Recent progress of quantum simulation of non-Hermitian systems

Abstract

Quantum simulation is one of the main contents of quantum information science, aiming to simulate and investigate poorly controllable or unobtainable quantum systems by using controllable quantum systems. Quantum simulation can be implemented in quantum computers, quantum simulators, and small quantum devices. Non-Hermitian systems have aroused research interest increasingly in recent two decades. On one hand, non-Hermitian quantum theories can be seen as the complex extensions of the conventional quantum mechanics, and are closely related to open systems and dissipative systems. On the other hand, both quantum systems and classical systems can be constructed as non-Hermitian systems with novel properties, which can be used to improve the precision of precise measurements. However, a non-Hermitian system is more difficult to simulate than a Hermitian system in that the time evolution of it is no longer unitary. In this review, we introduce recent research progress of quantum simulations of non-Hermitian systems. We mainly introduce theoretical researches to simulate typical non-Hermitian quantum systems by using the linear combinations of unitaries, briefly showing the advantages and limitations of each proposal, and we briefly mention other theoretical simulation methods, such as quantum random walk, space embedded and dilation. Moreover, we briefly introduce the experimental quantum simulations of non-Hermitian systems and novel phenomena in nuclear magnetic resonance, quantum optics and photonics, classical systems, etc. The recent progress of the combinations of quantum simulation and non-Hermitian physics has promoted the development of the non-Hermitian theories, experiments and applications, and expand the scope of application of quantum simulations and quantum computers.