Observation of parity-time symmetry breaking in a single-spin system

Steering the evolution of single spin systems is crucial for quantum computing and quantum sensing. The dynamics of quantum systems has been theoretically investigated with parity-time–symmetric Hamiltonians exhibiting exotic properties. Although parity-time symmetry has been explored in classical systems, its observation in a single quantum system remains elusive. We developed a method to dilate a general parity-time–symmetric Hamiltonian into a Hermitian one. The quantum state evolutions ranging from regions of unbroken to broken PT symmetry have been observed with a single nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond. Owing to the universality of the dilation method, our result provides a route for further exploiting and understanding the exotic properties of parity-time symmetric Hamiltonian in quantum systems.