Figure 2: Effective energy potential using hL=0.44.
From: Computational multiqubit tunnelling in programmable quantum annealers
The mean field potential is plotted versus annealing parameter s and tilt angle θL of each spin vector in the left cluster. The red line corresponds to a path that starts in the initial global minimum and follows the instantaneous local energy minimum. A second local minimum (dashed blue line) forms at the bifurcation point s=0.18. The global minimum is found in this second path after s=0.24 (dashed to continuous blue line). To reach this global minimum the system state has to traverse the energy barrier between them (dashed green line), either by thermal activation or by quantum tunnelling.
