Observation of feedback-directed quantum dynamics in large-scale quantum processors

Quantum Physics [Submitted on 13 Apr 2026] Observation of feedback-directed quantum dynamics in large-scale quantum processors Ruizhe Shen, Ching Hua Lee Programmable quantum hardware provides an emerging platform for exploring and controlling non-unitary quantum dynamics through measurement-based operations. In this work, we introduce feedback-directed circuit architectures that integrate spatially structured mid-circuit measurements with real-time conditional operations to steer the evolution of random dynamics, and perform their large-scale simulations (up to 100 qubits) on programmable digital quantum processors. By promoting measurement from a passive readout to an active control signal, these adaptive monitored circuits enable directional information flow and generate intrinsic asymmetry in random circuit simulations. We implement this framework on IBM superconducting quantum processors and observe robust, noise-resilient signatures of feedback-induced asymmetry distinct from the more well-known non-Hermitian skin effect. Our results establish feedback as a programmable resource for non-unitary control, opening new avenues for engineering measurement-based dynamics, non-equilibrium phenomena, and tunable open-system behavior on large-scale quantum hardware. Comments: 21 pages and 9 figures Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el) Cite as: arXiv:2604.11900 [quant-ph]   (or arXiv:2604.11900v1 [quant-ph] for this version)   https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2604.11900 Focus to learn more Submission history From: Ruizhe Shen [view email] [v1] Mon, 13 Apr 2026 18:00:10 UTC (14,101 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.str-el 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?)