💻 computer science

Three-Qubit Quantum Energy Teleportation Protocol for Significantly High Energy Efficiency Utilizing Superconducting Qubits

This paper proposes a three-qubit Quantum Energy Teleportation protocol utilizing a novel Ising-model Hamiltonian on superconducting qubits, which achieves a net teleportation efficiency of 34–42% in a Multiple-Input Single-Output configuration, significantly surpassing previous two-qubit implementations.

Original authors: Md Shoyib Hassan, Golam Dastegir Al Quaderi, M. R. C Mahdy

Published 2026-07-14

📖 5 min read🧠 Deep dive

CC BY 4.0

Original authors: Md Shoyib Hassan, Golam Dastegir Al Quaderi, M. R. C Mahdy

Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). ✨ This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer

Imagine you have a secret stash of energy hidden inside a quantum system, like a treasure chest buried in a field of tangled vines. For a long time, scientists knew they could "teleport" this energy from one person (Alice) to another (Bob) without physically moving it, but there was a catch: the process was incredibly wasteful. In the old, simple version using just two "quantum bits" (qubits), for every unit of energy Alice put in, Bob could only get back about 11.7%. The rest seemed to vanish into the quantum noise.

Now, a team of researchers has tried a new trick. They built a slightly more complex machine using three qubits instead of two. Think of it like upgrading from a two-person tug-of-war to a three-person game where the ropes are tied together in a special knot. By using a new mathematical recipe (called an Ising Model Hamiltonian) to tie these three qubits together, they found a way to pull out much more energy than before.

Here is how their new "energy teleportation" works, broken down into two fun scenarios:

Scenario 1: The One-to-Two Party (SIMO)
Imagine Alice is the only one with a flashlight (energy). She shines it into the tangled vine system. Two friends, Bob and Charlie, are waiting at the other end. In this setup, Alice deposits her energy, and Bob and Charlie work together to pull it out.

The Result: When they count up exactly how much energy they got versus how much Alice put in, they found they could retrieve about 8% to 10%.
The Catch: This isn't a huge jump from the old 11.7% single-person result, but it's impressive because they are splitting that energy between two people instead of one, and they are counting every single interaction in the system, not just the easy parts.

Scenario 2: The Two-to-One Heist (MISO)
This is where things get really exciting. Now, imagine two friends, Alice and Charlie, both shine their flashlights into the system at the same time, but they do it in a special, coordinated way (entangling their qubits first). They send the energy to a single receiver, Bob.

The Result: After doing the math and subtracting the energy that Bob accidentally got just because of the setup (the "entangler" part), the team found that Bob could actually extract 34% to 42% of the energy the senders put in.
Why it matters: This is a massive improvement over the old 11.7% limit. It suggests that by adding that third qubit and having two people send the signal, the system becomes much better at letting the receiver grab the energy.

How They Did It
The team didn't just dream this up; they built it. They used real, physical quantum computers from IBM (specifically the ibm brisbane, ibm sherbrooke, and ibm kyiv). These machines use superconducting qubits, which are like tiny electrical circuits that act like quantum particles.

Because real quantum computers are a bit "noisy" (like trying to hear a whisper in a hurricane), the researchers had to use special tricks to clean up the data. They ran the experiment thousands of times and used a method called "error mitigation" to filter out the mistakes. When they did this, they saw something magical: negative energy.

In the quantum world, "negative energy" doesn't mean energy that is less than zero in a bad way; it's a signature that the system has been manipulated so cleverly that the receiver has effectively "borrowed" energy from the vacuum of the ground state. It's like Bob reaching into a dark room and pulling out a lightbulb that wasn't there before, all because Alice told him exactly where to look.

What They Are NOT Saying
It's important to know what this paper doesn't claim. They are not saying they have built a device that can power a city or charge your phone wirelessly right now. The energy amounts are tiny, measured in the specific units of their quantum experiment. They are also not saying this works for any quantum system; they specifically designed a new 3-qubit model to make it work. If you tried this with a random 3-qubit setup, it likely wouldn't work.

The Bottom Line
The authors have shown that by adding just one extra qubit and changing the rules of the game, they can make quantum energy teleportation significantly more efficient. In their simulations and real-world tests on IBM's computers, they proved that the MISO method (two senders, one receiver) can boost efficiency to between 34% and 42%. This doesn't solve all the problems of quantum energy yet, but it suggests that if we keep adding more qubits and refining the knots in our quantum vines, we might one day be able to move energy around the quantum internet much more effectively than we can today.

Technical Summary: Three-Qubit Quantum Energy Teleportation Protocol for Significantly High Energy Efficiency Utilizing Superconducting Qubits

Problem Statement
Quantum Energy Teleportation (QET) is a protocol that utilizes quantum entanglement to transfer energy between distant locations without physical energy carriers, relying on Local Operations and Classical Communication (LOCC). While the first experimental realization of QET on superconducting hardware (using a 2-qubit system) demonstrated the feasibility of the protocol, it suffered from low energy efficiency. Specifically, the minimal 2-qubit model achieved a work efficiency of approximately 11.7% (extracted work relative to deposited energy). The primary challenge addressed in this work is the limitation in energy retrieval efficiency within existing QET frameworks, which restricts the practical utility of the protocol for energy management in quantum systems.

Methodology
The authors propose a novel 3-qubit QET framework utilizing a specific ground-state Ising Model Hamiltonian. The methodology involves the following core components:

Hamiltonian Construction: A new 3-qubit Hamiltonian ( $H_{tot}$ ) is defined, incorporating local fields ( $H_n = hZ_n + c_H$ ) and pairwise interaction terms ( $V_{i,j} = kX_iX_j + c_V$ ). Crucially, scalar constants ( $c_H, c_V$ ) are analytically derived to ensure the ground state $|g\rangle$ satisfies the zero-mean-energy constraint for all local, semi-local, and global Hamiltonian terms. This ensures the ground state is locally passive (no energy can be extracted via local unitary operations alone) while remaining globally entangled.
Ground State Preparation: The ground state $|g\rangle$ is prepared on a 3-qubit system (qubits 0, 1, and 2). The state resides in an odd-parity subspace and is characterized by a single parameter $M$ derived from the coupling strengths $h$ and $k$ .
Protocol Variants: The study investigates two distinct configurations:
- SIMO (Single-Input Multiple-Output): One sender (Alice, qubit 0) deposits energy via a projective measurement of $X_0$ . Two receivers (Bob, qubit 2; Charlie, qubit 1) jointly extract energy using a conditional two-qubit rotation. The accounting includes all interaction terms, including the inter-receiver bond ( $V_{1,2}$ ).
- MISO (Multiple-Input Single-Output): Two senders (Alice and Charlie) entangle their qubits via a CNOT gate and perform a joint projective measurement in the $X$ basis. A single receiver (Bob, qubit 2) extracts the energy using a conditional single-qubit rotation. The efficiency calculation excludes the energy directly deposited into the receiver's bond by the entangling step, focusing on the "teleported" portion.
Experimental Implementation: The protocols were executed on three IBM Quantum Eagle processors (ibm_brisbane, ibm_sherbrooke, ibm_kyiv). The authors employed the "deferred measurement" principle to simulate mid-circuit conditional logic and applied measurement error mitigation techniques (calibration matrices) to correct readout errors.

Key Contributions

Novel 3-Qubit Hamiltonian: The paper introduces a specific Ising Model Hamiltonian for 3 qubits that satisfies strict zero-mean-energy constraints and possesses full permutation symmetry, enabling the exploration of non-trivial topological characteristics and enhanced entanglement structures.
Efficiency Enhancement: The work demonstrates a significant improvement in energy retrieval efficiency compared to the minimal 2-qubit model, particularly in the MISO configuration.
Dual-Protocol Framework: The paper establishes and experimentally validates both SIMO and MISO architectures, demonstrating that QET efficiency can be optimized by varying the number of senders and receivers and the nature of their interactions.
Theoretical Bounds: The authors derive thermodynamic bounds based on the energy-entropy relation, showing that the increased efficiency in the 3-qubit system corresponds to a greater consumption of mutual information (entanglement) available in the ground state.

Results

MISO Performance: In the Multiple-Input Single-Output model, the net teleportation efficiency (extracted negative energy relative to the senders' deposit, excluding direct bond deposits) ranged from 34% to 42% for coupling ratios $k/h$ between 3 and 4. This is substantially higher than the ~11.7% achieved in the 2-qubit model.
SIMO Performance: In the Single-Input Multiple-Output model, the honest efficiency (accounting for the inter-receiver bond cost) ranged from 8% to 10%. While comparable to the 2-qubit value, this result is significant as it distributes energy to two receivers from a single deposit while retaining all interaction terms in the energy balance.
Experimental Validation: Experimental results on IBM hardware, after error mitigation, closely matched analytical predictions. For instance, on ibm_sherbrooke with parameters $(h=1, k=4)$ , the measured interaction bond value was approximately 91% accurate relative to the theoretical prediction. Negative energy density ( $\langle E_b \rangle < 0$ ) was successfully observed, confirming the signature of QET.
Optimality: The study confirms that the simple conditional $R_Y$ rotation used by the receiver is optimal, saturating the single-qubit ergotropy bound for the given ground state.

Significance and Claims
The paper claims that this work represents the first realization of a 3-qubit QET protocol, offering a step forward in practical quantum energy applications. The primary significance lies in the demonstrated ability to significantly enhance energy extraction efficiency (up to 42% in MISO) by leveraging the specific entanglement structure of a 3-qubit Ising ground state.

The authors assert that their novel Hamiltonian bridges the gap between quantum mechanics and quantum field theory by providing a lattice model that better approximates specific quantum fields. They claim the protocol enables the exploration of non-trivial topological characteristics and offers a framework for more robust quantum gate simulations with higher fault tolerance.

Regarding future implications, the paper suggests that these enhanced protocols can be integrated into existing quantum systems for improved functionality. It posits that the ability to distribute energy (SIMO) or aggregate it (MISO) could benefit advanced quantum communication schemes, such as Quantum Oblivious Transfer and quantum blockchain architectures. Furthermore, the authors suggest that the successful demonstration of negative energy extraction validates fundamental principles for designing quantum batteries and thermal machines. The work is presented as a foundation for scalable implementations, potentially contributing to the development of global quantum networks where physical quantities (energy) can be transmitted alongside information.

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