Metastability in open quantum systems is usually inferred from spectral separation in the Liouvillian, which governs unconditional, ensemble-averaged dynamics. We show that this diagnosis is incomplete at the level of individual quantum trajectories: conditioned realizations of the same unconditional dynamics can bypass, transiently access, or operationally preserve a metastable memory, depending on the monitored channel and the observed record. We demonstrate these mechanisms in a driven-dissipative nonlinear oscillator realizing a quantum associative memory, by comparing spectra, target fidelities, and phase-space distributions. The non-Hermitian dynamics obtained by post-selecting on the absence of detected events supports metastable retrieval, but with a distinct long-time fate: normalization selects the least-decaying mode of the non-Hermitian spectrum rather than the addressed memory branch. In contrast, stochastic jump trajectories can preserve retrieval over extended times when the post-measurement update remains compatible with the coherent memory structure. Thus trajectory-level metastability is not determined by the averaged generator alone; it requires compatibility between the monitored channel, the measurement record, and the metastable manifold.
Manali Malakar, Roberta Zambrini, G. Giorgi· 0 citations
The suitability of a quantum reservoir computing (QRC) platform for a given time-series processing task is closely tied to the dynamical properties of its computational substrate and design. Information is injected into, processed by, and read from this substrate, and finally passed to a linear readout layer which is trained to perform a specific task. In this work we introduce a classical-quantum state derived from the process tensor representing the dynamical part of this process for typical QRC protocols found in the literature. Using this object, mutual informations between physical subsystems and subsets of past inputs can be written as Holevo quantities, which we then use to numerically investigate information saturation in the substrate, fading memory of past inputs, and the local accessibility of injected information for a commonly used QRC platform. We then extract two diagnostics that characterise the nonlocal scrambling of information within, and loss of information from the substrate, and compare these to QRC performance across Hamiltonian parameters and measurement strengths. Finally, we comment on future directions that the framework introduced here opens up for the study and extension of the QRC program.
Quantum reservoir computing (QRC) provides a powerful framework for processing temporal data using quantum dynamics, but incorporating measurements into the reservoir remains a fundamental challenge and distinctive feature with respect to classical settings. The induced back-action can vary from a source of disturbance to a computational resource, as measurement deeply modifies the dynamics underlying temporal processing. Existing approaches have treated specific monitoring schemes independently, missing the common physical principles governing online quantum reservoirs. Here we develop a general theory of monitored quantum reservoir computing based on indirect quantum measurements, which unifies projective, weak, partial, and dissipative monitoring protocols within a single operational framework. Measurement back-action can serve as a controllable resource, providing the effective dissipation and non-unital dynamics required for successful QRC, even when the underlying unmonitored evolution is unsuitable. We derive general criteria under which monitored dynamics satisfy the echo-state property, fading memory, and input separability, including a necessary and sufficient condition for emergent strict contractivity. By comparing different monitoring schemes under a common reference dynamics, we show that these protocols are not interchangeable parameterizations to be optimized for peak performance, but rather constitute qualitatively distinct routes to computational capability, each enabled by the interplay between information extraction and measurement-induced disturbance -- a trade-off that can be further shaped through time multiplexing. Our results provide a unified theoretical foundation for online monitored quantum reservoir computing and establish quantum measurement engineering as a systematic approach for designing reservoir architectures across different quantum platforms.
Oriol Morguí-Sancho, Gonzalo Manzano, G. Giorgi et al.· 2 citations
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