Prethermalization by random multipolar driving on a 78-qubit processor - Nature

"Periodically driven (Floquet) systems can host far-from-equilibrium phenomena that are absent in thermal equilibrium8. Prominent examples include the discrete-time crystals, Floquet topological matter9,10 and dynamical phase transitions11,12. Periodic drives have also been widely used for Floquet engineering of many-body interactions and mitigating environment-induced decoherence16,17, serving as a robust and versatile approach to stabilize and control modern quantum simulators18,19. Explorations of non-periodic driving"

"Owing to the lack of energy conservation, generic time-dependent many-body systems are inherently susceptible to heating, eventually ending in a featureless infinite-temperature state4,5, where the subsystem entanglement entropy also reaches its maximum-the Page value30. This heating effect thus poses a fundamental challenge for utilizing large-scale quantum simulators and stabilizing sought-after phases, especially over long timescales. In Floquet systems, however, heating can be suppressed by many-body localization, induced via efficiently strong spatial disorder31,32. In clean systems, however, heating can also be exponentially suppressed by using high-frequency drives6,7,"

Periodically driven (Floquet) systems host far-from-equilibrium phenomena absent in thermal equilibrium, including discrete-time crystals, Floquet topological matter, and dynamical phase transitions. Periodic drives enable Floquet engineering of many-body interactions and mitigate environment-induced decoherence, providing robust control for quantum simulators. Non-periodic driving, including quasi-periodic and structured random drives, produces discrete-time quasi-crystals and time rondeau crystals, expanding temporal order possibilities. Lack of energy conservation causes generic time-dependent many-body systems to heat toward a featureless infinite-temperature state where subsystem entanglement entropy reaches the Page value. Many-body localization from strong disorder and high-frequency driving can suppress heating, yielding long-lived prethermal regimes. Temporal randomness in drives opens rapid energy absorption channels that lead to swift heating.

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