Observation of disorder-free localization using a (2+1)D lattice gauge theory on a quantum processor

G G. Gyawali S S. Kumar Y Y. D. Lensky E E. Rosenberg A A. Szasz T T. Cochran (Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.) R R. Chen (Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.) A A. H. Karamlou N N. Yosri S S. Meeks K K. Kechedzhi J J. Berndtsson T T. Westerhout A A. Asfaw D D. Abanin R R. Acharya L L. Aghababaie Beni T T. I. Andersen M M. Ansmann F F. Arute K K. Arya N N. Astrakhantsev J J. Atalaya R R. Babbush B B. Ballard J J. Bardin (Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.) A A. Bengtsson A A. Bilmes G G. Bortoli A A. Bourassa J J. Bovaird L L. Brill M M. Broughton D D. Browne (Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.) B B. Buchea B B. Buckley (Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.) D D. Buell (Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.) T T. Burger B B. Burkett N N. Bushnell A A. Cabrera J J. Campero H H.-S. Chang Z Z. Chen B B. Chiaro J J. Claes A A. Cleland (Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.) J J. Cogan R R. Collins P P. Conner W W. Courtney A A. L. Crook S S. Das D D. M. Debroy A A. Del Toro Barba S S. Demura L L. De Lorenzo A A. Di Paolo P P. Donohoe I I. Drozdov A A. Dunsworth C C. Earle A A. Eickbusch A A. Elbag (Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.) M M. Elzouka C C. Erickson L L. Faoro R R. Fatemi V V. Ferreira (Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.) L L. Flores Burgos E E. Forati A A. Fowler (Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.) B B. Foxen S S. Ganjam R R. Gasca W W. Giang C C. Gidney D D. Gilboa R R. Gosula A A. Grajales Dau D D. Graumann A A. Greene J J. Gross (Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.) S S. Habegger M M. Hamilton (Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.) M M. Hansen M M. Harrigan (Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.) S S. Harrington (Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.) S S. Heslin P P. Heu G G. Hill J J. Hilton M M. Hoffmann (Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.) H H.-Y. Huang A A. Huff W W. J. Huggins L L. B. Ioffe S S. V. Isakov E E. Jeffrey Z Z. Jiang C C. Jones S S. Jordan C C. Joshi P P. Juhas D D. Kafri H H. Kang T T. Khaire T T. Khattar M M. Khezri M M. Kieferová S S. Kim P P. Klimov A A. Klots (Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.) B B. Kobrin A A. Korotkov F F. Kostritsa J J. Kreikebaum V V. Kurilovich D D. Landhuis B B. Langley P P. Laptev K K.-M. Lau J J. Ledford J J. Lee K K. Lee B B. Lester L L. Le Guevel W W. Li A A. Lill (Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.) W W. Liu W W. Livingston A A. Locharla D D. Lundahl A A. Lunt S S. Madhuk A A. Maloney S S. Mandrà L L. Martin S S. Martin O O. Martin C C. Maxfield J J. McClean M M. McEwen A A. Megrant X X. Mi K K. Miao A A. Mieszala R R. Molavi S S. Molina S S. Montazeri A A. Morvan R R. Movassagh C C. Neill A A. Nersisyan M M. Newman A A. Nguyen M M. Nguyen C C.-H. Ni K K. Ottosson A A. Pizzuto R R. Potter O O. Pritchard L L. Pryadko (Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.) C C. Quintana G G. Ramachandran M M. Reagor D D. Rhodes G G. Roberts C C. Rocque N N. Rubin (Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.) N N. Saei K K. Sankaragomathi K K. Satzinger H H. Schurkus C C. Schuster M M. Shearn A A. Shorter N N. Shutty V V. Shvarts V V. Sivak J J. Skruzny S S. Small W W. Clarke Smith S S. Springer G G. Sterling J J. Suchard M M. Szalay A A. Sztein D D. Thor M M. Mert Torunbalci A A. Vaishnav S S. Vdovichev G G. Vidal C C. Vollgraff Heidweiller S S. Waltman S S. X. Wang T T. White K K. Wong B B. W. K. Woo C C. Xing Z Z. Jamie Yao P P. Yeh B B. Ying J J. Yoo G G. Young A A. Zalcman Y Y. Zhang N N. Zhu N N. Zobrist S S. Boixo J J. Kelly E E. Lucero Y Y. Chen V V. Smelyanskiy H H. Neven D D. Kovrizhin (Laboratory of Theoretical Physics and Modelling, CY Cergy Paris Universite, UMR CNRS 8089, Pontoise Cergy-Pontoise Cedex, France.) J J. Knolle J J. C. Halimeh (Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST), Munich, Germany.) I I. Aleiner (Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.) R R. Moessner (Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden, Germany.) P P. Roushan

Abstract

Disorder-induced phenomena in quantum many-body systems pose a challenge for analytical and numerical approaches at relevant time and system scales. To reduce the cost of disorder sampling, we investigated quantum circuits initialized in states that form tunable superpositions over all disorder configurations, which in lattice gauge theories can be interpreted as superpositions over gauge sectors. On the experimentally accessible timescales, we observed localization in the absence of disorder in one and two dimensions: Perturbations failed to diffuse despite fully disorder-free evolution and initial states. However, entropy measurements revealed that superposition-prepared states fundamentally differ from those obtained by direct disorder sampling. Leveraging superposition, we propose an algorithm with a polynomial speedup in sampling disorder configurations, a long-standing challenge in many-body localization studies.

Article Details

Journal Science
Volume / Issue Vol. 393, Issue 6806
Published July 02, 2026
Pages 71-75
ISSN 0036-8075
Publisher American Association for the Advancement of Science

Journal Info

Science

American Association for the Advancement of Science

ISSN: 0036-8075 Social Sciences

Authors (221)

G

G. Gyawali

S

S. Kumar

Y

Y. D. Lensky

E

E. Rosenberg

A

A. Szasz

T

T. Cochran

Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.

R

R. Chen

Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.

A

A. H. Karamlou

N

N. Yosri

S

S. Meeks

K

K. Kechedzhi

J

J. Berndtsson

T

T. Westerhout

A

A. Asfaw

D

D. Abanin

R

R. Acharya

L

L. Aghababaie Beni

T

T. I. Andersen

M

M. Ansmann

F

F. Arute

K

K. Arya

N

N. Astrakhantsev

J

J. Atalaya

R

R. Babbush

B

B. Ballard

J

J. Bardin

Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.

A

A. Bengtsson

A

A. Bilmes

G

G. Bortoli

A

A. Bourassa

J

J. Bovaird

L

L. Brill

M

M. Broughton

D

D. Browne

Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.

B

B. Buchea

B

B. Buckley

Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.

D

D. Buell

Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.

T

T. Burger

B

B. Burkett

N

N. Bushnell

A

A. Cabrera

J

J. Campero

H

H.-S. Chang

Z

Z. Chen

B

B. Chiaro

J

J. Claes

A

A. Cleland

Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.

J

J. Cogan

R

R. Collins

P

P. Conner

W

W. Courtney

A

A. L. Crook

S

S. Das

D

D. M. Debroy

A

A. Del Toro Barba

S

S. Demura

L

L. De Lorenzo

A

A. Di Paolo

P

P. Donohoe

I

I. Drozdov

A

A. Dunsworth

C

C. Earle

A

A. Eickbusch

A

A. Elbag

Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.

M

M. Elzouka

C

C. Erickson

L

L. Faoro

R

R. Fatemi

V

V. Ferreira

Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.

L

L. Flores Burgos

E

E. Forati

A

A. Fowler

Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.

B

B. Foxen

S

S. Ganjam

R

R. Gasca

W

W. Giang

C

C. Gidney

D

D. Gilboa

R

R. Gosula

A

A. Grajales Dau

D

D. Graumann

A

A. Greene

J

J. Gross

Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.

S

S. Habegger

M

M. Hamilton

Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.

M

M. Hansen

M

M. Harrigan

Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.

S

S. Harrington

Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.

S

S. Heslin

P

P. Heu

G

G. Hill

J

J. Hilton

M

M. Hoffmann

Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.

H

H.-Y. Huang

A

A. Huff

W

W. J. Huggins

L

L. B. Ioffe

S

S. V. Isakov

E

E. Jeffrey

Z

Z. Jiang

C

C. Jones

S

S. Jordan

C

C. Joshi

P

P. Juhas

D

D. Kafri

H

H. Kang

T

T. Khaire

T

T. Khattar

M

M. Khezri

M

M. Kieferová

S

S. Kim

P

P. Klimov

A

A. Klots

Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.

B

B. Kobrin

A

A. Korotkov

F

F. Kostritsa

J

J. Kreikebaum

V

V. Kurilovich

D

D. Landhuis

B

B. Langley

P

P. Laptev

K

K.-M. Lau

J

J. Ledford

J

J. Lee

K

K. Lee

B

B. Lester

L

L. Le Guevel

W

W. Li

A

A. Lill

Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.

W

W. Liu

W

W. Livingston

A

A. Locharla

D

D. Lundahl

A

A. Lunt

S

S. Madhuk

A

A. Maloney

S

S. Mandrà

L

L. Martin

S

S. Martin

O

O. Martin

C

C. Maxfield

J

J. McClean

M

M. McEwen

A

A. Megrant

X

X. Mi

K

K. Miao

A

A. Mieszala

R

R. Molavi

S

S. Molina

S

S. Montazeri

A

A. Morvan

R

R. Movassagh

C

C. Neill

A

A. Nersisyan

M

M. Newman

A

A. Nguyen

M

M. Nguyen

C

C.-H. Ni

K

K. Ottosson

A

A. Pizzuto

R

R. Potter

O

O. Pritchard

L

L. Pryadko

Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.

C

C. Quintana

G

G. Ramachandran

M

M. Reagor

D

D. Rhodes

G

G. Roberts

C

C. Rocque

N

N. Rubin

Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.

N

N. Saei

K

K. Sankaragomathi

K

K. Satzinger

H

H. Schurkus

C

C. Schuster

M

M. Shearn

A

A. Shorter

N

N. Shutty

V

V. Shvarts

V

V. Sivak

J

J. Skruzny

S

S. Small

W

W. Clarke Smith

S

S. Springer

G

G. Sterling

J

J. Suchard

M

M. Szalay

A

A. Sztein

D

D. Thor

M

M. Mert Torunbalci

A

A. Vaishnav

S

S. Vdovichev

G

G. Vidal

C

C. Vollgraff Heidweiller

S

S. Waltman

S

S. X. Wang

T

T. White

K

K. Wong

B

B. W. K. Woo

C

C. Xing

Z

Z. Jamie Yao

P

P. Yeh

B

B. Ying

J

J. Yoo

G

G. Young

A

A. Zalcman

Y

Y. Zhang

N

N. Zhu

N

N. Zobrist

S

S. Boixo

J

J. Kelly

E

E. Lucero

Y

Y. Chen

V

V. Smelyanskiy

H

H. Neven

D

D. Kovrizhin

Laboratory of Theoretical Physics and Modelling, CY Cergy Paris Universite, UMR CNRS 8089, Pontoise Cergy-Pontoise Cedex, France.

J

J. Knolle

J

J. C. Halimeh

Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST), Munich, Germany.

I

I. Aleiner

Google Research, Mountain View, CA, USA.

R

R. Moessner

Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden, Germany.

P

P. Roushan