Fast Random Compilers for Time-Dependent and Time-Independent Lindbladian Simulation

Abstract

Randomized product formulas provide simple and flexible methods for quantum simulation. While qDRIFT-type randomized simulation has been extended to Lindbladian dynamics, higher-order randomized compilers have primarily been developed for Hamiltonian simulation. In this work, we develop first- and second-order randomized sampling algorithms for Lindbladian simulation in both the time-independent and time-dependent settings. Building on first-order qDRIFT-type Lindbladian simulation, we introduce a qSWIFT-type second-order correction for time-independent Lindbladians with a finite local decomposition. For $λt \geq 1$, where $λ$ is the sum of the Hamiltonian coefficients and dissipative rates, the resulting approximation achieves normalized diamond-norm error at most $\varepsilon$ using $r=O(λ^2 t^2/\sqrt{\varepsilon})$ time slices, improving the $\varepsilon^{-1}$ precision dependence of the first-order qDRIFT-type approximation. We then develop first- and second-order continuous-time sampling algorithms for general time-dependent Lindbladians, with the second-order construction likewise achieving an $\varepsilon^{-1/2}$ dependence on the target precision in the number of time slices. We further extend the time-dependent construction to a linear-combination input model over local Hamiltonian and dissipative generators, allowing the randomized sampler to be formulated in terms of local evolutions rather than the full time-dependent Lindbladian. Because the second-order corrected maps need not be CPTP, we use them to estimate observable expectation values rather than to deterministically prepare output states.