New toolbox helps tackle dynamics in long-range interacting particles

Latest research from the Turkheshi Group based at THP Cologne tackles a key challenge in quantum science: understanding how groups of particles behave when they’re being monitored and interact with each other over long distances. These systems are important for next-generation quantum technologies, but their behavior has been hard to predict.

The research team developed a powerful toolbox that lets scientists simulate these quantum systems more efficiently and in greater detail than before, helping us see how complex patterns like entanglement emerge and evolve. This approach works especially well for cutting-edge platforms like trapped ions and Rydberg atoms, and it even sheds light on how these systems go through phase transitions based on how particles interact. Ultimately, the work opens the door to better design and control of quantum devices.

Publication: Li, Z., Delmonte, A., Turkeshi, X. et al. Monitored long-range interacting systems: spin-wave theory for quantum trajectories. Nat Commun 16, 4329 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59557-w

The figure illustrates how the collective behavior of long-range interacting quantum spins is modeled and tracked over time using a moving reference frame that follows their evolving average direction under continuous measurement and dissipation. [Figure 1: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59557-w#Ack1]