This paper investigates the evolution of entanglement in a quantum simulator under consecutive qubit measurements. The authors demonstrate that this process can lead to criticality, separating two distinct phases of entanglement: a paramagnetic phase and a spin glass phase. Using a quantum simulator with up to 48 superconducting qubits, they prepare an entangled superposition of ground states and progressively measure qubits, observing a vitrification point and a transition into the spin glass phase. The findings suggest that coupling to a classical environment may induce critical phenomena in more general quantum states.

Jeremy Côté, Stefanos Kourtis