False vacuum decay – the transition from a metastable quantum state to a true vacuum state – plays an important role in quantum field theory and non-equilibrium phenomena such as phase transitions and dynamical metastability. The non-perturbative nature of false vacuum decay and the limited experimental access to this process make it challenging to study, leaving several open questions regarding how true vacuum bubbles form, move, and interact. Here, we observe quantized bubble formation in real time, a key feature of false vacuum decay dynamics, using a quantum annealer with 5564 superconducting flux qubits. We develop an effective model that captures both the initial bubble creation and subsequent interactions, and remains accurate under dissipation. The annealer reveals coherent scaling laws in the driven many-body dynamics for more than 1000 intrinsic qubit time units. This work provides a method for investigating false vacuum dynamics of large quantum systems in quantum annealers.
On the website, we only use cookies that are permitted in accordance with the ZEKom-1 law. Only cookies that are absolutely necessary for the operation of this website are used. To record page visit statistics, we use a system that only records the session cookie and does not track your further behavior on the website or in connection with other sites. By continuing to use this website, you agree to the use of the described cookies.