Stability of the Trotter-Suzuki decomposition

Abstract: The Trotter-Suzuki decomposition is an important tool for the simulation and control of physical systems. We provide evidence for the stability of the Trotter-Suzuki decomposition. We model the error in the decomposition and determine sufficiency conditions that guarantee the stability of this decomposition under this model. We relate these sufficiency conditions to precision limitations of computing and control in both classical and quantum cases. Furthermore we show that bounded-error Trotter-Suzuki decomposition can be achieved by a suitable choice of machine precision.