Abstract
We introduce a variational hybrid classical-quantum algorithm to simulate the Lindblad master equation and its adjoint for time-evolving Markovian open quantum systems and quantum observables. Our method is based on a direct representation of density matrices and quantum observables as quantum superstates. We design and optimize low-depth variational quantum circuits that efficiently capture the unitary and non-unitary dynamics of the solutions. We benchmark and test the algorithm on different system sizes, showing its potential for utility with near-future hardware.