• Accepted Paper

Open-system adiabatic quantum search under dephasing

Afaf El Kalai, Peter J. Eder, and Christian B. Mendl

Phys. Rev. A - Accepted 14 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/9q9k-92cf

Abstract

Adiabatic quantum algorithms must evolve slowly enough to suppress non-adiabatic transitions while remaining fast enough to be practical. In open systems, this trade-off is reshaped by decoherence. For Hamiltonians subject to dephasing Lindbladians, Avron et al.~ showed that a unique timetable exists that maximizes the fidelity with a target state. This optimal schedule is characterized by a constant tunneling rate along the adiabatic path. In this work, we revisit their analysis and apply it to the adiabatic Grover search framework, obtaining closed-form expressions for the optimal evolution schedule, the minimum runtime, and the resulting achievable fidelity. Moreover, by invoking an energy–time uncertainty argument, we identify a critical dephasing threshold beyond which further noise-assisted acceleration is prohibited, showing that the apparent advantage of strong dephasing is a Zeno-type stabilization mechanism rather than a conventional algorithmic speedup over unitary Grover search.

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