Measuring chaos: Researchers quantify the quantum butterfly effect

• For the first time, researchers in China have accurately quantified how chaos increases in a quantum many-body system as it evolves over time. • Combining experiments and theory, a team led by Yu-Chen Li at the University of Science and Technology of China showed that the level of chaos grows exponentially when time reversal is applied to these systems-matching predictions of their extreme sensitivity to errors. • The research has been published in Physical Review Letters.

Article Summaries:

• For the first time, researchers in China have accurately quantified how chaos increases in a quantum many-body system as it evolves over time. Combining experiments and theory, a team led by Yu-Chen Li at the University of Science and Technology of China showed that the level of chaos grows exponentially when time reversal is applied to these systems-matching predictions of their extreme sensitivity to errors. The research has been published in Physical Review Letters.

Sources:

• https://phys.org/news/2026-02-chaos-quantify-quantum-butterfly-effect.html