Ignacio Cirac

Quantum Theory

Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Technical University of Munich

MPQ | Hans-Kopfermann-Str. 1

85748 Garching

Tel. +49 89 32905 736

ignacio.cirac[at]mpq.mpg.de

Research Website

What inspires me most about science is the possibility of learning something new every day.

Description

Research focus: quantum optics, quantum many body physics, quantum information

We carry out theoretical research in Quantum Optics, Quantum Information, and Quantum Many-Body Physics.

Quantum Optics

In Quantum Optics, we investigate how microscopic systems can be controlled and manipulated at the quantum level using external fields, and how such systems can be scaled up in a controlled way. We propose experiments that aim at observing interesting quantum phenomena, and develop specific theoretical tools for the problems at hand. We also develop proposals that use atomic systems for the quantum simulation of e.g. condensed matter or high energy physics models. The systems we explore include atoms in optical lattices, trapped ions, quantum dots, but also novel platforms (levitating spheres, nanoplasmonic lattices, NV-centers in diamond), hybrid systems and the use of engineered dissipation.

Quantum Information Theory

We also participate in the development of a theory of Quantum Information, which will be the basis of the applications in the world of communication and computation once microscopic systems can be controlled at the quantum level. This includes the study of the computational power of quantum computing, and which quantum states and computations can be simulated classically, but also the design of new quantum algorithms and quantum memories. In the field of quantum communication, we are concerned with the security of quantum key distribution schemes and the preparation of long-range entanglement, necessary for the construction of quantum networks. Our group also investigates questions related to Quantum Foundations, which aim at testing Quantum Mechanics itself. In particular we investigate macroscopic realism, as well as the possibilities of macroscopic superpositions.

Condensed Matter Physics

Another main research line consists of applying the ideas of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information to other disciplines, in particular to Condensed Matter Physics and the study of Quantum Many-Body Systems. A central tool are tensor networks, such as PEPS or MERA, with which we explore fermionic systems, mixed states, quantum field theories (with continuous MPS), and conformal field theories (with infinite MPS). We use them to theoretically characterize topological phases, classify the phases of matter, do renormalization group theory, establish a bulk-boundary correspondence and find parent Hamiltonians for states of interest. We also use them numerically to explore dynamical properties, anyonic excitations, and investigate High Energy Physics models. Finally, we also investigate phase diagrams of quantum spin models and analyze specific models.


Role within MCQST

Publications

Efficient Quantum Algorithm for Filtering Product States

R. Irmejs, M. C. Bañuls, J. I. Cirac

Quantum 8, 1389 (2024).

Show Abstract

We introduce a quantum algorithm to efficiently prepare states with a small energy variance at the target energy. We achieve it by filtering a product state at the given energy with a Lorentzian filter of width S. Given a local Hamiltonian on N qubits, we construct a parent Hamiltonian whose ground state corresponds to the filtered product state with vari root able energy variance proportional to S N. We prove that the parent Hamiltonian is gapped and its ground state can be efficiently implemented in poly(N, 1/S) time via adiabatic evolution. We numerically benchmark the algorithm for a particular non-integrable model and find that the adiabatic evolution time to prepare the filtered state with a width S is independent of the system size N. Furthermore, the adiabatic evolution can be implemented with circuit depth O(N2S-4). Our algorithm provides a way to study the finite energy regime of many body systems in quantum simulators by directly preparing a finite energy state, providing access to an approximation of the microcanonical properties at an arbitrary energy.

DOI: 10.22331/q-2024-06-27-1389

Phase-Sensitive Quantum Measurement without Controlled Operations

Y. L. Yang, A. Christianen, M. C. Bañuls, D. S. Wild, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Letters 132 (22), 220601 (2024).

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Many quantum algorithms rely on the measurement of complex quantum amplitudes. Standard approaches to obtain the phase information, such as the Hadamard test, give rise to large overheads due to the need for global controlled-unitary operations. We introduce a quantum algorithm based on complex analysis that overcomes this problem for amplitudes that are a continuous function of time. Our method only requires the implementation of real-time evolution and a shallow circuit that approximates a short imaginary-time evolution. We show that the method outperforms the Hadamard test in terms of circuit depth and that it is suitable for current noisy quantum computers when combined with a simple errormitigation strategy.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.220601

Probing off-diagonal eigenstate thermalization with tensor networks

M. Luo, R. Trivedi, M. C. Bañuls, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review B 109 (13), 134304 (2024).

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Energy filter methods in combination with quantum simulation can efficiently access the properties of quantum simulating this algorithm with tensor networks can be used to investigate the microcanonical properties of large spin chains, as recently shown by Y. Yang et al. [Phys. Rev. B 106, 024307 (2022)]. Here we extend this strategy to explore the properties of off-diagonal matrix elements of observables in the energy eigenbasis, fundamentally connected to the thermalization behavior and the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis. We test the method on integrable and nonintegrable spin chains of up to 60 sites, much larger than accessible with exact diagonalization. Our results allow us to explore the scaling of the off-diagonal functions with the size and energy difference, and to establish quantitative differences between integrable and nonintegrable cases.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.109.134304

Phase diagram for strong-coupling Bose polarons

A. Christianen, J. I. Cirac, R. Schmidt

Scipost Physics 16 (3), 67 (2024).

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Important properties of complex quantum many-body systems and their phase diagrams can often already be inferred from the impurity limit. The Bose polaron problem describing an impurity atom immersed in a Bose-Einstein condensate is a paradigmatic example. The interplay between the impurity-mediated attraction between the bosons and their intrinsic repulsion makes this model rich and interesting, but also complex to describe theoretically. To tackle this challenge, we develop a quantum chemistry-inspired computational technique and compare two variational methods that fully include both the boson-impurity and interboson interactions. We find one regime where the impuritymediated interactions overcome the repulsion between the bosons, so that a sweep of the boson-impurity interaction strength leads to an instability of the polaron due to the formation of many-body clusters. If instead the interboson interactions dominate, the impurity will experience a crossover from a polaron into a few-body bound state. We achieve a unified understanding incorporating both of these regimes and show that they are experimentally accessible. Moreover, we develop an analytical model that allows us to interpret these phenomena in the Landau framework of phase transitions, revealing a deep connection of the Bose polaron model to both few- and many-body physics.

DOI: 10.21468/SciPostPhys.16.3.067

Fermionic matter-wave quantum optics with cold-atom impurity models

B. Windt, M. Bello, E. Demler, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review A 109 (2), 23306 (2024).

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Motivated by recent cold-atom realizations of matter-wave waveguide QED, we study simple fermionic impurity models and discuss fermionic analogs of several paradigmatic phenomena in quantum optics, including formation of nontrivial bound states, (matter-wave) emission dynamics, and collective dissipation. For a single impurity, we highlight interesting ground-state features, focusing in particular on real-space signatures of an emergent length scale associated with an impurity screening cloud. We also present non-Markovian many-body effects in the quench dynamics of single- and multiple-impurity systems, including fractional decay around the Fermi level and multiexcitation population trapping due to bound states in the continuum.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.109.023306

Preparation of Matrix Product States with Log-Depth Quantum Circuits

D. Malz, G. Styliaris, Z. Y. Wei, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Letters 132 (4), 40404 (2024).

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We consider the preparation of matrix product states (MPS) on quantum devices via quantum circuits of local gates. We first prove that faithfully preparing translation-invariant normal MPS of N sites requires a circuit depth T = Omega(log N). We then introduce an algorithm based on the renormalization-group transformation to prepare normal MPS with an error epsilon in depth T = O[log(N/epsilon)], which is optimal. We also show that measurement and feedback leads to an exponential speedup of the algorithm to T = O[log log(N/epsilon)]. Measurements also allow one to prepare arbitrary translation-invariant MPS, including long-range non-normal ones, in the same depth. Finally, the algorithm naturally extends to inhomogeneous MPS.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.040404

Variational Monte Carlo algorithm for lattice gauge theories with continuous gauge groups: A study of (2+1)-dimensional compact QED with dynamical fermions at finite density

J. Bender, P. Emonts, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Research 5 (4), 43128 (2023).

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Lattice gauge theories coupled to fermionic matter account for many interesting phenomena in both high-energy physics and condensed-matter physics. Certain regimes, e.g., at finite fermion density, are difficult to simulate with traditional Monte Carlo algorithms due to the so-called sign problem. We present a variational, sign-problem-free Monte Carlo method for lattice gauge theories with continuous gauge groups and apply it to (2+1)-dimensional compact QED with dynamical fermions at finite density. The variational ansatz is formulated in the full gauge-field basis, i.e., without having to resort to truncation schemes for the U(1) gauge-field Hilbert space. The ansatz consists of two parts: first, a pure gauge part based on Jastrow-type ansatz states (which can be connected to certain neural-network ansatz states) and, second, a fermionic part based on gauge-field-dependent fermionic Gaussian states. These are designed in such a way that the gauge-field integral over all fermionic Gaussian states is gauge-invariant and at the same time still efficiently tractable. To ensure the validity of the method we benchmark the pure gauge part of the ansatz against another variational method and the full ansatz against an existing Monte Carlo simulation where the sign problem is absent. Moreover, in limiting cases where the exact ground state is known we show that our ansatz is able to capture this behavior. Finally, we study a sign-problem affected regime by probing density-induced phase transitions.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.043128

Quantum simulation of Z2 lattice gauge theory with minimal resources

R. Irmejs, M. C. Bañuls, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review D 108 (7), 74503 (2023).

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The quantum simulation of fermionic gauge field theories is one of the anticipated uses of quantum computers in the noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) era. Recently work has been done to simulate properties of the fermionic Z(2) gauge field theory in (1 + 1)D and the pure gauge theory in (2 + 1)D. In this work, we investigate various options for simulating the fermionic Z(2) gauge field theory in (2 + 1)D. To simulate the theory on a NISQ device it is vital to minimize both the number of qubits used and the circuit depth. In this work we propose ways to optimize both criteria for simulating time dynamics. In particular, we develop a new way to simulate this theory on a quantum computer, with minimal qubit requirements. We provide a quantum circuit for simulating a single first-order Trotter step that minimizes the number of 2-qubit gates needed and gives comparable results to methods requiring more qubits. Furthermore, we investigate variational Trotterization approaches that allow us to further decrease the circuit depth.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.108.074503

Simulating Prethermalization Using Near-Term Quantum Computers

Y. L. Yang, A. Christianen, S. Coll-Vinent, V. Smelyanskiy, M. C. Bañuls, T. E. O'Brien, D. S. Wild, J. I. Cirac

Prx Quantum 4 (3), 30320 (2023).

Show Abstract

Quantum simulation is one of the most promising scientific applications of quantum computers. Due to decoherence and noise in current devices, it is however challenging to perform digital quantum simulation in a regime that is intractable with classical computers. In this work, we propose an experimental protocol for probing dynamics and equilibrium properties on near-term digital quantum computers. As a key ingredient of our work, we show that it is possible to study thermalization even with a relatively coarse Trotter decomposition of the Hamiltonian evolution of interest. Even though the step size is too large to permit a rigorous bound on the Trotter error, we observe that the system prethermalizes in accordance with previous results for Floquet systems. The dynamics closely resemble the thermalization of the model underlying the Trotterization up to long times. We make our approach resilient to noise by developing an error mitigation scheme based on measurement and rescaling of survival probabilities, which is applicable to time-evolution problems in general. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the entire protocol by applying it to the two-dimensional XY model and we numerically verify its performance with realistic noise parameters for superconducting quantum devices. Our proposal thus provides a route to achieving quantum advantage for relevant problems in condensed-matter physics.

DOI: 10.1103/PRXQuantum.4.030320

Efficient adiabatic preparation of tensor network states

Z. Y. Wei, D. Malz, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Research 5 (2), L022037 (2023).

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We propose and study a specific adiabatic path to prepare those tensor network states that are unique ground states of few-body parent Hamiltonians in finite lattices, which include normal tensor network states, as well as other relevant nonnormal states. This path guarantees a gap for finite systems and allows for efficient numerical simulation. In one dimension, we numerically investigate the preparation of a family of states with varying correlation lengths and the one-dimensional Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki (AKLT) state and show that adiabatic preparation can be much faster than standard methods based on sequential preparation. We also apply the method to the two-dimensonal AKLT state on the hexagonal lattice, for which no method based on sequential preparation is known, and show that it can be prepared very efficiently for relatively large lattices.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.L022037

Symmetries and field tensor network states

A. Gasull, A. Tilloy, J. I. Cirac, G. Sierra

Physical Review B 107 (15), 155102 (2023).

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We study the interplay between symmetry representations of the physical and virtual space on the class of tensor network states for critical spins systems known as field tensor network states (fTNSs). These are by construction infinite-dimensional tensor networks whose virtual space is described by a conformal field theory (CFT). We can represent a symmetry on the physical index as a commutator with the corresponding CFT current on the virtual space. By then studying this virtual space representation we can learn about the critical symmetry-protected topological properties of the state, akin to the classification of symmetry-protected topological order for matrix product states. We use this to analytically derive the critical symmetry-protected topological properties of the two ground states of the Majumdar-Ghosh point with respect to the previously defined symmetries.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.107.155102

Few-Body Analog Quantum Simulation with Rydberg-Dressed Atoms in Optical Lattices

D. Malz, J. I. Cirac

Prx Quantum 4 (2), 20301 (2023).

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Most experiments with ultracold atoms in optical lattices have contact interactions and therefore operate at high densities of around one atom per site to observe the effect of strong interactions. Strong ranged interactions can be generated via Rydberg dressing, which opens up the path to exploring the physics of few interacting particles. Rather than the unit cells of a crystal, the sites of the optical lattice can now be interpreted as discretized space. This allows the study of completely new types of problems in a familiar architecture. We investigate the possibility of realizing problems akin to those found in quantum chemistry, although with a different scaling law in the interactions. Through numerical simulation, we show that simple pseudoatoms and pseudomolecules could be prepared with high fidelity in state-of-the-art experiments.

DOI: 10.1103/PRXQuantum.4.020301

Topological effects in two-dimensional quantum emitter systems

M. Bello, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review B 107 (5), 54301 (2023).

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"In this work, we show how novel topological effects appear when considering arrangements of increasing complexity of quantum emitters coupled to two-dimensional bosonic topological insulators. For a single emitter coupled to the Haldane model, we find a ""fragile"" quasibound state that makes the emitter dynamics very sensitive to the model's parameters and gives rise to effective long-range interactions that break time-reversal symmetry. We then discuss one-dimensional arrangements of emitters, emitter line defects, and how the topology of the bath affects the effective polariton models that appear in the weak-coupling regime when the emitters are spectrally tuned to a band gap. In the Harper-Hofstadter model, we link the nonmonotonic character of the effective interactions to the Chern numbers of the surrounding energy bands, while in the Haldane model, we show that the effective models are either gapless or not depending on the topology of the bath. Last, we discuss how the presence of emitters forming an ordered array, an emitter superlattice, can produce polariton models with nontrivial Chern numbers, and also modify the topology of the photonic states in the bath."

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.107.054301

Long-Range Free Fermions: Lieb-Robinson Bound, Clustering Properties, and Topological Phases

Z. P. Gong, T. Guaita, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Letters 130 (7), 70401 (2023).

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We consider free fermions living on lattices in arbitrary dimensions, where hopping amplitudes follow a power-law decay with respect to the distance. We focus on the regime where this power is larger than the spatial dimension (i.e., where the single particle energies are guaranteed to be bounded) for which we provide a comprehensive series of fundamental constraints on their equilibrium and nonequilibrium properties. First, we derive a Lieb-Robinson bound which is optimal in the spatial tail. This bound then implies a clustering property with essentially the same power law for the Green's function, whenever its variable lies outside the energy spectrum. The widely believed (but yet unproven in this regime) clustering property for the ground-state correlation function follows as a corollary among other implications. Finally, we discuss the impact of these results on topological phases in long-range free-fermion systems: they justify the equivalence between Hamiltonian and state-based definitions and the extension of the short-range phase classification to systems with decay power larger than the spatial dimension. Additionally, we argue that all the short-range topological phases are unified whenever this power is allowed to be smaller.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.070401

Free-fermion Page curve: Canonical typicality and dynamical emergence

X. H. Yu, Z. P. Gong, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Research 5 (1), 13044 (2023).

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We provide further analytical insights into the recently established noninteracting (free-fermion) Page curve, focusing on both the kinematic and dynamical aspects. First, we unveil the underlying canonical typicality and atypicality for random free-fermion states. The former appears for a small subsystem and is exponentially weaker than the well-known result in the interacting case. The latter explains why the free-fermion Page curve differs remarkably from the interacting one when the subsystem is macroscopically large, i.e., comparable with the entire system. Second, we find that the free-fermion Page curve emerges with unexpectedly high accuracy in some simple tight-binding models in long-time quench dynamics. This contributes a rare analytical result concerning quantum thermalization on a macroscopic scale, where conventional paradigms such as the generalized Gibbs ensemble and quasiparticle picture are not applicable.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.013044

Error Propagation in NISQ Devices for Solving Classical Optimization Problems

G. Gonzalez-Garcia, R. Trivedi, J. I. Cirac

Prx Quantum 3 (4), 40326 (2022).

Show Abstract

We propose a random circuit model that attempts to capture the behavior of noisy intermediate-scale quantum devices when used for variationally solving classical optimization problems. Our model accounts for the propagation of arbitrary single-qubit errors through the circuit. We find that, even with a small noise rate, the quality of the obtained optima implies that a single-qubit error rate of 1/(nD) (where n is the number of qubits and D is the circuit depth) is needed for the possibility of a quantum advantage. We estimate that this translates to an error rate lower than 10-6 using the quantum approximate optimization algorithm for classical optimization problems with two-dimensional circuits.

DOI: 10.1103/PRXQuantum.3.040326

Gaussian matrix product states cannot efficiently describe critical systems

A. Franco-Rubio, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review B 106 (23), 235136 (2022).

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Gaussian fermionic matrix product states (GfMPS) form a class of ansatz quantum states for 1d systems of noninteracting fermions. We show, for a simple critical model of free hopping fermions, that (i) any GfMPS approximation to its ground state must have bond dimension scaling superpolynomially with the system size, whereas (ii) there exists a non-Gaussian fermionic MPS approximation to this state with polynomial bond dimension. This proves that, in general, imposing Gaussianity at the level of the tensor network may significantly alter its capability to efficiently approximate critical Gaussian states. We also provide numerical evidence that the required bond dimension is subexponential, and thus can still be simulated with moderate resources.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.106.235136

Transitions in Computational Complexity of Continuous-Time Local Open Quantum Dynamics

R. Trivedi, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Letters 129 (26), 260405 (2022).

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We analyze the complexity of classically simulating continuous-time dynamics of locally interacting quantum spin systems with a constant rate of entanglement breaking noise. We prove that a polynomial time classical algorithm can be used to sample from the state of the spins when the rate of noise is higher than a threshold determined by the strength of the local interactions. Furthermore, by encoding a 1D fault tolerant quantum computation into the dynamics of spin systems arranged on two or higher dimensional grids, we show that for several noise channels, the problem of weakly simulating the output state of both purely Hamiltonian and purely dissipative dynamics is expected to be hard in the low-noise regime.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.260405

Variational Ansatz for the Ground State of the Quantum Sherrington-Kirkpatrick Model

P. M. Schindler, T. Guaita, T. Shi, E. Demler, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Letters 129 (22), 220401 (2022).

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We present an Ansatz for the ground states of the quantum Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model, a paradigmatic model for quantum spin glasses. Our Ansatz, based on the concept of generalized coherent states, very well captures the fundamental aspects of the model, including the ground state energy and the position of the spin glass phase transition. It further enables us to study some previously unexplored features, such as the nonvanishing longitudinal field regime and the entanglement structure of the ground states. We find that the ground state entanglement can be captured by a simple ensemble of weighted graph states with normally distributed phase gates, leading to a volume law entanglement, contrasting with predictions based on entanglement monogamy.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.220401

Locality optimization for parent Hamiltonians of tensor networks

G. Giudici, J. I. Cirac, N. Schuch

Physical Review B 106 (3), 35109 (2022).

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Tensor network states form a powerful framework for both the analytical and numerical study of strongly correlated phases. Vital to their analytical utility is that they appear as the exact ground states of associated parent Hamiltonians, where canonical proof techniques guarantee a controlled ground space structure. Yet, while those Hamiltonians are local by construction, the known techniques often yield complex Hamiltonians which act on a rather large number of spins. In this paper, we present an algorithm to systematically simplify parent Hamiltonians, breaking them down into any given basis of elementary interaction terms. The underlying optimization problem is a semidefinite program, and thus the optimal solution can be found efficiently. Our method exploits a degree of freedom in the construction of parent Hamiltonians???the excitation spectrum of the local terms???over which it optimizes such as to obtain the best possible approximation. We benchmark our method on the AKLT model and the toric code model, where we show that the canonical parent Hamiltonians (acting on 3 or 4 and 12 sites, respectively) can be broken down to the known optimal two-body and four-body terms. We then apply our method to the paradigmatic resonating valence bond (RVB) model on the kagome lattice. Here, the simplest previously known parent Hamiltonian acts on all the 12 spins on one kagome star. With our optimization algorithm, we obtain a vastly simpler Hamiltonian: we find that the RVB model is the ground state of a parent Hamiltonian whose terms are all products of at most four Heisenberg interactions, and whose range can be further constrained, providing a major improvement over the previously known 12-body Hamiltonian.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.106.035109

Large-N limit of Dicke superradiance

D. Malz, R. Trivedi, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review A 106 (1), 13716 (2022).

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We investigate the thermodynamic limit of Dicke superradiance. We find an expression for the system???s density matrix that we can prove is exact in the limit of large atom numbers N. This is in contrast to previously known solutions whose accuracy has only been established numerically and that are valid only for a range of times. We also introduce an asymptotically exact solution when the system is subject to additional incoherent decay of excitations as this is a common occurrence in experiments.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.106.013716

Classical algorithms for many-body quantum systems at finite energies

Y. L. Yang, J. I. Cirac, M. C. Bañuls

Physical Review B 106 (2), 24307 (2022).

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We investigate quantum-inspired algorithms to compute physical observables of quantum many-body systems at finite energies. They are based on the quantum algorithms proposed by S. Lu, M. C. Ba??uls, and J. I. Cirac [PRX Quantum 2, 020321 (2021)], who use the quantum simulation of the dynamics of such systems, as well as classical filtering and sampling techniques. Here, we replace the quantum simulation by standard classical methods based on matrix product states and operators. As a result, we can address significantly larger systems than those reachable by exact diagonalization or by other algorithms. We demonstrate the performance with spin chains up to 80 sites.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.106.024307

Long-range electron-electron interactions in quantum dot systems and applications in quantum chemistry

J. Knorzer, C. J. van Diepen, T. K. Hsiao, G. Giedke, U. Mukhopadhyay, C. Reichl, W. Wegscheider, J. I. Cirac, L. M. K. Vandersypen

Physical Review Research 4 (3), 33043 (2022).

Show Abstract

Long-range interactions play a key role in several phenomena of quantum physics and chemistry. To study these phenomena, analog quantum simulators provide an appealing alternative to classical numerical methods. Gate-defined quantum dots have been established as a platform for quantum simulation, but for those experiments the effect of long-range interactions between the electrons did not play a crucial role. Here we present a detailed experimental characterization of long-range electron-electron interactions in an array of gate-defined semiconductor quantum dots. We demonstrate significant interaction strength among electrons that are separated by up to four sites, and show that our theoretical prediction of the screening effects matches well the experimental results. Based on these findings, we investigate how long-range interactions in quantum dot arrays may be utilized for analog simulations of artificial quantum matter. We numerically show that about ten quantum dots are sufficient to observe binding for a one-dimensional H-2-like molecule. These combined experimental and theoretical results pave the way for future quantum simulations with quantum dot arrays and benchmarks of numerical methods in quantum chemistry.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.033043

Adiabatic Spectroscopy and a Variational Quantum Adiabatic Algorithm

B. F. Schiffer, J. Tura, J. I. Cirac

Prx Quantum 3 (2), 20347 (2022).

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Preparation of the ground state of a Hamiltonian is a problem of great significance in physics, with deep implications in the field of combinatorial optimization. The adiabatic algorithm is known to return the ground state for sufficiently long preparation times that depend on the a priori unknown spectral gap. Our work relates in a twofold way. First, we propose a method to obtain information about the spectral profile of the adiabatic evolution. Second, we present the concept of a variational quantum adiabatic algorithm (VQAA) for optimized adiabatic paths. We aim at combining the strengths of the adiabatic and the variational approaches for fast and high-fidelity ground-state preparation while keeping the number of measurements as low as possible. Our algorithms build upon ancilla protocols that we present, which allow us to directly evaluate the ground-state overlap. We benchmark for a nonintegrable spin-1/2 transverse and longitudinal Ising chain with N = 53 sites using tensor-network techniques. Using a black-box gradient-based approach, we report a reduction in the total evolution time for a given desired ground-state fidelity by a factor of 10, which makes our method suitable for the limited decoherence time of noisy-intermediate scale quantum devices.

DOI: 10.1103/PRXQuantum.3.020347

Preparation and verification of tensor network states

E. Cruz, F. Baccari, J. Tura, N. Schuch, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Research 4 (2), 23161 (2022).

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We consider a family of tensor network states defined on regular lattices that come with a natural definition of an adiabatic path to prepare them. This family comprises relevant classes of states, such as injective matrix product and projected entangled-pair states, and some corresponding to classical spin models. We show how uniform lower bounds to the gap of the parent Hamiltonian along the adiabatic trajectory can be efficiently computed using semidefinite programming. This allows one to check whether the adiabatic preparation can be performed efficiently with a scalable effort. We also derive a set of observables whose expectation values can be easily determined and that form a complete set, in the sense that they uniquely characterize the state. We identify a subset of those observables which can be efficiently computed if one has access to the quantum state and local measurements, and analyze how they can be used in verification procedures.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.023161

Enhancing Generative Models via Quantum Correlations

X. Gao, E. R. Anschuetz, S. T. Wang, J. I. Cirac, M. D. Lukin

Physical Review X 12 (2), 21037 (2022).

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Generative modeling using samples drawn from the probability distribution constitutes a powerful approach for unsupervised machine learning. Quantum mechanical systems can produce probability distributions that exhibit quantum correlations which are difficult to capture using classical models. We show theoretically that such quantum-inspired correlations provide a powerful resource for generative modeling. In particular, we provide an unconditional proof of separation in expressive power between a class of widely used generative models, known as Bayesian networks, and its minimal quantum-inspired extension. We show that this expressivity enhancement is associated with quantum nonlocality and quantum contextuality. Furthermore, we numerically test this separation on standard machine-learning data sets and show that it holds for practical problems. The possibility of quantum-inspired enhancement demonstrated in this work not only sheds light on the design of useful quantum machine-learning protocols but also provides inspiration to draw on ideas from quantum foundations to improve purely classical algorithms.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevX.12.021037

Bose polaron and the Efimov effect: A Gaussian-state approach

A. Christianen, J. I. Cirac, R. Schmidt

Physical Review A 105 (5), 53302 (2022).

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Since the Efimov effect was introduced, a detailed theoretical understanding of Efimov physics has been developed in the few-body context. However, it has proven challenging to describe the role Efimov correlations play in many-body systems such as quenched or collapsing Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). To study the impact the Efimov effect has in such scenarios, we consider a light impurity immersed in a weakly interacting BEC, forming a Bose polaron. In this case, correlations are localized around the impurity, making it more feasible to develop a theoretical description. Specifically, we employ a variational Gaussian state Ansatz in the reference frame of the impurity, capable of capturing both the Efimov effect and the formation of a polaron cloud consisting of a macroscopic number of particles. We find that the Efimov effect entails cooperative binding of bosons to the impurity, leading to the formation of large clusters. These many-particle Efimov states exist for a wide range of scattering lengths, with energies significantly below the polaron energy. As a result, the polaron is not the ground state, but rendered a metastable excited state which can decay into these clusters. While this decay is slow for small interaction strengths, it becomes more prominent as the attraction increases, up to a point where the polaron becomes completely unstable. We show that the critical scattering length where this happens can be interpreted as a many-body shifted Efimov resonance, where the scattering of two excitations of the bath with the polaron can lead to polaron-cloud assisted bound-state formation. Compared to the few-body case, the resonance is shifted to weaker attraction due to the participation of the polaron cloud in the cooperative binding process. This represents an intriguing example of chemistry in a quantum medium [A. Christianen et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 183401 (2022)], where many-body effects lead to a shift in the resonances of the chemical recombination, which can be directly probed in state-of-the-art experiments.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.105.053302

Chemistry of a Light Impurity in a Bose-Einstein Condensate

A. Christianen, J. I. Cirac, R. Schmidt

Physical Review Letters 128 (18), 183401 (2022).

Show Abstract

Similar to an electron in a solid, an impurity in an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) is dressed by excitations from the medium, forming a polaron quasiparticle with modified properties. This impurity can also undergo chemical recombination with atoms from the BEC, a process resonantly enhanced when universal three-body Efimov bound states cross the continuum. To study the interplay between these phenomena, we use a Gaussian state variational method able to describe both Efimov physics and arbitrarily many excitations of the BEC. We show that the polaron cloud contributes to bound state formation, leading to a shift of the Efimov resonance to smaller interaction strengths. This shifted scattering resonance marks the onset of a polaronic instability towards the decay into large Efimov clusters and fast recombination, offering a remarkable example of chemistry in a quantum medium.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.183401

Spin-Holstein Models in Trapped-Ion Systems

J. Knorzer, T. Shi, E. Demler, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Letters 128 (12), 120404 (2022).

Show Abstract

In this work, we highlight how trapped-ion quantum systems can be used to study generalized Holstein models, and benchmark expensive numerical calculations. We study a particular spin-Holstein model that can be implemented with arrays of ions confined by individual microtraps, and that is closely related to the Holstein model of condensed matter physics, used to describe electron-phonon interactions. In contrast to earlier proposals, we focus on simulating many-electron systems and inspect the competition between charge-density wave order, fermion pairing, and phase separation. In our numerical study, we employ a combination of complementary approaches, based on non-Gaussian variational ansatz states and matrix product states, respectively. We demonstrate that this hybrid approach outperforms standard density-matrix renormalization group calculations.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.120404

Symmetries and local transformations of translationally invariant matrix product states

M. Hebenstreit, D. Sauerwein, A. Molnar, J. I. Cirac, B. Kraus

Physical Review A 105 (3), 32424 (2022).

Show Abstract

We determine the local symmetries and local transformation properties of certain many-body states called translationally invariant matrix product states (TIMPSs). We focus on physical dimension d = 2 of the local Hilbert spaces and bond dimension D = 3 and use the procedure introduced in Sauerwein et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 170504 (2019)] to determine all (including nonglobal) symmetries of those states. We identify and classify the stochastic local operations assisted by classical communication (SLOCC) that are allowed among TIMPSs. We scrutinize two very distinct sets of TIMPSs and show the big diversity (also compared to the case D = 2) occurring in both their symmetries and the possible SLOCC transformations. These results reflect the variety of local properties of MPSs, even if restricted to translationally invariant states with low bond dimension. Finally, we show that states with nontrivial local symmetries are of measure zero for d = 2 and D > 3.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.105.032424

Generation of photonic tensor network states with circuit QED

Z. Y. Wei, J. I. Cirac, D. Malz

Physical Review A 105 (2), 22611 (2022).

Show Abstract

We propose a circuit QED platform and protocol to generate microwave photonic tensor network states deterministically. We first show that using a microwave cavity as ancilla and a transmon qubit as emitter is a good platform to produce photonic matrix product states. The ancilla cavity combines a large controllable Hilbert space with a long coherence time, which we predict translates into a high number of entangled photons and states with a high bond dimension. Going beyond this paradigm, we then consider a natural generalization of this platform, in which several cavity-qubit pairs are coupled to form a chain. The photonic states thus produced feature a two-dimensional entanglement structure and can be interpreted as radial plaquette projected entangled pair states [Wei, Malz, and Cirac, Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 010607 (2022)], which include many paradigmatic states, such as the broad class of isometric tensor network states, graph states, and string-net states.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.105.022611

Sequential Generation of Projected Entangled-Pair States

Z. Y. Wei, D. Malz, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Letters 128 (1), 10607 (2022).

Show Abstract

We introduce plaquette projected entangled-pair states, a class of states in a lattice that can be generated by applying sequential unitaries acting on plaquettes of overlapping regions. They satisfy area-law entanglement, possess long-range correlations, and naturally generalize other relevant classes of tensor network states. We identify a subclass that can be more efficiently prepared in a radial fashion and that contains the family of isometric tensor network states [M. P. Zaletel and F. Pollmann, Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 037201(2020)]. We also show how this subclass can be efficiently prepared using an array of photon sources.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.010607

Matrix product states and projected entangled pair states: Concepts, symmetries, theorems

J. I. Cirac, D. Perez-Garcia, N. Schuch, F. Verstraete

Reviews of Modern Physics 93 (4), 45003 (2021).

Show Abstract

The theory of entanglement provides a fundamentally new language for describing interactions and correlations in many-body systems. Its vocabulary consists of qubits and entangled pairs, and the syntax is provided by tensor networks. How matrix product states and projected entangled pair states describe many-body wave functions in terms of local tensors is reviewed. These tensors express how the entanglement is routed, act as a novel type of nonlocal order parameter, and the manner in which their symmetries are reflections of the global entanglement patterns in the full system is described. The manner in which tensor networks enable the construction of real-space renormalization group flows and fixed points is discussed, and the entanglement structure of states exhibiting topological quantum order is examined. Finally, a summary of the mathematical results of matrix product states and projected entangled pair states, highlighting the fundamental theorem of matrix product vectors and its applications, is provided.

DOI: 10.1103/RevModPhys.93.045003

Atomic waveguide QED with atomic dimers

D. Castells-Graells, D. Malz, C. C. Rusconi, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review A 104 (6), 63707 (2021).

Show Abstract

Quantum emitters coupled to a waveguide are a paradigm of quantum optics, whose essential properties are described by waveguide quantum electrodynamics (QED). We study the possibility of observing the typical features of the conventional waveguide QED scenario in a system where the role of the waveguide is played by a one-dimensional subwavelength atomic array. For the role of emitters, we propose to use antisymmetric states of atomic dimers-a pair of closely spaced atoms-as effective two-level systems, which significantly reduces the effect of free-space spontaneous emission. We solve the dynamics of the system both when the dimer frequency lies inside and when it lies outside the band of modes of the array. Along with well-known phenomena of collective emission into the guided modes and waveguide-mediated long-range dimer-dimer interactions, we uncover significant non-Markovian corrections which arise from both the finiteness of the array and through retardation effects.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.104.063707

Convergence Guarantees for Discrete Mode Approximations to Non-Markovian Quantum Baths

R. Trivedi, D. Malz, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Letters 127 (25), 250404 (2021).

Show Abstract

Non-Markovian effects are important in modeling the behavior of open quantum systems arising in solid-state physics, quantum optics as well as in study of biological and chemical systems. The non-Markovian environment is often approximated by discrete bosonic modes, thus mapping it to a Lindbladian or Hamiltonian simulation problem. While systematic constructions of such modes have been previously proposed, the resulting approximation lacks rigorous and general convergence guarantees. In this Letter, we show that under some physically motivated assumptions on the system-environment interaction, the finite-time dynamics of the non-Markovian open quantum system computed with a sufficiently large number of modes is guaranteed to converge to the true result. Furthermore, we show that this approximation error typically falls off polynomially with the number of modes. Our results lend rigor to classical and quantum algorithms for approximating non-Markovian dynamics.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.250404

Variational method in relativistic quantum field theory without cutoff

A. Tilloy

Physical Review D 104 (9), L091904 (2021).

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The variational method is a powerful approach to solve many-body quantum problems nonperturbatively. However, in the context of relativistic quantum field theory, it needs to meet three seemingly incompatible requirements outlined by Feynman: extensivity, computability, and lack of UV sensitivity. In practice, variational methods break one of the three, which translates into the need to have an IR or UV cutoff. In this letter, I introduce a relativistic modification of continuous matrix product states that satisfies the three requirements jointly in 1 + 1 dimensions. I apply it to the self-interacting scalar field, without UV cutoff and directly in the thermodynamic limit. Numerical evidence suggests the error decreases faster than any power law in the number of parameters, while the cost remains only polynomial.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.104.L091904

Relativistic continuous matrix product states for quantum fields without cutoff

A. Tilloy

Physical Review D 104 (9), 96007 (2021).

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I introduce a modification of continuous matrix product states (CMPS) that makes them adapted to relativistic quantum field theories (QFT). These relativistic CMPS can be used to solve genuine (1 +Y 1)dimensional QFT without UV cutoff and directly in the thermodynamic limit. The main idea is to work directly in the basis that diagonalizes the free part of the model considered, which allows one to fit its short distance behavior exactly. This makes computations slightly less trivial than with standard CMPS. However, they remain feasible, and I present all the steps needed for the optimization. The asymptotic cost as a function of the bond dimension remains the same as for standard CMPS. I illustrate the method on the self-interacting scalar field, also known as the phi(4)(2) model. Aside from providing unequaled precision in the continuum, the numerical results obtained are truly variational, and thus provide rigorous energy upper bounds.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.104.096007

Quantum Circuits Assisted by Local Operations and Classical Communication: Transformations and Phases of Matter

L. Piroli, G. Styliaris, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Letters 127 (22), 220503 (2021).

Show Abstract

We introduce deterministic state-transformation protocols between many-body quantum states that can be implemented by low-depth quantum circuits followed by local operations and classical communication. We show that this gives rise to a classification of phases in which topologically ordered states or other paradigmatic entangled states become trivial. We also investigate how the set of unitary operations is enhanced by local operations and classical communication in this scenario, allowing one to perform certain large-depth quantum circuits in terms of low-depth ones.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.220503

Locally Accurate Tensor Networks for Thermal States and Time Evolution

A. M. Alhambra, J. I. Cirac

Prx Quantum 2 (4), 40331 (2021).

Show Abstract

Tensor-network methods are routinely used in approximating various equilibrium and nonequilibrium scenarios, with the algorithms requiring a small bond dimension at low enough time or inverse temperature. These approaches so far lacked a rigorous mathematical justification, since existing approximations to thermal states and time evolution demand a bond dimension growing with system size. To address this problem, we construct projected entangled-pair operators that approximate, for all local observables, (i) their thermal expectation values and (ii) their Heisenberg time evolution. The bond dimension required does not depend on system size, but only on the temperature or time. We also show how these can be used to approximate thermal correlation functions and expectation values in quantum quenches.

DOI: 10.1103/PRXQuantum.2.040331

Generalized-hydrodynamic approach to inhomogeneous quenches: correlations, entanglement and quantum effects

V. Alba, B. Bertini, M. Fagotti, L. Piroli, P. Ruggiero

Journal of Statistical Mechanics-Theory and Experiment 2021 (11), 114004 (2021).

Show Abstract

We give a pedagogical introduction to the generalized hydrodynamic approach to inhomogeneous quenches in integrable many-body quantum systems. We review recent applications of the theory, focusing in particular on two classes of problems: bipartitioning protocols and trap quenches, which represent two prototypical examples of broken translational symmetry in either the system initial state or post-quench Hamiltonian. We report on exact results that have been obtained for generic time-dependent correlation functions and entanglement evolution, and discuss in detail the range of applicability of the theory. Finally, we present some open questions and suggest perspectives on possible future directions.

DOI: 10.1088/1742-5468/ac257d

Lossy quantum defect theory of ultracold molecular collisions

A. Christianen, G. C. Groenenboom, T. Karman

Physical Review A 104 (4), 43327 (2021).

Show Abstract

We consider losses in collisions of ultracold molecules described by a simple statistical short-range model that explicitly accounts for the limited lifetime of classically chaotic collision complexes. This confirms that thermally sampling many isolated resonances leads to a loss cross section equal to the elastic cross section derived by Mayle et al. [Phys. Rev. A 85, 062712 (2012)] and this makes precise the conditions under which this is the case. Surprisingly, we find that the loss is nonuniversal. We also consider the case that loss broadens the short-range resonances to the point that they become overlapping. The overlapping resonances can be treated statistically even if the resonances are sparse compared to kBT, which may be the case for many molecules. The overlap results in Ericson fluctuations which yield a nonuniversal short-range boundary condition that is independent of energy over a range much wider than is sampled thermally. Deviations of experimental loss rates from the present theory beyond statistical fluctuations and the dependence on a background phase shift are interpreted as nonchaotic dynamics of short-range collision complexes.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.104.043327

Computable Renyi mutual information: Area laws and correlations

S. O. Scalet, A. M. Alhambra, G. Styliaris, J. I. Cirac

Quantum 5, 16 (2021).

Show Abstract

The mutual information is a measure of classical and quantum correlations of great interest in quantum information. It is also relevant in quantum many-body physics, by virtue of satisfying an area law for thermal states and bounding all correlation functions. However, calculating it exactly or approximately is often challenging in practice. Here, we consider alternative definitions based on Renyi divergences. Their main advantage over their von Neumann counterpart is that they can be expressed as a variational problem whose cost function can be efficiently evaluated for families of states like matrix product operators while preserving all desirable properties of a measure of correlations. In particular, we show that they obey a thermal area law in great generality, and that they upper bound all correlation functions. We also investigate their behavior on certain tensor network states and on classical thermal distributions.

DOI: 10.22331/q-2021-09-14-541

Real-time spin-charge separation in one-dimensional Fermi gases from generalized hydrodynamics

S. Scopa, P. Calabrese, L. Piroli

Physical Review B 104 (11), 115423 (2021).

Show Abstract

We revisit early suggestions to observe spin-charge separation (SCS) in cold-atom settings in the time domain by studying one-dimensional repulsive Fermi gases in a harmonic potential, where pulse perturbations are initially created at the center of the trap. We analyze the subsequent evolution using generalized hydrodynamics (GHD), which provide an exact description, at large space-time scales, for arbitrary temperature T, particle density, and interactions. At T = 0 and vanishing magnetic field, we find that, after a nontrivial transient regime, spin and charge dynamically decouple up to perturbatively small corrections which we quantify. In this limit, our results can be understood based on a simple phase-space hydrodynamic picture. At finite temperature, we solve numerically the GHD equations, showing that for low T > 0 effects of SCS survive and characterize explicitly the value of T for which the two distinguishable excitations melt.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.104.115423

Exploiting the photonic nonlinearity of free-space subwavelength arrays of atoms

C. C. Rusconi, T. Shi, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review A 104 (3), 33718 (2021).

Show Abstract

Ordered ensembles of atoms, such as atomic arrays, exhibit distinctive features from their disordered counterpart. In particular, while collective modes in disordered ensembles show a linear optical response, collective subradiant excitations of subwavelength arrays are endowed with an intrinsic nonlinearity. Such nonlinearity has both a coherent and a dissipative component: two excitations propagating in the array scatter off each other leading to formation of correlations and to emission into free-space modes. We show how to take advantage of such nonlinearity to coherently prepare a single excitation in a subradiant (dark) collective state of a one-dimensional array as well as to perform an entangling operation on dark states of parallel arrays. We discuss the main source of errors represented by disorder introduced by atomic center-of-mass fluctuations, and we propose a practical way to mitigate its effects.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.104.033718

Entanglement renormalization for quantum fields with boundaries and defects

A. Franco-Rubio

Physical Review B 104 (12), 125131 (2021).

Show Abstract

The continuous multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz (cMERA) [J. Haegeman et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110. 100402 (2013)] gives a variational wave functional for ground states of quantum field-theoretic Hamiltonians. A cMERA is defined as the result of applying to a reference unentangled state a unitary evolution generated by a quasilocal operator, the entangler. This makes the extension of the formalism to the case where boundaries and defects are present nontrivial. Here we show how this generalization works, using the (1 + 1)-dimensional free boson cMERA as a proof-of-principle example, and restricting ourselves to conformal boundaries and defects. In our prescription, the presence of a boundary or defect induces a modification of the entangler localized only to its vicinity, in analogy with the so-called principle of minimal updates for the lattice tensor network MERA.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.104.125131

Supersymmetric Boundaries of One-Dimensional Phases of Fermions beyond Symmetry-Protected Topological States

A. Turzillo, M. Y. You

Physical Review Letters 127 (2), 26402 (2021).

Show Abstract

It has recently been demonstrated that protected supersymmetry emerges on the boundaries of one-dimensional intrinsically fermionic symmetry protected trivial (SPT) phases. Here we investigate the boundary supersymmetry of one-dimensional fermionic phases beyond SPT phases. Using the connection between Majorana edge modes and real supercharges, we compute, in terms of the bulk phase invariants, the number of protected boundary supercharges.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.026402

Quantum simulation with fully coherent dipole-dipole interactions mediated by three-dimensional subwavelength atomic arrays

K. Brechtelsbauer, D. Malz

Physical Review A 104 (1), 13701 (2021).

Show Abstract

Quantum simulators employing cold atoms are among the most promising approaches to tackle quantum many-body problems. Nanophotonic structures are widely employed to engineer the band structure of light and are thus investigated as a means to tune the interactions between atoms placed in their vicinity. A key shortcoming of this approach is that excitations can decay into free photons, limiting the coherence of such quantum simulators. Here, we overcome this challenge by proposing to use a simple cubic three-dimensional array of atoms to produce an omnidirectional band gap for light and show that it enables coherent, dissipation-free interactions between embedded impurities. We show explicitly that the band gaps persist for moderate lattice sizes and finite filling fraction, which makes this effect readily observable in experiment. Our paper paves the way toward analog spin quantum simulators with long-range interactions using ultracold atomic lattices, and is an instance of the emerging field of atomic quantum metamaterials.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.104.013701

Optimal two-photon excitation of bound states in non-Markovian waveguide QED

R. Trivedi, D. Malz, S. Sun, S. H. Fan, J. Vuckovic

Physical Review A 104 (1), 13705 (2021).

Show Abstract

Bound states arise in waveguide QED systems with a strong frequency-dependence of the coupling between emitters and photonic modes. While exciting such bound-states with single-photon wave-packets is not possible, photon-photon interactions mediated by the emitters can be used to excite them with two-photon states. In this Letter, we use scattering theory to provide upper limits on this excitation probability for a general non-Markovian waveguide QED system and show that this limit can be reached by a two-photon wave packet with vanishing uncertainty in the total photon energy. Furthermore, we also analyze multi-emitter waveguide QED systems with multiple bound states and provide a systematic construction of two-photon wave packets that can excite a given superposition of these bound states. As specific examples, we study bound-state trapping in waveguide QED systems with single and multiple emitters and a time-delayed feedback.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.104.013705

Locality of temperature and correlations in the presence of non-zero-temperature phase transitions

S. Hernandez-Santana, A. Molnar, C. Gogolin, J. I. Cirac, A. Acin

New Journal of Physics 23 (7), 73052 (2021).

Show Abstract

While temperature is well understood as an intensive quantity in standard thermodynamics, it is less clear whether the same holds in quantum systems displaying correlations with no classical analogue. The problem lies in the fact that, under the presence of non-classical correlations, subsystems of a system in thermal equilibrium are, in general, not described by a thermal state at the same temperature as the global system and thus one cannot simply assign a local temperature to them. However, there have been identified situations in which correlations in thermal states decay sufficiently fast so that the state of their subsystems can be very well approximated by the reduced states of equilibrium systems that are only slightly bigger than the subsystems themselves, hence allowing for a valid local definition of temperature. In this work, we address the question of whether temperature is locally well defined for a bosonic system with local interactions that undergoes a phase transition at non-zero temperature. We consider a three-dimensional bosonic model in the grand canonical state and verify that a certain form of locality of temperature holds regardless of the temperature, and despite the presence of infinite-range correlations at and below the critical temperature of the phase transition.

DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/ac14a9

Gapped boundaries and string-like excitations in (3+1)d gauge models of topological phases

A. Bullivant, C. Delcamp

Journal of High Energy Physics 2021, 25 (2021).

Show Abstract

We study lattice Hamiltonian realisations of (3+1)d Dijkgraaf-Witten theory with gapped boundaries. In addition to the bulk loop-like excitations, the Hamiltonian yields bulk dyonic string-like excitations that terminate at gapped boundaries. Using a tube algebra approach, we classify such excitations and derive the corresponding representation theory. Via a dimensional reduction argument, we relate this tube algebra to that describing (2+1)d boundary point-like excitations at interfaces between two gapped boundaries. Such point-like excitations are well known to be encoded into a bicategory of module categories over the input fusion category. Exploiting this correspondence, we define a bicategory that encodes the string-like excitations ending at gapped boundaries, showing that it is a sub-bicategory of the centre of the input bicategory of group-graded 2-vector spaces. In the process, we explain how gapped boundaries in (3+1)d can be labelled by so-called pseudo-algebra objects over this input bicategory.

DOI: 10.1007/jhep07(2021)025

Density of states of the lattice Schwinger model

I. Papaefstathiou, D. Robaina, J. I. Cirac, M. C. Bañuls

Physical Review D 104 (1), 14514 (2021).

Show Abstract

Using a recently introduced tensor network method, we study the density of states of the lattice Schwinger model, a standard testbench for lattice gauge theory numerical techniques, but also the object of recent experimental quantum simulations. We identify regimes of parameters where the spectrum appears to be symmetric and displays the expected continuum properties even for finite lattice spacing and number of sites. However, we find that for moderate system sizes and lattice spacing of ga similar to 0(1), the spectral density can exhibit very different properties with a highly asymmetric form. We also explore how the method can be exploited to extract thermodynamic quantities.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.104.014514

Continuum approach to real time dynamics of (1+1)D gauge field theory: Out of horizon correlations of the Schwinger model

I. Kukuljan

Physical Review D 104 (2), L021702 (2021).

Show Abstract

We develop a truncated Hamiltonian method to study nonequilibrium real time dynamics in the Schwinger model-the quantum electrodynamics in D = 1 + 1. This is a purely continuum method that captures reliably the invariance under local and global gauge transformations and does not require a discretization of space-time. We use it to study a phenomenon that is expected not to be tractable using lattice methods: we show that the (1 + 1)D quantum electrodynamics admits the dynamical horizon violation effect which was recently discovered in the case of the sine-Gordon model. Following a quench of the model, oscillatory long-range correlations develop, manifestly violating the horizon bound. We find that the oscillation frequencies of the out-of-horizon correlations correspond to twice the masses of the mesons of the model suggesting that the effect is mediated through correlated meson pairs. We also report on the cluster violation in the massive version of the model, previously known in the massless Schwinger model. The results presented here reveal a novel nonequilibrium phenomenon in (1 + 1)D quantum electrodynamics and make a first step towards establishing that the horizon violation effect is present in gauge field theory.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.104.L021702

Tensors cast their nets for quarks

M. C. Bañuls, K. Cichy

Nature Physics 17 (7), 762-763 (2021).

Show Abstract

Many aspects of gauge theories — such as the one underlying quantum chromodynamics, which describes quark physics — evade common numerical methods. Tensor networks are getting closer to a solution, having successfully tackled the related problem of a three-dimensional quantum link model.

DOI: 10.1038/s41567-021-01294-0

Universal signatures of Dirac fermions in entanglement and charge fluctuations

V. Crepel, A. Hackenbroich, N. Regnault, B. Estienne

Physical Review B 103 (23), 235108 (2021).

Show Abstract

We investigate the entanglement entropy (EE) and charge fluctuations in models where the low-energy physics is governed by massless Dirac fermions. We focus on the response to flux insertion which, for the EE, is widely assumed to be universal, i.e., independent of the microscopic details. We provide an analytical derivation of the EE and charge fluctuations for the seminal example of graphene, using the dimensional reduction of its tight-binding model to the one-dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model. Our asymptotic expression for the EE matches the conformal field theory prediction. We show that the charge variance has the same asymptotic behavior, up to a constant prefactor. To check the validity of universality arguments, we numerically consider several models, with different geometries and numbers of Dirac cones, and either for strictly two-dimensional models or for a gapless surface mode of three-dimensional topological insulators. We also show that the flux response does not depend on the entangling surface geometry as long as it encloses the flux. Finally we consider the universal corner contributions to the EE. We show that in the presence of corners, the Kitaev-Preskill subtraction scheme provides nonuniversal, geometry-dependent results.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.103.235108

Quantum coherence as a signature of chaos

N. Anand, G. Styliaris, M. Kumari, P. Zanardi

Physical Review Research 3 (2), 23214 (2021).

Show Abstract

We establish a rigorous connection between quantum coherence and quantum chaos by employing coherence measures originating from the resource theory framework as a diagnostic tool for quantum chaos. We quantify this connection at two different levels: quantum states and quantum channels. At the level of states, we show how several well-studied quantifiers of chaos are, in fact, quantum coherence measures in disguise (or closely related to them). We further this connection for all quantum coherence measures by using tools from majorization theory. Then we numerically study the coherence of chaotic-versus-integrable eigenstates and find excellent agreement with random matrix theory in the bulk of the spectrum. At the level of channels, we show that the coherence-generating power (CGP)-a measure of how much coherence a dynamical process generates on average-emerges as a subpart of the out-of-time-ordered correlator (OTOC), a measure of information scrambling in many-body systems. Via numerical simulations of the (nonintegrable) transverse-field Ising model, we show that the OTOC and CGP capture quantum recurrences in quantitatively the same way. Moreover, using random matrix theory, we analytically characterize the OTOC-CGP connection for the Haar and Gaussian ensembles. In closing, we remark on how our coherence-based signatures of chaos relate to other diagnostics, namely, the Loschmidt echo, OTOC, and the Spectral Form Factor.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.023214

Quantum algorithms for powering stable Hermitian matrices

G. Gonzalez, R. Trivedi, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review A 103 (6), 62420 (2021).

Show Abstract

Matrix powering is a fundamental computational primitive in linear algebra. It has widespread applications in scientific computing and engineering and underlies the solution of time-homogeneous linear ordinary differential equations, simulation of discrete-time Markov chains, or discovering the spectral properties of matrices with iterative methods. In this paper, we investigate the possibility of speeding up matrix powering of sparse stable Hermitian matrices on a quantum computer. We present two quantum algorithms that can achieve speedup over the classical matrix powering algorithms: (i) a fast-forwarding algorithm that builds on construction of Apers and Sarlette [Quantum Inf. Comput. 19, 181 (2019)] and (ii) an algorithm based on Hamiltonian simulation. Furthermore, by mapping the N-bit parity determination problem to a matrix powering problem, we provide no-go theorems that limit the quantum speedups achievable in powering non-Hermitian matrices.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.103.062420

Optimal sampling of dynamical large deviations via matrix product states

L. Causer, M. C. Bañuls, J. P. Garrahan

Physical Review E 103 (6), 62144 (2021).

Show Abstract

"The large deviation statistics of dynamical observables is encoded in the spectral properties of deformed Markov generators. Recent works have shown that tensor network methods are well suited to compute accurately the relevant leading eigenvalues and eigenvectors. However, the efficient generation of the corresponding rare trajectories is a harder task. Here, we show how to exploit the matrix product state approximation of the dominant eigenvector to implement an efficient sampling scheme which closely resembles the optimal (so-called ""Doob"") dynamics that realizes the rare events. We demonstrate our approach on three well-studied lattice models, the Fredrickson-Andersen and East kinetically constrained models, and the symmetric simple exclusion process. We discuss how to generalize our approach to higher dimensions."

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.103.062144

Generating function for tensor network diagrammatic summation

W. L. Tu, H. K. Wu, N. Schuch, N. Kawashima, J. Y. Chen

Physical Review B 103 (20), 205155 (2021).

Show Abstract

The understanding of complex quantum many-body systems has been vastly boosted by tensor network (TN) methods. Among others, excitation spectrum and long-range interacting systems can be studied using TNs, where one however confronts the intricate summation over an extensive number of tensor diagrams. Here, we introduce a set of generating functions, which encode the diagrammatic summations as leading-order series expansion coefficients. Combined with automatic differentiation, the generating function allows us to solve the problem of TN diagrammatic summation. We illustrate this scheme by computing variational excited states and the dynamical structure factor of a quantum spin chain, and further investigating entanglement properties of excited states. Extensions to infinite-size systems and higher dimension are outlined.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.103.205155

Generalization of group-theoretic coherent states for variational calculations

T. Guaita, L. Hackl, T. Shi, E. Demler, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Research 3 (2), 23090 (2021).

Show Abstract

We introduce families of pure quantum states that are constructed on top of the well-known Gilmore-Perelomov group-theoretic coherent states. We do this by constructing unitaries as the exponential of operators quadratic in Cartan subalgebra elements and by applying these unitaries to regular group-theoretic coherent states. This enables us to generate entanglement not found in the coherent states themselves, while retaining many of their desirable properties. Most importantly, we explain how the expectation values of physical observables can be evaluated efficiently. Examples include generalized spin-coherent states and generalized Gaussian states, but our construction can be applied to any Lie group represented on the Hilbert space of a quantum system. We comment on their applicability as variational families in condensed matter physics and quantum information.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.023090

Localizable quantum coherence

A. Hamma, G. Styliaris, P. Zanardi

Physics Letters A 397, 127264 (2021).

Show Abstract

Coherence is a fundamental notion in quantum mechanics, defined relative to a reference basis. As such, it does not necessarily reveal the locality of interactions nor takes into account the accessible operations in a composite quantum system. In this paper, we put forward a notion of localizable coherence as the coherence that can be stored in a particular subsystem, either by measuring or just by disregarding the rest. We examine its spreading, its average properties in the Hilbert space and show that it can be applied to reveal the real-space structure of states of interest in quantum many-body theory, for example, localized or topological states. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOI: 10.1016/j.physleta.2021.127264

Renyi free energy and variational approximations to thermal states

G. Giudice, A. Cakan, J. I. Cirac, M. C. Bañuls

Physical Review B 103 (20), 205128 (2021).

Show Abstract

We propose the construction of thermodynamic ensembles that minimize the Renyi free energy, as an alternative to Gibbs states. For large systems, the local properties of these Renyi ensembles coincide with those of thermal equilibrium and they can be used as approximations to thermal states. We provide algorithms to find tensor network approximations to the 2-Renyi ensemble. In particular, a matrix-product-state representation can be found by using gradient-based optimization on Riemannian manifolds or via a nonlinear evolution which yields the desired state as a fixed point. We analyze the performance of the algorithms and the properties of the ensembles on one-dimensional spin chains.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.103.205128

Algorithms for Quantum Simulation at Finite Energies

S. R. Lu, M. C. Bañuls, J. I. Cirac

Prx Quantum 2 (2), 20321 (2021).

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We introduce two kinds of quantum algorithm to explore microcanonical and canonical properties of many-body systems. The first is a hybrid quantum algorithm that, given an efficiently preparable state, computes expectation values in a finite energy interval around its mean energy. This algorithm is based on a filtering operator, similar to quantum phase estimation, which filters out energies outside the desired energy interval. However, instead of performing this operation on a physical state, it recovers the physical values by performing interferometric measurements without the need to prepare the filtered state. We show that the computational time scales polynomially with the number of qubits, the inverse of the prescribed variance, and the inverse error. In practice, the algorithm does not require the evolution for long times, but instead a significant number of measurements in order to obtain sensible results. Our second algorithm is a quantum assisted Monte Carlo sampling method to compute other quantities that approach the expectation values for the microcanonical and canonical ensembles. Using classical Monte Carlo techniques and the quantum computer as a resource, this method circumvents the sign problem that plagues classical quantum Monte Carlo simulations, as long as one can prepare states with suitable energies. All algorithms can be used with small quantum computers and analog quantum simulators, as long as they can perform the interferometric measurements. We also show that this last task can be greatly simplified at the expense of performing more measurements.

DOI: 10.1103/PRXQuantum.2.020321

Gaussian continuous tensor network states for simple bosonic field theories

T. D. Karanikolaou, P. Emonts, A. Tilloy

Physical Review Research 3 (2), 23059 (2021).

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Tensor networks states allow one to find the low-energy states of local lattice Hamiltonians through variational optimization. Recently, a construction of such states in the continuum was put forward, providing a first step towards the goal of solving quantum field theories (QFTs) variationally. However, the proposed manifold of continuous tensor network states (CTNSs) is difficult to study in full generality, because the expectation values of local observables cannot be computed analytically. In this paper we study a tractable subclass of CTNSs, the Gaussian CTNSs (GCTNSs), and benchmark them on simple quadratic and quartic bosonic QFT Hamiltonians. We show that GCTNSs provide arbitrarily accurate approximations to the ground states of quadratic Hamiltonians and decent estimates for quartic ones at weak coupling. Since they capture the short distance behavior of the theories we consider exactly, GCTNSs even allow one to renormalize away simple divergences variationally. In the end our study makes it plausible that CTNSs are indeed a good manifold to approximate the low-energy states of QFTs.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.023059

Topological Two-Dimensional Floquet Lattice on a Single Superconducting Qubit

D. Malz, A. Smith

Physical Review Letters 126 (16), 163602 (2021).

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Current noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices constitute powerful platforms for analog quantum simulation. The exquisite level of control offered by state-of-the-art quantum computers make them especially promising to implement time-dependent Hamiltonians. We implement quasiperiodic driving of a single qubit in the IBM Quantum Experience and thus experimentally realize a temporal version of the half-Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang Chem insulator. Using simple error mitigation, we achieve consistently high fidelities of around 97%. From our data we can infer the presence of a topological transition, thus realizing an earlier proposal of topological frequency conversion by Martin, Refael, and Halperin. Motivated by these results, we theoretically study the many-qubit case, and show that one can implement a wide class of Floquet Hamiltonians, or time-dependent Hamiltonians in general. Our study highlights promises and limitations when studying many-body systems through multifrequency driving of quantum computers.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.163602

Generation of photonic matrix product states with Rydberg atomic arrays

Z. Y. Wei, D. Malz, A. Gonzalez-Tudela, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Research 3 (2), 23021 (2021).

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We show how one can deterministically generate photonic matrix product states with high bond and physical dimensions with an atomic array if one has access to a Rydberg-blockade mechanism. We develop both a quantum gate and an optimal control approach to universally control the system and analyze the photon retrieval efficiency of atomic arrays. Comprehensive modeling of the system shows that our scheme is capable of generating a large number of entangled photons. We further develop a multi-port photon emission approach that can efficiently distribute entangled photons into free space in several directions, which can become a useful tool in future quantum networks.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.023021

Field tensor network states

A. E. B. Nielsen, B. Herwerth, J. I. Cirac, G. Sierra

Physical Review B 103 (15), 155130 (2021).

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We define a class of tensor network states for spin systems where the individual tensors are functionals of fields. The construction is based on the path-integral representation of correlators of operators in quantum field theory. These tensor network states are infinite-dimensional versions of matrix product states and projected entangled pair states. We find the field tensor that generates the Haldane-Shastry wave function and extend it to two dimensions. We give evidence that the latter underlies the topological chiral state described by the Kalmeyer-Laughlin wave function.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.103.155130

Topological Lower Bound on Quantum Chaos by Entanglement Growth

Z. P. Gong, L. Piroli, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Letters 126 (16), 160601 (2021).

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A fundamental result in modern quantum chaos theory is the Maldacena-Shenker-Stanford upper bound on the growth of out-of-time-order correlators, whose infinite-temperature limit is related to the operator-space entanglement entropy of the evolution operator. Here we show that, for one-dimensional quantum cellular automata (QCA), there exists a lower bound on quantum chaos quantified by such entanglement entropy. This lower bound is equal to twice the index of the QCA, which is a topological invariant that measures the chirality of information flow, and holds for all the Renyi entropies, with its strongest Renyi-8 version being tight. The rigorous bound rules out the possibility of any sublinear entanglement growth behavior, showing in particular that many-body localization is forbidden for unitary evolutions displaying nonzero index. Since the Renyi entropy is measurable, our findings have direct experimental relevance. Our result is robust against exponential tails which naturally appear in quantum dynamics generated by local Hamiltonians.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.160601

Weakly invasive metrology: quantum advantage and physical implementations

M. Perarnau-Llobet, D. Malz, J. I. Cirac

Quantum 5, 446 (2021).

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We consider the estimation of a Hamiltonian parameter of a set of highly photosensitive samples, which are damaged after a few photons Nabs are absorbed, for a total time T. The samples are modelled as a two mode photonic system, where photons simultaneously acquire information on the unknown parameter and are absorbed at a fixed rate. We show that arbitrarily intense coherent states can obtain information at a rate that scales at most linearly with Nabs and T, whereas quantum states with finite intensity can overcome this bound. We characterise the quantum advantage as a function of Nabs and T, as well as its robustness to imperfections (non-ideal detectors, finite preparation and measurement rates for quantum photonic states). We discuss an implementation in cavity QED, where Fock states are both prepared and measured by coupling atomic ensembles to the cavities. We show that superradiance, arising due to a collective coupling between the cavities and the atoms, can be exploited for improving the speed and efficiency of the measurement.

DOI: 10.22331/q-2021-04-28-446

String order parameters for symmetry fractionalization in an enriched toric code

J. Garre-Rubio, M. Iqbal, D. T. Stephen

Physical Review B 103 (12), 125104 (2021).

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We study a simple model of symmetry-enriched topological order obtained by decorating a toric code model with lower-dimensional symmetry-protected topological states. We show that the symmetry fractionalization in this model can be characterized by string order parameters, and that these signatures are robust under the effects of external fields and interactions, up to the phase transition point. This extends the recent proposal of Garre-Rubio and Iblisdir [New J. Phys. 21, 113016 (2019)] beyond the setting of fixed-point tensor network states, and solidifies string order parameters as a useful tool to characterize and detect symmetry fractionalization. In addition to this, we observe how the condensation of an anyon that fractionalizes a symmetry forces that symmetry to spontaneously break, and we give a proof of this in the framework of projected entangled pair states. This phenomenon leads to a notable change in the phase diagram of the toric code in parallel magnetic fields

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.103.125104

Entanglement and complexity of purification in (1+1)-dimensional free conformal field theories

H. A. Camargo, L. Hackl, M. P. Heller, A. Jahn, T. Takayanagi, B. Windt

Physical Review Research 3 (1), 13248 (2021).

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Finding pure states in an enlarged Hilbert space that encode the mixed state of a quantum field theory as a partial trace is necessarily a challenging task. Nevertheless, such purifications play the key role in characterizing quantum information-theoretic properties of mixed states via entanglement and complexity of purifications. In this article, we analyze these quantities for two intervals in the vacuum of free bosonic and Ising conformal field theories using the most general Gaussian purifications. We provide a comprehensive comparison with existing results and identify universal properties. We further discuss important subtleties in our setup: the massless limit of the free bosonic theory and the corresponding behavior of the mutual information, as well as the Hilbert space structure under the Jordan-Wigner mapping in the spin chain model of the Ising conformal field theory.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.013248

Approximating the long time average of the density operator: Diagonal ensemble

A. Cakan, J. I. Cirac, M. C. Bañuls

Physical Review B 103 (11), 115113 (2021).

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For an isolated generic quantum system out of equilibrium, the long time average of observables is given by the diagonal ensemble, i.e., the mixed state with the same probability for energy eigenstates as the initial state but without coherences between different energies. In this work we present a method to approximate the diagonal ensemble using tensor networks. Instead of simulating the real time evolution, we adapt a filtering scheme introduced earlier [M. C. Banuls, D. A. Huse, and J. I. Cirac, Phys. Rev. B 101, 144305 (2020)] to this problem. We analyze the performance of the method on a nonintegrable spin chain, for which we observe that local observables converge towards thermal values polynomially with the inverse width of the filter.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.103.115113

Simulating 2+1D Z(3) Lattice Gauge Theory with an Infinite Projected Entangled-Pair State

D. Robaina, M. C. Bañuls, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Letters 126 (5), 50401 (2021).

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We simulate a zero-temperature pure Z(3) lattice gauge theory in 2 + 1 dimensions by using an iPEPS (infmite projected entangled-pair state) Ansatz for the ground state. Our results are therefore directly valid in the thermodynamic limit. They clearly show two distinct phases separated by a phase transition. We introduce an update strategy that enables plaquette terms and Gauss-law constraints to be applied as sequences of two-body operators. This allows the use of the most up-to-date iPEPS algorithms. From the calculation of spatial Wilson loops we are able to prove the existence of a confined phase. We show that with relatively low computational cost it is possible to reproduce crucial features of gauge theories. We expect that the strategy allows the extension of iPEPS studies to more general LGTs.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.050401

Seasonal epidemic spreading on small-world networks: Biennial outbreaks and classical discrete time crystals

D. Malz, A. Pizzi, A. Nunnenkamp, J. Knolle

Physical Review Research 3 (1), 13124 (2021).

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We study seasonal epidemic spreading in a susceptible-infected-removed-susceptible model on small-world graphs. We derive a mean-field description that accurately captures the salient features of the model, most notably a phase transition between annual and biennial outbreaks. A numerical scaling analysis exhibits a diverging autocorrelation time in the thermodynamic limit, which confirms the presence of a classical discrete time crystalline phase. We derive the phase diagram of the model both frommean-field theory and from numerics. Our paper demonstrates that small worldness and non-Markovianity can stabilize a classical discrete time crystal, and links recent efforts to understand such dynamical phases of matter to the century-old problem of biennial epidemics.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.013124

Fermionic quantum cellular automata and generalized matrix-product unitaries

L. Piroli, A. Turzillo, S. K. Shukla, J. I. Cirac

Journal of Statistical Mechanics-Theory and Experiment 2021 (1), 13107 (2021).

Show Abstract

In this paper, we study matrix-product unitary operators (MPUs) for fermionic one-dimensional chains. In stark contrast to the case of 1D qudit systems, we show that (i) fermionic MPUs (fMPUs) do not necessarily feature a strict causal cone and (ii) not all fermionic quantum cellular automata (QCA) can be represented as fMPUs. We then introduce a natural generalization of the latter, obtained by allowing for an additional operator acting on their auxiliary space. We characterize a family of such generalized MPUs that are locality-preserving, and show that, up to appending inert ancillary fermionic degrees of freedom, any representative of this family is a fermionic QCA (fQCA) and vice versa. Finally, we prove an index theorem for generalized MPUs, recovering the recently derived classification of fQCA in one dimension. As a technical tool for our analysis, we also introduce a graded canonical form for fermionic matrix product states, proving its uniqueness up to similarity transformations.

DOI: 10.1088/1742-5468/abd30f

Information Scrambling over Bipartitions: Equilibration, Entropy Production, and Typicality

G. Styliaris, N. Anand, P. Zanardi

Physical Review Letters 126 (3), 30601 (2021).

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"In recent years, the out-of-time-order correlator (OTOC) has emerged as a diagnostic tool for information scrambling in quantum many-body systems. Here, we present exact analytical results for the OTOC for a typical pair of random local operators supported over two regions of a bipartition. Quite remarkably, we show that this ""bipartite OTOC"" is equal to the operator entanglement of the evolution, and we determine its interplay with entangling power. Furthermore, we compute long-time averages of the OTOC and reveal their connection with eigenstate entanglement. For Hamiltonian systems, we uncover a hierarchy of constraints over the structure of the spectrum and elucidate how this affects the equilibration value of the OTOC. Finally, we provide operational significance to this bipartite OTOC by unraveling intimate connections with average entropy production and scrambling of information at the level of quantum channels."

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.030601

Dominant Fifth-Order Correlations in Doped Quantum Antiferromagnets

A. Bohrdt, Y. Wang, J. Koepsell, M. Kanasz-Nagy, E. Demler, F. Grusdt

Physical Review Letters 126 (2), 26401 (2021).

Show Abstract

Traditionally, one- and two-point correlation functions are used to characterize many-body systems. In strongly correlated quantum materials, such as the doped 2D Fermi-Hubbard system, these may no longer be sufficient, because higher-order correlations are crucial to understanding the character of the many-body system and can be numerically dominant. Experimentally, such higher-order correlations have recently become accessible in ultracold atom systems. Here, we reveal strong non-Gaussian correlations in doped quantum antiferromagnets and show that higher-order correlations dominate over lower-order terms. We study a single mobile hole in the t - J model using the density matrix renormalization group and reveal genuine fifth-order correlations which are directly related to the mobility of the dopant. We contrast our results to predictions using models based on doped quantum spin liquids which feature significantly reduced higher-order correlations. Our predictions can be tested at the lowest currently accessible temperatures in quantum simulators of the 2D Fermi-Hubbard model. Finally, we propose to experimentally study the same fifth-order spin-charge correlations as a function of doping. This will help to reveal the microscopic nature of charge carriers in the most debated regime of the Hubbard model, relevant for understanding high-T-c superconductivity.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.026401

From Probabilistic Graphical Models to Generalized Tensor Networks for Supervised Learning

I. Glasser, N. Pancotti, J. I. Cirac

Ieee Access 8, 68169-68182 (2020).

Show Abstract

Tensor networks have found a wide use in a variety of applications in physics and computer science, recently leading to both theoretical insights as well as practical algorithms in machine learning. In this work we explore the connection between tensor networks and probabilistic graphical models, and show that it motivates the definition of generalized tensor networks where information from a tensor can be copied and reused in other parts of the network. We discuss the relationship between generalized tensor network architectures used in quantum physics, such as string-bond states, and architectures commonly used in machine learning. We provide an algorithm to train these networks in a supervised-learning context and show that they overcome the limitations of regular tensor networks in higher dimensions, while keeping the computation efficient. A method to combine neural networks and tensor networks as part of a common deep learning architecture is also introduced. We benchmark our algorithm for several generalized tensor network architectures on the task of classifying images and sounds, and show that they outperform previously introduced tensor-network algorithms. The models we consider also have a natural implementation on a quantum computer and may guide the development of near-term quantum machine learning architectures.

DOI: 10.1109/access.2020.2986279

Time crystallinity and finite-size effects in clean Floquet systems

A. Pizzi, D. Malz, G. De Tomasi, J. Knolle, A. Nunnenkamp

Physical Review B 102 (21), 214207 (2020).

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A cornerstone assumption that most literature on discrete time crystals has relied on is that homogeneous Floquet systems generally heat to a featureless infinite temperature state, an expectation that motivated researchers in the field to mostly focus on many-body localized systems. Some works have, however, shown that the standard diagnostics for time crystallinity apply equally well to clean settings without disorder. This fact raises the question whether a homogeneous discrete time crystal is possible in which the originally expected heating is evaded. Studying both a localized and an homogeneous model with short-range interactions, we clarify this issue showing explicitly the key differences between the two cases. On the one hand, our careful scaling analysis confirms that, in the thermodynamic limit and in contrast to localized discrete time crystals, homogeneous systems indeed heat. On the other hand, we show that, thanks to a mechanism reminiscent of quantum scars, finite-size homogeneous systems can still exhibit very crisp signatures of time crystallinity. A subharmonic response can in fact persist over timescales that are much larger than those set by the integrability-breaking terms, with thermalization possibly occurring only at very large system sizes (e.g., of hundreds of spins). Beyond clarifying the emergence of heating in disorder-free systems, our work casts a spotlight on finite-size homogeneous systems as prime candidates for the experimental implementation of nontrivial out-of-equilibrium physics.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.102.214207

Gauge redundancy-free formulation of compact QED with dynamical matter for quantum and classical computations

J. Bender, E. Zohar

Physical Review D 102 (11), 114517 (2020).

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We introduce a way to express compact quantum electrodynamics with dynamical matter on two- and three-dimensional spatial lattices in a gauge redundancy-free manner while preserving translational invariance. By transforming to a rotating frame, where the matter is decoupled from the gauge constraints, we can express the gauge field operators in terms of dual operators. In two space dimensions, the dual representation is completely free of any local constraints. In three space dimensions, local constraints among the dual operators remain but involve only the gauge field degrees of freedom (and not the matter degrees of freedom). These formulations, which reduce the required Hilbert space dimension, could be useful for both numerical (classical) Hamiltonian computations and quantum simulation or computation.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.102.114517

Integrability of one-dimensional Lindbladians from operator-space fragmentation

F. H. L. Essler, L. Piroli

Physical Review E 102 (6), 62210 (2020).

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We introduce families of one-dimensional Lindblad equations describing open many-particle quantum systems that are exactly solvable in the following sense: (i) The space of operators splits into exponentially many (in system size) subspaces that are left invariant under the dissipative evolution,. (ii) the time evolution of the density matrix on each invariant subspace is described by an integrable Hamiltonian. The prototypical example is the quantum version of the asymmetric simple exclusion process (ASEP) which we analyze in some detail. We show that in each invariant subspace the dynamics is described in terms of an integrable spin-1/2 XXZ Heisenberg chain with either open or twisted boundary conditions. We further demonstrate that Lindbladians featuring integrable operator-space fragmentation can be found in spin chains with arbitrary local physical dimensions.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.102.062210

Quantum Cellular Automata, Tensor Networks, and Area Laws

L. Piroli, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Letters 125 (19), 190402 (2020).

Show Abstract

Quantum cellular automata are unitary maps that preserve locality and respect causality. We identify them, in any dimension, with simple tensor networks (projected entangled pair unitary) whose bond dimension does not grow with the system size. As a result, they satisfy an area law for the entanglement entropy they can create. We define other classes of nonunitary maps, the so-called quantum channels, that either respect causality or preserve locality. We show that, whereas the latter obey an area law for the number of quantum correlations they can create, as measured by the quantum mutual information, the former may violate it. We also show that neither of them can be expressed as tensor networks with a bond dimension that is independent of the system size.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.190402

Zero-temperature phases of the two-dimensional Hubbard-Holstein model: A non-Gaussian exact diagonalization study

Y. Wang, I. Esterlis, T. Shi, J. I. Cirac, E. Demler

Physical Review Research 2 (4), 43258 (2020).

Show Abstract

We propose a numerical method which embeds the variational non-Gaussian wave-function approach within exact diagonalization, allowing for efficient treatment of correlated systems with both electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions. Using a generalized polaron transformation, we construct a variational wave function that absorbs entanglement between electrons and phonons into a variational non-Gaussian transformation,. exact diagonalization is then used to treat the electronic part of the wave function exactly, thus taking into account high-order correlation effects beyond the Gaussian level. Keeping the full electronic Hilbert space, the complexity is increased only by a polynomial scaling factor relative to the exact diagonalization calculation for pure electrons. As an example, we use this method to study ground-state properties of the two-dimensional Hubbard-Holstein model, providing evidence for the existence of intervening phases between the spin and charge-ordered states. In particular, we find one of the intervening phases has strong charge susceptibility and binding energy, but is distinct from a charge-density-wave ordered state, while the other intervening phase displays superconductivity at weak couplings. This method, as a general framework, can be extended to treat excited states and dynamics, as well as a wide range of systems with both electron-electron and electron-boson interactions.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.043258

Dynamics and large deviation transitions of the XOR-Fredrickson-Andersen kinetically constrained model

L. Causer, I. Lesanovsky, M. C. Bañuls, J. P. Garrahan

Physical Review E 102 (5), 52132 (2020).

Show Abstract

"We study a one-dimensional classical stochastic kinetically constrained model (KCM) inspired by Rydberg atoms in their ""facilitated"" regime, where sites can flip only if a single of their nearest neighbors is excited. We call this model ""XOR-FA"" to distinguish it from the standard Fredrickson-Andersen (FA) model. We describe the dynamics of the XOR-FA model, including its relation to simple exclusion processes in its domain wall representation. The interesting relaxation dynamics of the XOR-FA is related to the prominence of large dynamical fluctuations that lead to phase transitions between active and inactive dynamical phases as in other KCMs. By means of numerical tensor network methods we study in detail such transitions in the dynamical large deviation regime."

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.102.052132

Variational Monte Carlo simulation with tensor networks of a pure Z(3) gauge theory in (2+1)D

P. Emonts, M. C. Bañuls, J. I. Cirac, E. Zohar

Physical Review D 102 (7), 74501 (2020).

Show Abstract

Variational minimization of tensor network states enables the exploration of low energy states of lattice gauge theories. However, the exact numerical evaluation of high-dimensional tensor network states remains challenging in general. In [E. Zohar and J. I. Cirac, Phys. Rev. D 97, 034510 (2018)] it was shown how, by combining gauged Gaussian projected entangled pair states with a variational Monte Carlo procedure, it is possible to efficiently compute physical observables. In this paper we demonstrate how this approach can be used to investigate numerically the ground state of a lattice gauge theory. More concretely, we explicitly carry out the variational Monte Carlo procedure based on such contraction methods for a pure gauge KogutSusskind Hamiltonian with a Z(3) gauge field in two spatial dimensions. This is a first proof of principle to the method, which provides an inherent way to increase the number of variational parameters and can be readily extended to systems with physical fermions.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.102.074501

Variational Approach for Many-Body Systems at Finite Temperature

T. Shi, E. Demler, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Letters 125 (18), 180602 (2020).

Show Abstract

We introduce an equation for density matrices that ensures a monotonic decrease of the free energy and reaches a fixed point at the Gibbs thermal. We build a variational approach for many-body systems that can be applied to a broad class of states, including all bosonic and fermionic Gaussian, as well as their generalizations obtained by unitary transformations, such as polaron transformations in electron-phonon systems. We apply it to the Holstein model on 20 x 20 and 50 x 50 square lattices, and predict phase separation between the superconducting and charge-density wave phases in the strong interaction regime.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.180602

Disorder-free localization in a simple U (1) lattice gauge theory

I. Papaefstathiou, A. Smith, J. Knolle

Physical Review B 102 (16), 165132 (2020).

Show Abstract

Localization due to the presence of disorder has proven crucial for our current understanding of relaxation in isolated quantum systems. The many-body localized phase constitutes a robust alternative to the thermalization of complex interacting systems, but recently the importance of disorder has been brought into question. A number of disorder-free localization mechanisms have been put forward connected to local symmetries of lattice gauge theories. Here, starting from translationally invariant (1 + 1)-dimensional quantum electrodynamics, we modify the dynamics of the gauge field which allows us to construct a lattice model with a U(1) local gauge symmetry revealing a mechanism of disorder-free localization. We consider two different discretizations of the continuum model resulting in a free-fermion soluble model in one case and an interacting model in the other. We diagnose the localization of our translationally invariant model in the far-from-equilibrium dynamics following a global quantum quench.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.102.165132

Quantum simulation of two-dimensional quantum chemistry in optical lattices

J. Arguello-Luengo, A. Gonzalez-Tudela, T. Shi, P. Zoller, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Research 2 (4), 42013 (2020).

Show Abstract

Benchmarking numerical methods in quantum chemistry is one of the key opportunities that quantum simulators can offer. Here, we propose an analog simulator for discrete two-dimensional quantum chemistry models based on cold atoms in optical lattices. We first analyze how to simulate simple models, such as the discrete versions of H and H-2(+), using a single fermionic atom. We then show that a single bosonic atom can mediate an effective Coulomb repulsion between two fermions, leading to the analog of molecular hydrogen in two dimensions. We extend this approach to larger systems by introducing as many mediating atoms as fermions, and derive the effective repulsion law. In all cases, we analyze how the continuous limit is approached for increasing optical lattice sizes.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.042013

Real-time dynamics in 2+1D compact QED using complex periodic Gaussian states

J. Bender, P. Emonts, E. Zohar, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Research 2 (4), 43145 (2020).

Show Abstract

We introduce a class of variational states to study ground-state properties and real-time dynamics in (2 + 1)-dimensional compact QED. These are based on complex Gaussian states which are made periodic to account for the compact nature of the U(1) gauge field. Since the evaluation of expectation values involves infinite sums, we present an approximation scheme for the whole variational manifold. We calculate the ground-state energy density for lattice sizes up to 20 x 20 and extrapolate to the thermodynamic limit for the whole coupling region. Additionally, we study the string tension both by fitting the potential between two static charges and by fitting the exponential decay of spatial Wilson loops. As the ansatz does not require a truncation in the local Hilbert spaces, we analyze truncation effects which are present in other approaches. The variational states are benchmarked against exact solutions known for the one plaquette case and exact diagonalization results for a Z(3) lattice gauge theory. Using the time-dependent variational principle, we study real-time dynamics after various global quenches, e.g., the time evolution of a strongly confined electric field between two charges after a quench to the weak-coupling regime. Up to the points where finite-size effects start to play a role, we observe equilibrating behavior.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.043145

Geometry of variational methods: dynamics of closed quantum systems

L. Hackl, T. Guaita, T. Shi, J. Haegeman, E. Demler, J. I. Cirac

Scipost Physics 9 (4), 48 (2020).

Show Abstract

We present a systematic geometric framework to study closed quantum systems based on suitably chosen variational families. For the purpose of (A) real time evolution, (B) excitation spectra, (C) spectral functions and (D) imaginary time evolution, we show how the geometric approach highlights the necessity to distinguish between two classes of manifolds: Kahler and non-Kahler. Traditional variational methods typically require the variational family to be a Kahler manifold, where multiplication by the imaginary unit preserves the tangent spaces. This covers the vast majority of cases studied in the literature. However, recently proposed classes of generalized Gaussian states make it necessary to also include the non-Kahler case, which has already been encountered occasionally. We illustrate our approach in detail with a range of concrete examples where the geometric structures of the considered manifolds are particularly relevant. These go from Gaussian states and group theoretic coherent states to generalized Gaussian states.

DOI: 10.21468/SciPostPhys.9.4.048

Efficient Description of Many-Body Systems with Matrix Product Density Operators

J. G. Jarkovsky, A. Molnar, N. Schuch, J. I. Cirac

Prx Quantum 1 (1), 10304 (2020).

Show Abstract

"Matrix product states form a powerful ansatz for the simulation of a wide range of one-dimensional quantum systems that are in a pure state. Their power stems from the fact that they faithfully approximate states with a low amount of entanglement, the ""area law."" However, in order to accurately capture the physics of realistic systems, one generally needs to apply a mixed-state description. In this work, we establish the mixed-state analog of this characterization. We show that one-dimensional mixed states with a low amount of entanglement, quantified by the entanglement of purification, can be efficiently approximated by matrix product density operators."

DOI: 10.1103/PRXQuantum.1.010304

Ultrafast molecular dynamics in terahertz-STM experiments: Theoretical analysis using the Anderson-Holstein model

T. Shi, J. I. Cirac, E. Demler

Physical Review Research 2 (3), 33379 (2020).

Show Abstract

We analyze ultrafast tunneling experiments in which electron transport through a localized orbital is induced by a single-cycle terahertz (THz) pulse. We include both electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions on the localized orbital using the Anderson-Holstein model and consider two possible filling factors, the singly occupied Kondo regime and the doubly occupied regime relevant to recent experiments with a pentacene molecule. Our analysis is based on variational non-Gaussian states and provides the accurate description of the degrees of freedom at very different energies, from the high microscopic energy scales to the Kondo temperature TK. To establish the validity of this method we apply this formalism to study the Anderson model in the Kondo regime in the absence of coupling to phonons. We demonstrate that it correctly reproduces key properties of the model, including the screening of the impurity spin, formation of the resonance at the Fermi energy, and a linear conductance of 2e(2)/h. We discuss the suppression of the Kondo resonance by the electron-phonon interaction on the impurity site. When analyzing THz-STM experiments we compute the time dependence of the key physical quantities, including current, the number of electrons on the localized orbital, and the number of excited phonons. We find long-lived oscillations of the phonon that persist long after the end of the pulse. We compare the results for the interacting system to the noninteracting resonant level model.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.033379

Realizing a deterministic source of multipartite-entangled photonic qubits

J. C. Besse, K. Reuer, M. C. Collodo, A. Wulff, L. Wernli, A. Copetudo, D. Malz, P. Magnard, A. Akin, M. Gabureac, G. J. Norris, J. I. Cirac, A. Wallraff, C. Eichler

Nature Communications 11 (1), 4877 (2020).

Show Abstract

Sources of entangled electromagnetic radiation are a cornerstone in quantum information processing and offer unique opportunities for the study of quantum many-body physics in a controlled experimental setting. Generation of multi-mode entangled states of radiation with a large entanglement length, that is neither probabilistic nor restricted to generate specific types of states, remains challenging. Here, we demonstrate the fully deterministic generation of purely photonic entangled states such as the cluster, GHZ, and W state by sequentially emitting microwave photons from a controlled auxiliary system into a waveguide. We tomographically reconstruct the entire quantum many-body state for up to N = 4 photonic modes and infer the quantum state for even larger N from process tomography. We estimate that localizable entanglement persists over a distance of approximately ten photonic qubits.

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18635-x

Quantum trimer models and topological SU(3) spin liquids on the kagome lattice

S. Jandura, M. Iqbal, N. Schuch

Physical Review Research 2 (3), 33382 (2020).

Show Abstract

We construct and study quantum trimer models and resonating SU(3)-singlet models on the kagome lattice, which generalize quantum dimer models and the resonating valence bond wave functions to a trimer and SU(3) setting. We demonstrate that these models carry a Z(3) symmetry which originates in the structure of trimers and the SU(3) representation theory, and which becomes the only symmetry under renormalization. Based on this, we construct simple and exact parent Hamiltonians for the model which exhibit a topological ninefold degenerate ground space. A combination of analytical reasoning and numerical analysis reveals that the quantum order ultimately displayed by the model depends on the relative weight assigned to different types of trimers-it can display either Z(3) topological order or form a symmetry-broken trimer crystal, and in addition possesses a point with an enhanced U(1) symmetry and critical behavior. Our results accordingly hold for the SU(3) model, where the two natural choices for trimer weights give rise to either a topological spin liquid or a system with symmetry-broken order, respectively. Our work thus demonstrates the suitability of resonating trimer and SU(3)-singlet ansatzes to model SU(3) topological spin liquids on the kagome lattice.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.033382

Phase structure and real-time dynamics of the massive Thirring model in 1+1 dimensions using the tensor-network method

M.C. Banuls, K. Cichy, H.T. Hung, Y.J. Kao, D. Lin, Y.P. Lin, D.T.L. Tan

Proceedings of Science LATTICE2019, 22 (2020).

Show Abstract

We present concluding results from our study for zero-temperature phase structure of the massive Thirring model in 1+1 dimensions with staggered regularisation. Employing the method of matrix product states, several quantities, including two types of correlators, are investigated, leading to numerical evidence of a Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition. Exploratory results for real-time dynamics pertaining to this transition, obtained using the approaches of variational uniform matrix product state and time-dependent variational principle, are also discussed.

DOI: 10.22323/1.363.0022

Simulating lattice gauge theories within quantum technologies

M. C. Bañuls, R. Blatt, J. Catani, A. Celi, J. I. Cirac, M. Dalmonte, L. Fallani, K. Jansen, M. Lewenstein, S. Montangero, C. A. Muschik, B. Reznik, E. Rico, L. Tagliacozzo, K. Van Acoleyen, F. Verstraete, U. J. Wiese, M. Wingate, J. Zakrzewski, P. Zoller

European Physical Journal D 74 (8), 165 (2020).

Show Abstract

Lattice gauge theories, which originated from particle physics in the context of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), provide an important intellectual stimulus to further develop quantum information technologies. While one long-term goal is the reliable quantum simulation of currently intractable aspects of QCD itself, lattice gauge theories also play an important role in condensed matter physics and in quantum information science. In this way, lattice gauge theories provide both motivation and a framework for interdisciplinary research towards the development of special purpose digital and analog quantum simulators, and ultimately of scalable universal quantum computers. In this manuscript, recent results and new tools from a quantum science approach to study lattice gauge theories are reviewed. Two new complementary approaches are discussed: first, tensor network methods are presented - a classical simulation approach - applied to the study of lattice gauge theories together with some results on Abelian and non-Abelian lattice gauge theories. Then, recent proposals for the implementation of lattice gauge theory quantum simulators in different quantum hardware are reported, e.g., trapped ions, Rydberg atoms, and superconducting circuits. Finally, the first proof-of-principle trapped ions experimental quantum simulations of the Schwinger model are reviewed.

DOI: 10.1140/epjd/e2020-100571-8

Subsystem symmetry enriched topological order in three dimensions

D. T. Stephen, J. Garre-Rubio, A. Dua, D. J. Williamson

Physical Review Research 2 (3), 33331 (2020).

Show Abstract

We introduce a model of three-dimensional (3D) topological order enriched by planar subsystem symmetries. The model is constructed starting from the 3D toric code, whose ground state can be viewed as an equal-weight superposition of two-dimensional (2D) membrane coverings. We then decorate those membranes with 2D cluster states possessing symmetry-protected topological order under linelike subsystem symmetries. This endows the decorated model with planar subsystem symmetries under which the looplike excitations of the toric code fractionalize, resulting in an extensive degeneracy per unit length of the excitation. We also show that the value of the topological entanglement entropy is larger than that of the toric code for certain bipartitions due to the subsystem symmetry enrichment. Our model can be obtained by gauging the global symmetry of a short-range entangled model which has symmetry-protected topological order coming from an interplay of global and subsystem symmetries. We study the nontrivial action of the symmetries on boundary of this model, uncovering a mixed boundary anomaly between global and subsystem symmetries. To further study this interplay, we consider gauging several different subgroups of the total symmetry. The resulting network of models, which includes models with fracton topological order, showcases more of the possible types of subsystem symmetry enrichment that can occur in 3D.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.033331

Scrambling in random unitary circuits: Exact results

B. Bertini, L. Piroli

Physical Review B 102 (6), 64305 (2020).

Show Abstract

"We study the scrambling of quantum information in local random unitary circuits by focusing on the tripartite information proposed by Hosur et al. We provide exact results for the averaged Renyi-2 tripartite information in two cases: (i) the local gates are Haar random and (ii) the local gates are dual-unitary and randomly sampled from a single-site Haar-invariant measure. We show that the latter case defines a one-parameter family of circuits, and prove that for a ""maximally chaotic"" subset of this family quantum information is scrambled faster than in the Haar-random case. Our approach is based on a standard mapping onto an averaged folded tensor network, that can be studied by means of appropriate recurrence relations. By means of the same method, we also revisit the computation of out-of-time-ordered correlation functions, rederiving known formulas for Haar-random unitary circuits, and presenting an exact result for maximally chaotic random dual-unitary gates."

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.102.064305

Prethermalization of quantum systems interacting with non-equilibrium environments

A. Angles-Castillo, M. C. Bañuls, A. Perez, I. De Vega

New Journal of Physics 22 (8), 83067 (2020).

Show Abstract

The usual paradigm of open quantum systems falls short when the environment is actually coupled to additional fields or components that drive it out of equilibrium. Here we explore the simplest such scenario, by considering a two level system coupled to a first thermal reservoir that in turn couples to a second thermal bath at a different temperature. We derive a master equation description for the system and show that, in this situation, the dynamics can be especially rich. In particular, we observe prethermalization, a transitory phenomenon in which the system initially approaches thermal equilibrium with respect to the first reservoir, but after a longer time converges to the thermal state dictated by the temperature of the second environment. Using analytical arguments and numerical simulations, we analyze the occurrence of this phenomenon, and how it depends on temperatures and coupling strengths. The phenomenology gets even richer if the system is placed between two such non-equilibrium environments. In this case, the energy current through the system may exhibit transient features and even switch direction, before the system eventually reaches a non-equilibrium steady state.

DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/aba7f4

From spin chains to real-time thermal field theory using tensor networks

M. C. Bañuls, M. P. Heller, K. Jansen, J. Knaute, V. Svensson

Physical Review Research 2 (3), 33301 (2020).

Show Abstract

One of the most interesting directions in theoretical high-energy and condensed-matter physics is understanding dynamical properties of collective states of quantum field theories. The most elementary tool in this quest is retarded equilibrium correlators governing the linear response theory. In this article we examine tensor networks as a way of determining them in a fully ab initio way in a class of (1+1)-dimensional quantum field theories arising as infrared descriptions of quantum Ising chains. We show that, complemented with signal analysis using the Prony method, tensor network calculations for intermediate times provide a powerful way to explore the structure of singularities of the correlator in the complex frequency plane and to make predictions about the thermal response to perturbations in a class of nonintegrable interacting quantum field theories.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.033301

Nondestructive photon counting in waveguide QED

D. Malz, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Research 2 (3), 33091 (2020).

Show Abstract

Number-resolving single-photon detectors represent a key technology for a host of quantum optics protocols, but despite significant efforts, state-of-the-art devices are limited to few photons. In contrast, state-dependent atom counting in arrays can be done with extremely high fidelity up to hundreds of atoms. We show that in waveguide QED, the problem of photon counting can be reduced to atom counting, by entangling the photonic state with an atomic array in the collective number basis. This is possible as the incoming photons couple to collective atomic states and can be achieved by engineering a second decay channel of an excited atom to a metastable state. Our scheme is robust to disorder and finite Purcell factors, and its fidelity increases with the atom number. Analyzing the state of the re-emitted photons, we further show that if the initial atomic state is a symmetric Dicke state, dissipation engineering can be used to implement a nondestructive photon-number measurement, in which the incident state is scattered into the waveguide unchanged. Our results generalize to related platforms, including superconducting qubits.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.033091

Quantum East Model: Localization, Nonthermal Eigenstates, and Slow Dynamics

N. Pancotti, G. Giudice, J. I. Cirac, J. P. Garrahan, M. C. Bañuls

Physical Review X 10 (2), 21051 (2020).

Show Abstract

"We study in detail the properties of the quantum East model, an interacting quantum spin chain inspired by simple kinetically constrained models of classical glasses. Through a combination of analytics, exact diagonalization, and tensor-network methods, we show the existence of a transition, from a fast to a slow thermalization regime, which manifests itself throughout the spectrum. On the slow side, by exploiting the localization of the ground state and the form of the Hamiltonian, we explicitly construct a large (exponential in size) number of nonthennal states that become exact finite-energy-density eigenstates in the large size limit, as expected for a true phase transition. A ""superspin"" generalization allows us to fmd a further large class of area-law states proved to display very slow relaxation. These states retain memory of their initial conditions for extremely long times. Our numerical analysis reveals that the localization properties are not limited to the ground state and that many eigenstates have large overlap with product states and can be approximated well by matrix product states at arbitrary energy densities. The mechanism that induces localization to the ground state, and hence the nonthermal behavior of the system, can be extended to a wide range of models including a number of simple spin chains. We discuss implications of our results for slow thermalization and nonergodicity more generally in disorder-free systems with constraints, and we give numerical evidence that these results may be extended to two-dimensional systems."

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevX.10.021051

Entanglement and its relation to energy variance for local one-dimensional Hamiltonians

M. C. Bañuls, D. A. Huse, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review B 101 (14), 144305 (2020).

Show Abstract

We explore the relation between the entanglement of a pure state and its energy variance for a local one-dimensional Hamiltonian, as the system size increases. In particular, we introduce a construction which creates a matrix product state of arbitrarily small energy variance delta(2) for N spins, with bond dimension scaling as root ND01/delta, where D-0 > 1 is a constant. This implies that a polynomially increasing bond dimension is enough to construct states with energy variance that vanishes with the inverse of the logarithm of the system size. We run numerical simulations to probe the construction on two different models and compare the local reduced density matrices of the resulting states to the corresponding thermal equilibrium. Our results suggest that the spatially homogeneous states with logarithmically decreasing variance, which can be constructed efficiently, do converge to the thermal equilibrium in the thermodynamic limit, while the same is not true if the variance remains constant.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.101.144305

Markovianity of an emitter coupled to a structured spin-chain bath

J. Roos, J. I. Cirac, M. C. Bañuls

Physical Review A 101 (4), 42114 (2020).

Show Abstract

We analyze the dynamics of a spin-1/2 subsystem coupled to a spin chain. We simulate numerically the full quantum many-body system for various sets of parameters and initial states of the chain, and characterize the divisibility of the subsystem dynamics, i.e., whether it is Markovian and can be described by a (time-dependent) master equation. We identify regimes in which the subsystem admits such Markovian description, despite the many-body setting, and provide insight about why the same is not possible in other regimes. Interestingly, coupling the subsystem at the edge, instead of the center, of the chain gives rise to qualitatively distinct behavior.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.101.042114

Multimode Fock states with large photon number: effective descriptions and applications in quantum metrology

M. Perarnau-Llobet, A. Gonzalez-Tudela, J. I. Cirac

Quantum Science and Technology 5 (2), 25003 (2020).

Show Abstract

We develop general tools to characterise and efficiently compute relevant observables of multimode N-photon states generated in nonlinear decays in one-dimensional waveguides. We then consider optical interferometry in a Mach-Zender interferometer where a d-mode photonic state enters in each arm of the interferometer. We derive a simple expression for the quantum Fisher information in terms of the average photon number in each mode, and show that it can be saturated by number-resolved photon measurements that do not distinguish between the different d modes.

DOI: 10.1088/2058-9565/ab6ce5

Wigner crystals in two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides: Spin physics and readout

J. Knorzer, M. J. A. Schuetz, G. Giedke, D. S. Wild, K. De Greve, R. Schmidt, M. D. Lukin, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review B 101 (12), 125101 (2020).

Show Abstract

Wigner crystals are prime candidates for the realization of regular electron lattices under minimal requirements on external control and electronics. However, several technical challenges have prevented their detailed experimental investigation and applications to date. We propose an implementation of two-dimensional electron lattices for quantum simulation of Ising spin systems based on self-assembled Wigner crystals in transition-metal dichalcogenides. We show that these semiconductors allow for minimally invasive all-optical detection schemes of charge ordering and total spin. For incident light with optimally chosen beam parameters and polarization, we predict a strong dependence of the transmitted and reflected signals on the underlying lattice periodicity, thus revealing the charge order inherent in Wigner crystals. At the same time, the selection rules in transition-metal dichalcogenides provide direct access to the spin degree of freedom via Faraday rotation measurements.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.101.125101

Classification of Matrix-Product Unitaries with Symmetries

Z. P. Gong, C. Sunderhauf, N. Schuch, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review Letters 124 (10), 100402 (2020).

Show Abstract

We prove that matrix-product unitaries with on-site unitary symmetries are completely classified by the (chiral) index and the cohomology class of the symmetry group G, provided that we can add trivial and symmetric ancillas with arbitrary on-site representations of G. If the representations in both system and ancillas are fixed to be the same, we can define symmetry-protected indices (SPIs) which quantify the imbalance in the transport associated to each group element and greatly refines the classification. These SPIs are stable against disorder and measurable in interferometric experiments. Our results lead to a systematic construction of two-dimensional Floquet symmetry-protected topological phases beyond the standard classification, and thus shed new light on understanding nonequilibrium phases of quantum matter.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.100402

Probing Thermalization through Spectral Analysis with Matrix Product Operators

Y. L. Yang, S. Iblisdir, J. I. Cirac, M. C. Bañuls

Physical Review Letters 124 (10), 100602 (2020).

Show Abstract

We combine matrix product operator techniques with Chebyshev polynomial expansions and present a method that is able to explore spectral properties of quantum many-body Hamiltonians. In particular, we show how this method can be used to probe thermalization of large spin chains without explicitly simulating their time evolution, as well as to compute full and local densities of states. The performance is illustrated with the examples of the Ising and PXP spin chains. For the nonintegrable Ising chain, our findings corroborate the presence of thermalization for several initial states, well beyond what direct time-dependent simulations have been able to achieve so far.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.100602

Exact dynamics in dual-unitary quantum circuits

L. Piroli, B. Bertini, J. I. Cirac, T. Prosen

Physical Review B 101 (9), 94304 (2020).

Show Abstract

"We consider the class of dual-unitary quantum circuits in 1 + 1 dimensions and introduce a notion of ""solvable"" matrix product states (MPSs), defined by a specific condition which allows us to tackle their time evolution analytically. We provide a classification of the latter, showing that they include certain MPSs of arbitrary bond dimension, and study analytically different aspects of their dynamics. For these initial states, we show that while any subsystem of size l reaches infinite temperature after a time t alpha l, irrespective of the presence of conserved quantities, the light cone of two-point correlation functions displays qualitatively different features depending on the ergodicity of the quantum circuit, defined by the behavior of infinite-temperature dynamical correlation functions. Furthermore, we study the entanglement spreading from such solvable initial states, providing a closed formula for the time evolution of the entanglement entropy of a connected block. This generalizes recent results obtained in the context of the self-dual kicked Ising model. By comparison, we also consider a family of nonsolvable initial mixed states depending on one real parameter beta, which, as beta is varied from zero to infinity, interpolate between the infinite-temperature density matrix and arbitrary initial pure product states. We study analytically their dynamics for small values of beta, and highlight the differences from the case of solvable MPSs."

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.101.094304

Review on novel methods for lattice gauge theories

M. C. Bañuls, K. Cichy

Reports on Progress in Physics 83 (2), 24401 (2020).

Show Abstract

Formulating gauge theories on a lattice offers a genuinely non-perturbative way of studying quantum field theories, and has led to impressive achievements. In particular, it significantly deepened our understanding of quantum chromodynamics. Yet, some very relevant problems remain inherently challenging, such as real time evolution, or the presence of a chemical potential, cases in which Monte Carlo simulations are hindered by a sign problem. In the last few years, a number of possible alternatives have been put forward, based on quantum information ideas, which could potentially open the access to areas of research that have so far eluded more standard methods. They include tensor network calculations, quantum simulations with different physical platforms and quantum computations, and constitute nowadays a vibrant research area. Experts from different fields, including experimental and theoretical high energy physics, condensed matter, and quantum information, are turning their attention to these interdisciplinary possibilities, and driving the progress of the field. The aim of this article is to review the status and perspectives of these new avenues for the exploration of lattice gauge theories.

DOI: 10.1088/1361-6633/ab6311

Evaluation of time-dependent correlators after a local quench in iPEPS: hole motion in the t - J model

C. Hubig, A. Bohrdt, M. Knap, F. Grusdt, J. I. Cirac

Scipost Physics 8 (2), 21 (2020).

Show Abstract

Infinite projected entangled pair states (iPEPS) provide a convenient variational description of infinite, translationally-invariant two-dimensional quantum states. However, the simulation of local excitations is not directly possible due to the translationally-invariant ansatz. Furthermore, as iPEPS are either identical or orthogonal, expectation values between different states as required during the evaluation of non-equal-time correlators are ill-defined. Here, we show that by introducing auxiliary states on each site, it becomes possible to simulate both local excitations and evaluate non-equal-time correlators in an iPEPS setting under real-time evolution. We showcase the method by simulating the t - J model after a single hole has been placed in the half-filled antiferromagnetic background and evaluating both return probabilities and spin correlation functions, as accessible in quantum gas microscopes.

DOI: 10.21468/SciPostPhys.8.2.021

Expressive power of tensor-network factorizations for probabilistic modeling

I. Glasser, R. Sweke, N. Pancotti, J. Eisert, J. I. Cirac

33rd Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS) 32, (2019).

Show Abstract

Tensor-network techniques have recently proven useful in machine learning, both as a tool for the formulation of new learning algorithms and for enhancing the mathematical understanding of existing methods. Inspired by these developments, and the natural correspondence between tensor networks and probabilistic graphical models, we provide a rigorous analysis of the expressive power of various tensor-network factorizations of discrete multivariate probability distributions. These factorizations include non-negative tensor-trains/MPS, which are in correspondence with hidden Markov models, and Born machines, which are naturally related to the probabilistic interpretation of quantum circuits. When used to model probability distributions, they exhibit tractable likelihoods and admit efficient learning algorithms. Interestingly, we prove that there exist probability distributions for which there are unbounded separations between the resource requirements of some of these tensor-network factorizations. Of particular interest, using complex instead of real tensors can lead to an arbitrarily large reduction in the number of parameters of the network. Additionally, we introduce locally purified states (LPS), a new factorization inspired by techniques for the simulation of quantum systems, with provably better expressive power than all other representations considered. The ramifications of this result are explored through numerical experiments.

NeurIPS Proceedings

Matrix product state algorithms for Gaussian fermionic states

N. Schuch, B. Bauer

Physical Review B 100 (24), 245121 (2019).

Show Abstract

While general quantum many-body systems require exponential resources to be simulated on a classical computer, systems of noninteracting fermions can be simulated exactly using polynomially scaling resources. Such systems may be of interest in their own right but also occur as effective models in numerical methods for interacting systems, such as Hartree-Fock, density functional theory, and many others. Often it is desirable to solve systems of many thousand constituent particles, rendering these simulations computationally costly despite their polynomial scaling. We demonstrate how this scaling can be improved by adapting methods based on matrix product states, which have been enormously successful for low-dimensional interacting quantum systems, to the case of free fermions. Compared to the case of interacting systems, our methods achieve an exponential speedup in the entanglement entropy of the state. We demonstrate their use to solve systems of up to one million sites with an effective matrix product state bond dimension of 10(15).

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.100.245121

Using Matrix Product States to Study the Dynamical Large Deviations of Kinetically Constrained Models

M. C. Bañuls, J. P. Garrahan

Physical Review Letters 123 (20), 200601 (2019).

Show Abstract

"Here we demonstrate that tensor network techniques-originally devised for the analysis of quantum many-body problems-are well suited for the detailed study of rare event statistics in kinetically constrained models (KCMs). As concrete examples, we consider the Fredrickson-Andersen and East models, two paradigmatic KCMs relevant to the modeling of glasses. We show how variational matrix product states allow us to numerically approximate-systematically and with high accuracy-the leading eigenstates of the tilted dynamical generators, which encode the large deviation statistics of the dynamics. Via this approach, we can study system sizes beyond what is possible with other methods, allowing us to characterize in detail the finite size scaling of the trajectory-space phase transition of these models, the behavior of spectral gaps, and the spatial structure and ""entanglement"" properties of dynamical phases. We discuss the broader implications of our results."

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.200601

Quantum chaos in the Brownian SYK model with large finite N : OTOCs and tripartite information

C. Sunderhauf, L. Piroli, X. L. Qi, N. Schuch, J. I. Cirac

Journal of High Energy Physics 2019, 38 (2019).

Show Abstract

We consider the Brownian SYK model of N interacting Majorana fermions, with random couplings that are taken to vary independently at each time. We study the out-of-time-ordered correlators (OTOCs) of arbitrary observables and the Renyi-2 tripartite information of the unitary evolution operator, which were proposed as diagnostic tools for quantum chaos and scrambling, respectively. We show that their averaged dynamics can be studied as a quench problem at imaginary times in a model of N qudits, where the Hamiltonian displays site-permutational symmetry. By exploiting a description in terms of bosonic collective modes, we show that for the quantities of interest the dynamics takes place in a subspace of the effective Hilbert space whose dimension grows either linearly or quadratically with N , allowing us to perform numerically exact calculations up to N = 10(6). We analyze in detail the interesting features of the OTOCs, including their dependence on the chosen observables, and of the tripartite information. We observe explicitly the emergence of a scrambling time t* similar to ln N controlling the onset of both chaotic and scrambling behavior, after which we characterize the exponential decay of the quantities of interest to the corresponding Haar scrambled values.

DOI: 10.1007/jhep11(2019)038

Efficient variational approach to dynamics of a spatially extended bosonic Kondo model

Y. Ashida, T. Shi, R. Schmidt, H. R. Sadeghpour, J. I. Cirac, E. Demler

Physical Review A 100 (4), 43618 (2019).

Show Abstract

We develop an efficient variational approach to studying dynamics of a localized quantum spin coupled to a bath of mobile spinful bosons. We use parity symmetry to decouple the impurity spin from the environment via a canonical transformation and reduce the problem to a model of the interacting bosonic bath. We describe coherent time evolution of the latter using bosonic Gaussian states as a variational ansatz. We provide full analytical expressions for equations describing variational time evolution that can be applied to study in- and out-of-equilibrium phenomena in a wide class of quantum impurity problems. In the accompanying paper [Ashida et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 183001 (2019)], we present a concrete application of this general formalism to the analysis of the Rydberg central spin model, in which the spin-1/2 Rydberg impurity undergoes spin-changing collisions in a dense cloud of two-component ultracold bosons. To illustrate new features arising from orbital motion of the bath atoms, we compare our results to the Monte Carlo study of the model with spatially localized bosons in the bath, in which random positions of the atoms give rise to random couplings of the standard central spin model.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.100.043618

Quantum Rydberg Central Spin Model

Y. Ashida, T. Shi, R. Schmidt, H. R. Sadeghpour, J. I. Cirac, E. Demler

Physical Review Letters 123 (18), 183001 (2019).

Show Abstract

We consider dynamics of a Rydberg impurity in a cloud of ultracold bosonic atoms in which the Rydberg electron undergoes spin-changing collisions with surrounding atoms. This system realizes a new type of quantum impurity problems that compounds essential features of the Kondo model, the Bose polaron, and the central spin model. To capture the interplay of the Rydberg-electron spin dynamics and the orbital motion of atoms, we employ a new variational method that combines an impurity-decoupling transformation with a Gaussian ansatz for the bath particles. We find several unexpected features of this model that are not present in traditional impurity problems, including interaction-induced renormalization of the absorption spectrum that eludes simple explanations from molecular bound states, and long-lasting oscillations of the Rydberg-electron spin. We discuss generalizations of our analysis to other systems in atomic physics and quantum chemistry, where an electron excitation of high orbital quantum number interacts with a spinful quantum bath.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.183001

Matrix Product States: Entanglement, Symmetries, and State Transformations

D. Sauerwein, A. Molnar, J. I. Cirac, B. Kraus

Physical Review Letters 123 (17), 170504 (2019).

Show Abstract

We analyze entanglement in the family of translationally invariant matrix product states (MPS). We give a criterion to determine when two states can be transformed into each other by local operations with a nonvanishing probability, a central question in entanglement theory. This induces a classification within this family of states, which we explicitly carry out for the simplest, nontrivial MPS. We also characterize all symmetries of translationally invariant MPS, both global and local (inhomogeneous). We illustrate our results with examples of states that are relevant in different physical contexts.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.170504

Analogue quantum chemistry simulation

J. Arguello-Luengo, A. Gonzalez-Tudela, T. Shi, P. Zoller, J. I. Cirac

Nature 574 (7777), 215-+ (2019).

Show Abstract

Computing the electronic structure of molecules with high precision is a central challenge in the field of quantum chemistry. Despite the success of approximate methods, tackling this problem exactly with conventional computers remains a formidable task. Several theoretical(1,2) and experimental(3-5) attempts have been made to use quantum computers to solve chemistry problems, with early proofof-principle realizations done digitally. An appealing alternative to the digital approach is analogue quantum simulation, which does not require a scalable quantum computer and has already been successfully applied to solve condensed matter physics problems(6-8). However, not all available or planned setups can be used for quantum chemistry problems, because it is not known how to engineer the required Coulomb interactions between them. Here we present an analogue approach to the simulation of quantum chemistry problems that relies on the careful combination of two technologies: ultracold atoms in optical lattices and cavity quantum electrodynamics. In the proposed simulator, fermionic atoms hopping in an optical potential play the role of electrons, additional optical potentials provide the nuclear attraction, and a single-spin excitation in a Mott insulator mediates the electronic Coulomb repulsion with the help of a cavity mode. We determine the operational conditions of the simulator and test it using a simple molecule. Our work opens up the possibility of efficiently computing the electronic structures of molecules with analogue quantum simulation.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1614-4

Detecting subsystem symmetry protected topological order via entanglement entropy

D. T. Stephen, H. Dreyer, M. Iqbal, N. Schuch

Physical Review B 100 (11), 115112 (2019).

Show Abstract

Subsystem symmetry protected topological (SSPT) order is a type of quantum order that is protected by symmetries acting on lower-dimensional subsystems of the entire system. In this paper, we show how SSPT order can be characterized and detected by a constant correction to the entanglement area law, similar to the topological entanglement entropy. Focusing on the paradigmatic two-dimensional cluster phase as an example, we use tensor network methods to give an analytic argument that almost all states in the phase exhibit the same correction to the area law, such that this correction may be used to reliably detect the SSPT order of the cluster phase. Based on this idea, we formulate a numerical method that uses tensor networks to extract this correction from ground-state wave functions. We use this method to study the fate of the SSPT order of the cluster state under various external fields and interactions, and find that the correction persists unless a phase transition is crossed, or the subsystem symmetry is explicitly broken. Surprisingly, these results uncover that the SSPT order of the cluster state persists beyond the cluster phase, thanks to a new type of subsystem time-reversal symmetry. Finally, we discuss the correction to the area law found in three-dimensional cluster states on different lattices, indicating rich behavior for general subsystem symmetries.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.100.115112

Gaussian time-dependent variational principle for the Bose-Hubbard model

T. Guaita, L. Hack, T. Shi, C. Hubig, E. Demler, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review B 100 (9), 94529 (2019).

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We systematically extend Bogoliubov theory beyond the mean-field approximation of the Bose-Hubbard model in the superfluid phase. Our approach is based on the time-dependent variational principle applied to the family of all Gaussian states (i.e., Gaussian TDVP). First, we find the best ground-state approximation within our variational class using imaginary time evolution in 1D, 2D, and 3D. We benchmark our results by comparing to Bogoliubov theory and DMRG in 1D. Second, we compute the approximate one- and two-particle excitation spectrum as eigenvalues of the linearized projected equations of motion (linearized TDVP). We find the gapless Goldstone mode, a continuum of two-particle excitations and a doublon mode. We discuss the relation of the gap between Goldstone mode and two-particle continuum to the excitation energy of the Higgs mode. Third, we compute linear response functions for perturbations describing density variation and lattice modulation and discuss their relations to experiment. Our methods can be applied to any perturbations that are linear or quadratic in creation/annihilation operators. Finally, we provide a comprehensive overview how our results are related to well-known methods, such as traditional Bogoliubov theory and random phase approximation.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.100.094529

Entanglement production in the dynamical Casimir effect at parametric resonance

I. Romualdo, L. Hackl, N. Yokomizo

Physical Review D 100 (6), 65022 (2019).

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The particles produced from the vacuum in the dynamical Casimir effect are highly entangled. In order to quantify the correlations generated by the process of vacuum decay induced by moving mirrors, we study the entanglement evolution in the dynamical Casimir effect by computing the time-dependent Renyi and von Neumann entanglement entropy analytically in arbitrary dimensions. We consider the system at parametric resonance, where the effect is enhanced. We find that, in (1 + 1) dimensions, the entropies grow logarithmically for large times, S-A (tau) similar to 1/2 log(tau), while in higher dimensions (n + 1) the growth is linear, S-A (t) similar to lambda tau, where lambda can be identified with the Lyapunov exponent of a classical instability in the system. In (1 + 1) dimensions, strong interactions among field modes prevent the parametric resonance from manifesting as a Lyapunov instability, leading to a sublinear entropy growth associated with a constant rate of particle production in the resonant mode. Interestingly, the logarithmic growth comes with a prefactor of 1/2 which cannot occur in time-periodic systems with finitely many degrees of freedom and is thus a special property of bosonic field theories.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.100.065022

Minimal energy cost of entanglement extraction

L. Hackl, R. H. Jonsson

Quantum 3, 165 (2019).

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We compute the minimal energy cost for extracting entanglement from the ground state of a bosonic or fermionic quadratic system. Specifically, we find the minimal energy increase in the system resulting from replacing an entangled pair of modes, sharing entanglement entropy Delta S, by a product state, and we show how to construct modes achieving this minimal energy cost. Thus, we obtain a protocol independent lower bound on the extraction of pure state entanglement from quadratic systems. Due to their generality, our results apply to a large range of physical systems, as we discuss with examples.

DOI: 10.22331/q-2019-07-15-165

Transport in the sine-Gordon field theory: From generalized hydrodynamics to semiclassics

B. Bertini, L. Piroli, M. Kormos

Physical Review B 100 (3), 35108 (2019).

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"The semiclassical approach introduced by Sachdev and collaborators proved to be extremely successful in the study of quantum quenches in massive field theories, both in homogeneous and inhomogeneous settings. While conceptually very simple, this method allows one to obtain analytic predictions for several observables when the density of excitations produced by the quench is small. At the same time, a novel generalized hydrodynamic (GHD) approach, which captures exactly many asymptotic features of the integrable dynamics, has recently been introduced. Interestingly, also this theory has a natural interpretation in terms of semiclassical particles and it is then natural to compare the two approaches. This is the objective of this work: we carry out a systematic comparison between the two methods in the prototypical example of the sine-Gordon field theory. In particular, we study the ""bipartitioning protocol"" where the two halves of a system initially prepared at different temperatures are joined together and then left to evolve unitarily with the same Hamiltonian. We identify two different limits in which the semiclassical predictions are analytically recovered from GHD: a particular nonrelativistic limit and the low-temperature regime. Interestingly, the transport of topological charge becomes subballistic in these cases. Away from these limits we find that the semiclassical predictions are only approximate and, in contrast to the latter, the transport is always ballistic. This statement seems to hold true even for the so-called ""hybrid"" semiclassical approach, where finite time DMRG simulations are used to describe the evolution in the internal space."

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.100.035108

Removing staggered fermionic matter in U(N) and SU(N) lattice gauge theories

E. Zohar, J. I. Cirac

Physical Review D 99 (11), 114511 (2019).

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Gauge theories, through the local symmetry which is in their core, exhibit many local constraints, that must be taken care of and addressed in any calculation. In the Hamiltonian picture this is phrased through the Gauss laws, which are local constraints that restrict the physical Hilbert space and relate the matter and gauge degrees of freedom. In this work, we present a way that uses all the Gauss laws in lattice gauge theories with staggered fermions for completely removing the matter degrees of freedom, at the cost of locally extending the interaction range, breaking the symmetry and introducing new local constraints, due to the finiteness of the original local matter spaces.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.99.114511

Tensor Networks and their use for Lattice Gauge Theories

M.C. Banuls, K. Cichy, J.I. Cirac, K. Jansen, S. Kühn

Proceedings of Science LATTICE2018, 22 (2019).

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Tensor Network States are ansaetze for the efficient description of quantum many-body systems. Their success for one dimensional problems, together with the fact that they do not suffer from the sign problem and can address the simulation of real time evolution, have turned them into one of the most promising techniques to study strongly correlated systems.In the realm of Lattice Gauge Theories they can offer an alternative to standard lattice Monte Carlo calculations, which are suited for static properties and regimes where no sign problem appears. The application of Tensor Networks to this kind of problems is a young but rapidly evolving research field. This paper reviews some of the recent progress in this area, and how, using one dimensional models as testbench, some fundamental milestones have been reached that may pave the way to more ambitious goals.

DOI: 10.22323/1.334.0022

Gaussian states for the variational study of (1+1)-dimensional lattice gauge models

P. Sala, T. Shi, S. Kuehn, M.C. Banuls, E. Demler, J.I. Cirac

Proceedings of Science LATTICE2018, 230 (2019).

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We introduce a variational ansatz based on Gaussian states for (1+1)-dimensional lattice gauge models. To this end we identify a set of unitary transformations which decouple the gauge degrees of freedom from the matter fields. Using our ansatz, we study static aspects as well as real-time dynamics of string breaking in two (1+1)-dimensional theories, namely QED and two-color QCD. We show that our ansatz captures the relevant features and is in excellent agreement with data from numerical calculations with tensor networks.

DOI: 10.22323/1.334.0230

Time-dependent study of disordered models with infinite projected entangled pair states

C. Hubig, J. I. Cirac

Scipost Physics 6 (3), 31 (2019).

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Infinite projected entangled pair states (iPEPS), the tensor network ansatz for two-dimensional systems in the thermodynamic limit, already provide excellent results on ground-state quantities using either imaginary-time evolution or variational optimisation. Here, we show (i) the feasibility of real-time evolution in iPEPS to simulate the dynamics of an infinite system after a global quench and (ii) the application of disorder-averaging to obtain translationally invariant systems in the presence of disorder. To illustrate the approach, we study the short-time dynamics of the square lattice Heisenberg model in the presence of a bi-valued disorder field.

DOI: 10.21468/SciPostPhys.6.3.031

Experimentally reducing the quantum measurement back action in work distributions by a collective measurement

K. D. Wu, Y. Yuan, G. Y. Xiang, C. F. Li, G. C. Guo, M. Perarnau-Llobet

Science Advances 5 (3), eaav4944 (2019).

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In quantum thermodynamics, the standard approach to estimating work fluctuations in unitary processes is based on two projective measurements, one performed at the beginning of the process and one at the end. The first measurement destroys any initial coherence in the energy basis, thus preventing later interference effects. To decrease this back action, a scheme based on collective measurements has been proposed by Peramau-Llobet et al. Here, we report its experimental implementation in an optical system. The experiment consists of a deterministic collective measurement on two identically prepared qubit states, encoded in the polarization and path degree of a single photon. The standard two-projective measurement approach is also experimentally realized for comparison. Our results show the potential of collective schemes to decrease the back action of projective measurements, and capture subtle effects arising from quantum coherence.

DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aav4944

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