Researchers from the Department of Energy’s Quantum Science Center (QSC) headquartered at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have achieved a significant milestone by demonstrating the first digital quantum simulations of how spin currents change over time in a 1-D model of a quantum spin material. The results, now published in Physical Review Letters, establish a new, programmable way to use quantum computers to study the transport of spin—a fundamental quantum variable—in materials.

Spin transport measurements are a cornerstone of condensed matter physics, providing important insight into how quantum materials carry energy and information. In this work, QSC researchers, led by Purdue University’s Arnab Banerjee, demonstrated how a quantum computer can simulate spin transport behavior across ballistic, diffusive, and superdiffusive—meaning a faster and farther spread than typical diffusion—motion.

These different cases of spin transport represent fundamental changes in how the material responds to experimental probes. The simulation results make a direct comparison with experimental materials and open new avenues for understanding complex quantum phenomena such as coherence and energy flow in quantum materials.