part series establishing the theoretical and mathematical architecture. 18 pages, 4 figures Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) Cite as: arXiv:2604.03951 [quant-ph]   (or arXiv:2604.03951v1 [quant-ph] for this version)   https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2604.03951 Focus to learn more Submission history From: Roberto Dos Reis [view email] [v1] Sun, 5 Apr 2026 04:07:32 UTC (5,286 KB) Access Paper: HTML (experimental) view license Current browse context: quant-ph < prev   |   next > new | recent | 2026-04 Change to browse by: cond-mat cond-mat.mtrl-sci References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADS Google Scholar Semantic Scholar Export BibTeX Citation Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Demos Related Papers About arXivLabs Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)