Energy relaxation via quantum thermalization: A superconducting qubit coupled to an interacting many-body two-level system

Abstract:Two-level systems (TLS) are widely recognized as a dominant source of energy relaxation in superconducting qubits, limiting coherence times and device performance. While TLS-induced dissipation is often modeled as independent channels, interacting TLS can form finite many-body environments whose dynamical role in qubit relaxation remains insufficiently understood. Building on the information-erasure-based framework for irreversible thermalization developed in our previous work, we present a microscopic model and numerical simulations of a superconducting qubit coupled to a finite interacting many-body TLS environment as a concrete physical realization of this mechanism. We show that effective irreversible energy relaxation can emerge from intrinsic many-body dynamics without invoking external baths or phenomenological dissipation. The introduction of information erasure drives a transition from coherent oscillatory energy exchange to nonoscillatory exponential relaxation of the qubit. The relaxation times exhibit the scaling $T_1, T_2 \propto J_{q,\tau}^{-2}$ with respect to the qubit-TLS coupling strength, consistent with Fermi's golden rule and Lindblad-type descriptions. Importantly, both exponential decay and its scaling behavior arise directly from microscopic many-body dynamics. These results provide quantitative insight into TLS-induced decoherence mechanisms and establish a microscopic link between information erasure, many-body thermalization, and irreversible relaxation in superconducting quantum systems.

arXiv:2603.13322 [quant-ph]

(or arXiv:2603.13322v3 [quant-ph] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2603.13322 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite

APS Open Sci. 1, 000099 (2026)

https://doi.org/10.1103/b11b-3hm4 Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources

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