Abstract
We propose a practical, physics-inspired benchmarking suite to challenge both quantum and classical computers by mapping real-time quantum dynamics to a common optimization format. Using a parallel-in-time encoding, we convert the real-time propagator of an n-qubit, possibly non-Hermitian, Hamiltonian into quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) instances that are executable in a solver-agnostic manner on quantum annealers and classical optimizers alike. This enables direct, like-for-like performance comparisons across fundamentally different computational paradigms.To stress-test the framework, we consider eight representative dynamical models spanning single-qubit rotations, multi-qubit entangling gates (Bell, GHZ, cluster), and PT-symmetric and other non-Hermitian generators, and evaluate success probability and time-to-solution as standard benchmarking metrics. Applying this methodology to two generations of D-Wave quantum annealers and to state-of-the-art classical solvers (Simulated Annealing and the GPU-accelerated VeloxQ), we find that Advantage2 consistently outperforms its predecessor, while VeloxQ retains the shortest absolute runtimes, reflecting the maturity of classical heuristics.We further extend the benchmarks to large-scale instances (N ≃ 10⁵), establishing a demanding classical baseline for future hardware. Together, these results position the parallel-in-time QUBO framework as a versatile and physically motivated testbed for quantitatively tracking progress toward quantum-competitive simulation of dynamical systems.