Quantum Physics
Papers
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Wednesday 18 February
In this paper, we investigate the enhancement of delocalization and coin-position entanglement in asymmetric discrete-time quantum walks (DTQWs). The asymmetry results from asymmetric coin operations, asymmetric initial states, and asymmetric polarization-dependent losses. By varying these asymmetry factors, the inverse participation ratio and entanglement entropy of the walker are numerically calculated for different coin and loss parameters, both for symmetric and asymmetric initial states. We then experimentally implement a 16-step asymmetric DTQW using a time-multiplexing fiber loop structure. By choosing an asymmetric initial state, both coin-position entanglement and delocalization are simultaneously enhanced under specific coin parameters. Moreover, we observe that with finite asymmetric polarization-dependent loss, the photon probability on the left side decreases significantly, while that on the right side increases and becomes more localized. Interestingly, under specific coin parameters, the entanglement and delocalization exhibit improved robustness against polarization-dependent loss. These results demonstrate that the DTQWs constitute an ideal platform for investigating photonic delocalization and hybrid entanglement.
Quantum Physics
Solving the Mysteries of Quantum Mechanics: Why Nature Abhors a Continuum
Feynman famously asserted that interference is the only real mystery in quantum mechanics (QM). It is concluded that the reason for this mystery, and thereby the related mysteries of complementarity, non-commutativity of observables, the uncertainty principle and violation of Bell's equality, is that the axioms of QM depend vitally on the continuum nature of Hilbert Space, deemed unphysical. We develop a theory of quantum physics - Rational Quantum Mechanics (RaQM) - in which Hilbert Space is gravitationally discretised. The key to solving the mysteries of QM in RaQM is a number-theoretic property of the cosine function, concealed in QM when angles range over the continuum. This number-theoretic property describes mathematically the utter indivisibility of the quantum world and implies that the laws of physics are profoundly holistic. We contrast holism with nonlocality. In theories which embrace the continuum, the violation of Bell's inequality requires the laws of physics to be either nonlocal or not realistic; both incomprehensible concepts. By contrast, holism, as embodied in Mach's Principle or in the fractal geometry of a chaotic attractor, is neither incomprehensible nor unphysical. As part of this, we solve the deepest mystery of all; why nature makes use of complex numbers.
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Quantum Physics
Why the Casimir Force for Magnetic Metals Computed by the Lifshitz Theory Using the Drude Model Disagrees with the Measurement Data
We consider the Casimir force in configurations with magnetic metal plates and analyze the reasons why the predictions of the Lifshitz theory using the dielectric permittivity of the Drude model are inconsistent with the measurement data. For this purpose, the contributions of the electromagnetic waves with the transverse magnetic and transverse electric polarizations to the Casimir force are computed using the Lifshitz theory expressed in terms of the pure imaginary Matsubara frequencies. Furthermore, the fractions of the evanescent and propagating waves in these contributions are found using an equivalent formulation of the Lifshitz theory along the real frequency axis. All computations are performed for Au-Ni and Ni-Ni plates using the Drude model and the experimentally consistent plasma model over the separation region from 0.5 to 6~mum, where the total force value is determined by conduction electrons. It is shown that the transverse magnetic contribution to the Casimir force does not depend on the used model of the dielectric permittivity, so that the total difference between the predictions of the Lifshitz theory using the Drude model and the measurement data is determined by the transverse electric contribution. In doing so, as opposed to the case of nonmagnetic metals, both fractions of the evanescent and propagating waves in this contribution depend on the model of the dielectric permittivity used in computations, whereas the magnetic properties of the plate metal influence the Casimir force solely through the fraction of propagating waves in the transverse electric contribution. The issue of a more adequate theoretical description of the electromagnetic response of magnetic metals is discussed.
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Quantum Physics
A Formal Theory for Finite-Dimensional Possibilistic Quantum Mechanics
In this work, we present a logical formalism for reasoning about quantum systems in finite dimension. Contrary to the usual approach in quantum logic, our formalism is based classical first-order logic, which allows us to use the tools of model theory in our study. In particular, we show that our formal theory is complete, meaning that it entirely determines the behaviour of quantum systems. Moreover, we provide a characterization of the models of our formal theory, thus providing new insights in the study of hidden variable models of quantum theory.
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Quantum Physics
Quantum-enhanced sensing via spectral noise reduction
We report a direct demonstration of quantum-enhanced sensing in the Fourier domain by comparing single- and two-photon interference in a fiber-based interferometer under strictly identical noise conditions. The simultaneous acquisition of both signals provides a common-mode reference that enables a fair and unambiguous benchmark of quantum advantage. Spectral analysis of the interferometric outputs reveals that quantum correlations do not increase the amplitude of the modulation peak, but instead lower the associated noise floor, resulting in the expected 3 dB improvement in signal-to-noise ratio. This enhancement persists in the sub-shot-noise regime, where the classical signal becomes buried in the spectral background while the two-photon contribution remains resolvable. These observations establish Fourier-domain quantum super-sensitivity as an operational and broadly applicable resource for precision interferometric sensing.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from hep-th
Where Multipartite Entanglement Localizes: The Junction Law for Genuine Multi-Entropy
We uncover a "junction law" for genuine multipartite entanglement, suggesting that in gapped local systems multipartite entanglement is controlled and effectively localized near junctions where subsystem boundaries meet. Using the Rényi-2 genuine multi-entropy $\mathrm{GM}^{(\mathtt{q})}_2$ as a diagnostic of genuine $\mathtt{q}$-partite entanglement, we establish this behavior in $(2+1)$-dimensional gapped free-fermion lattices with correlation length $\xi$. For partitions with a single junction, $\mathrm{GM}^{(\mathtt{q})}_2$ exhibits a universal scaling crossover in $L/\xi$, growing for $L\ll\xi$ and saturating to a $\xi$-dependent constant for $L\gg\xi$, up to $\mathcal{O}(e^{-L/\xi})$ corrections. In sharp contrast, for partitions without a junction, $\mathrm{GM}^{(\mathtt{q})}_2$ is exponentially suppressed in $L/\xi$ and drops below numerical resolution once $L\gg\xi$. We observe the same pattern for $\mathtt{q}=3$ (tripartite) and $\mathtt{q}=4$ (quadripartite) cases, and further corroborate this localization by translating the junction at fixed system size. We also provide a geometric explanation of the junction law in holography. Altogether, these results show that in this gapped free-fermion setting genuine multipartite entanglement is localized within a correlation-length neighborhood of junctions.
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Quantum Physics
A Resolution of the Ito-Stratonovich Debate in Quantum Stochastic Processes
Quantum stochastic processes are widely used in describing open quantum systems and in the context of quantum foundations. Physically relevant quantum stochastic processes driven by multiplicative colored noise are generically non-Markovian and analytically intractable. Further, their Markovian limits are generically inequivalent when using either the Ito or Stratonovich conventions for the same quantum stochastic processes. We introduce a quantum noise homogenization scheme that temporally coarse-grains non-Markovian, colored-noise-driven quantum stochastic processes and connects them to their effective white-noise (Markovian) limits. Our approach uses a novel phase-space augmentation that maps the non-Markovian dynamics into a higher-dimensional Markovian system and then applies a controlled perturbative coarse-graining scheme in the characteristic time scales of the noise. This allows an explicit analytical algorithm to derive effective Markovian generators with renormalized coefficients and enables various physical constraints, such as causality, to be imposed on them. We thus resolve the Ito–Stratonovich ambiguity for multiplicative colored-noise-driven quantum stochastic processes, wherein we show that their consistent Markovian limit corresponds to the Stratonovich convention with renormalized coefficients as well as correction terms in Ito's convention. By assuming their Markovian limit unravels causal, completely positive and trace-preserving dynamics, we further characterize a physically relevant family of non-Markovian quantum stochastic processes driven by multiplicative colored~noise.
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Quantum Physics
What Kind of World Supports Darwinian Evolution? Quantum Foundational Options
Darwinian evolution requires (i) heritable records, (ii) repeatable copying with variation, and (iii) routine irreversibility. Categorical quantum mechanics (CQM) makes precise why “copy” and “delete” are not generic quantum operations: they exist only for a realized classical data sector (a preferred basis/observable; a commutative structure). Decoherence explains how a pointer basis can be selected dynamically, but it does not by itself select a unique outcome. This motivates a neutral presentation of the main ontological options (unique-history, decohered multiplicity, agent-relative facticity, and a stochastic foundation with variable diffusion). We also note the relevance of the “agency constraint” argued by Adlam-McQueen-Waegell: in a strictly coherent, basis-unselected “purely quantum” regime, minimal agency fails due to no-cloning and linearity, which sharpens the role of classical resources for record-based processes. Extended Wigner's Friend scenarios then serve as a stress test, since they treat “friends” simultaneously as coherent quantum systems and as agents possessing stable records. Finally, a stochastic-mechanics foundation (with variable diffusion) offers a continuous bridge between quantum and classical regimes, and suggests a principled way to implement measurement update as conditioning plus a time-symmetric minimal-change rule.
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Quantum Physics
Tomographically-nonlocal entanglement
Entanglement is a central and subtle feature of quantum theory, whose structure and operational behavior can change dramatically when additional physical constraints, such as symmetries or superselection rules, are imposed. Such constraints can give rise to striking and counter-intuitive phenomena, including local broadcasting of entangled states and failures of entanglement monogamy. These effects naturally arise in tomographically nonlocal theories (like real quantum theory, twirled worlds, or fermionic quantum theory), where composite systems possess holistic degrees of freedom that are inaccessible to local measurements. In this work, we study entanglement in such theories within the framework of generalized probabilistic theories. We show that the failure of tomographic locality leads to two qualitatively distinct forms of entanglement, which we term $\textit{tomographically-local}$ entanglement and $\textit{tomographically-nonlocal}$ entanglement. We analyze the operational consequences of this distinction, proving that tomographically-nonlocal entanglement is useless for Bell nonlocality, steering, and teleportation, but sufficient for dense coding and perfectly secure data hiding. This framework clarifies the origin of several previously puzzling features of entanglement that arise when tomographic locality fails, as can happen even in quantum theory when one considers fermions or fundamental superselection rules.
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Quantum Physics
Structured Unitary Tensor Network Representations for Circuit-Efficient Quantum Data Encoding
Encoding classical data into quantum states is a central bottleneck in quantum machine learning: many widely used encodings are circuit-inefficient, requiring deep circuits and substantial quantum resources, which limits scalability on quantum hardware. In this work, we propose tensor network-based quantum data encoding (TNQE), a circuit-efficient framework built on structured unitary tensor network (TN) representations. TNQE first represents each classical input via a TN decomposition and then compiles the resulting tensor cores into an encoding circuit through two complementary core-to-circuit strategies. To make this compilation trainable while respecting the unitary nature of quantum operations, we introduce a unitary-aware constraint that parameterizes TN cores as learnable block unitaries, enabling them to be directly optimized and directly encoded as quantum operators. The proposed TNQE framework enables explicit control over circuit depth and qubit resources, allowing the construction of shallow, resource-efficient circuits. Across a range of benchmarks, TNQE achieves encoding circuits as shallow as $0.04\times$ the depth of amplitude encoding, while naturally scaling to high-resolution images ($256 \times 256$) and demonstrating practical feasibility on real quantum hardware.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cs.DC
DistributedEstimator: Distributed Training of Quantum Neural Networks via Circuit Cutting
Circuit cutting decomposes a large quantum circuit into smaller subcircuits executed independently; expectation values are recovered by classically combining subcircuit outcomes. Prior work characterises cutting overhead via subcircuit counts and sampling complexity, but its end-to-end impact on iterative, estimator-driven training pipelines remains under-measured from a systems perspective. We propose DistributedEstimator, a cut-aware estimator execution pipeline that treats circuit cutting as a staged distributed workload, instrumenting each query across four phases: partitioning, subexperiment generation, parallel execution, and classical reconstruction. Using logged runtime traces and learning outcomes on two binary classification workloads (Iris and MNIST), we quantify cutting overheads, scaling limits, and sensitivity to injected stragglers, and assess whether accuracy and robustness are preserved under matched training budgets. Reconstruction dominates per-query time – a median of 53% and 95th percentile of 58% at three cuts – bounding achievable speed-up under parallelism. Despite this, test accuracy is fully preserved on Iris and maintained without systematic degradation on MNIST across all cut configurations. Robustness under Gaussian noise and FGSM perturbations is similarly preserved, with several configurations matching or improving on the uncut baseline. Exponential growth of subexperiment counts (${O}(9^c)$ for CNOT-based decomposition) is a fundamental barrier limiting practical experimentation to small qubit counts. These results establish that practical scaling for learning workloads requires reducing and overlapping reconstruction, scheduling policies for barrier-dominated critical paths, and computationally efficient reconstruction strategies for larger qubit counts.
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Quantum Physics
Squeezed superradiant lasing of a quantum many-body emitter
In conventional lasers, the emitters are typically incoherent, radiating photons independently; in superradiant lasers, many coherent emitters radiate photons collectively, but they essentially do not interact with each other. Here, we present the concept of quantum many-body lasers, in which the emitters interact coherently and radiate collectively. In this proof-of-concept study, we consider a cavity coupled to many pumped spin-1/2 emitters with all-to-all interaction. We find that the squeezing induced by the coherent many-body interaction can be transferred from the spins to photons through superradiant lasing. This work illustrates the concept of using a pumped quantum many-body system to generate bright quantum light with quantum correlations beyond conventional optical coherence, which can facilitate quantum technologies and the study of nonlinear optics in the quantum realm.
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Quantum Physics
Reinforcement learning for path integrals in quantum statistical physics
Machine learning is rapidly finding its way into the field of computational quantum physics. One of the most popular and widely studied approaches in this direction is to use neural networks to model quantum states (NQS) in the Hamiltonian formulation of quantum mechanics. However, an alternative angle of attack to leverage machine learning in physics is through the path integral formulation, which has so far received far more limited attention. In this paper, we explore how reinforcement learning can be used to compute a class of Euclidean path integrals that yield the thermal density matrix of a quantum system, thereby enabling the computation of the free energy or other thermal expectation values. In particular, we propose a two-step approach with the unique feature that after a variational approximation for a quantity is obtained in a first step, it can then be used to efficiently compute the exact result in a second step. We benchmark this method on several simple systems and then apply it to the quantum rotor chain.
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Quantum Physics
Reductions of QAOA Induced by Classical Symmetries: Theoretical Insights and Practical Implications
The performance of the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) is closely tied to the structure of the dynamical Lie algebra (DLA) generated by its Hamiltonians, which determines both its expressivity and trainability. In this work, we show that classical symmetries can be systematically exploited as a design principle for QAOA. Focusing on the MaxCut problem with global bit-flip symmetry, we analyze reduced QAOA instances obtained by fixing a single variable and study how this choice affects the associated DLAs. We show that the structure of the DLAs can change dramatically depending on which variable is held fixed. In particular, we construct explicit examples where the dimension collapses from exponential to quadratic, uncovering phenomena that do not appear in the original formulation. Numerical experiments on asymmetric graphs indicate that such reductions often produce DLAs of much smaller dimension, suggesting improved trainability. We also prove that any graph can be embedded into a slightly larger one (requiring only quadratic overhead) such that the standard reduced DLA coincides with the free reduced DLA, in most cases implying exponential dimension and irreducibility on the Hilbert space for reduced QAOA instances. These results establish symmetry-aware reduction as a principled tool for designing expressive and potentially trainable QAOA circuits.
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Quantum Physics
Local and Multi-Scale Strategies to Mitigate Exponential Concentration in Quantum Kernels
Fidelity-based quantum kernels provide a direct interface between quantum feature maps and classical kernel methods, but they can exhibit exponential concentration: with increasing system size or circuit expressivity, the Gram matrix approaches the identity and suppresses informative similarity structure. We present an empirical study of two mitigation strategies implemented in Qiskit: (i) local (patch-wise) kernels that aggregate subsystem similarities, and (ii) multi-scale kernels that mix local and global similarity across patch granularities. We benchmark baseline, local, and multi-scale kernels under matched preprocessing, splits, and SVM protocols on several tabular datasets, sweeping the feature dimension $d\in\{4,6,\dots,20\}$. We report concentration diagnostics based on off-diagonal kernel statistics, spectral richness via effective rank, and centered alignment with labels. Across datasets, local and multi-scale constructions consistently mitigate concentration and yield richer kernel spectra relative to the global fidelity baseline, while the impact on classification accuracy depends on the dataset and dimension.
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Tuesday 17 February
Quantum Physics
Lie-Algebraic Analysis of Generators: Approximation-Error Bounds and Barren-Plateau Heuristics
Lie algebras provide a useful framework for theoretical analysis in quantum machine learning, particularly in hybrid quantum-classical learning. From the viewpoint of function approximation, expectation values of parameterized quantum circuits can be viewed as trigonometric polynomials whose accessible Fourier modes are determined by the spectra of the generators. In this study, we describe: (1) a minimax lower bound on the $ L^{2} $-approximation error over a Sobolev ball when the circuit's effective frequency set is contained in a radius-$K$ ball, which yields a scaling law of the form $ \Omega(K^{\frac{d}{2} - r}) $ for $ r > \frac{d}{2} $ (assuming the target function belongs to the Sobolev space $ W_2^{r}(\mathbb{T}^{d}) $), and we also derive a Jackson-type upper bound on the approximation error of quantum circuits under Sobolev regularity of the target function, expressed in terms of an effective bandwidth determined by generator spectral gaps; (2) a generator-selection rule motivated by enlarging the effective frequency set via non-commuting generators; and (3) a simple heuristic metric based on the trace component of generators, aimed at characterizing training behaviors related to barren plateaus. Simulation experiments on toy problems illustrate the practical implications of the frequency-spectrum perspective and the proposed heuristics.
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Quantum Physics
Contractivity of time-dependent driven-dissipative systems
Experimentally relevant quantum systems are frequently described by a time-dependent Lindblad master equation in which the dissipation due to interaction with an environment is fixed, but the experimenter has control over the Hamiltonian, which therefore can change with time. A fundamental question that is also of practical relevance is to determine when such systems invariably lose information about their initial state (are exponentially contractive independent of the Hamiltonian) or when the control can be used to prevent this loss of information to some degree. Here, we identify the necessary and sufficient criterion on the dissipator for Hamiltonian-invariant contractivity. If the dissipator does not fulfil this criterion, but by itself is exponentially contractive, we also establish exponential contractivity for sufficiently weak or slow drives and construct examples where strong or fast driving prevents exponential contraction.
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Quantum Physics
Strong-to-Weak Symmetry Breaking in Open Quantum Systems: From Discrete Particles to Continuum Hydrodynamics
We explore the onset of spontaneous strong-to-weak symmetry breaking (SW-SSB) under U(1)-symmetric (i.e., charge-conserving) open-system dynamics. We define this phenomenon for quantum states and classical probability distributions, and explore it in three complementary models, one of which exhibits nontrivial quantum coherence at short times. Our main conclusions are as follows. In one dimension, the strong symmetry is not spontaneously broken at any finite time; however, correlators probing strong-to-weak symmetry breaking develop order on length scales that grow linearly in time, parametrically faster than charge diffusion. We provide numerical evidence for this scaling in multiple distinct probes of SW-SSB, and derive it from a field-theory analysis. Moreover, we relate this scaling to the problem of inferring the charge inside a subregion by measuring its surroundings, and construct explicit decoding protocols that illustrate its origin. In two dimensions, field theory and numerical simulations support a finite-time Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless-like SW-SSB transition. Within continuum hydrodynamics, by contrast, SW-SSB happens at infinitesimal time in two or more dimensions. The SW-SSB transition time can thus be interpreted as marking the emergence of a continuum hydrodynamic description, or (more precisely) the timescale beyond which non-hydrodynamic information such as discrete particle worldlines can no longer be inferred. We support this picture by analyzing a model in which we exploit SW-SSB to derive a classical stochastic hydrodynamic description from the underlying quantum dynamics.
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Quantum Physics
Multi-emitter oscillating bound states in Waveguide QED
Waveguide quantum electrodynamics platforms have emerged as promising candidates for exploring and implementing non-Markovian quantum phenomena. In this work, we investigate the formation and dynamics of superpositions of bound states in a cavity array waveguide coupled to two spatially separated quantum emitters. By tuning the system parameters, we show that spontaneous emission can drive the system into non-local equilibrium states in which both photonic and emitter populations exhibit persistent oscillations. These states arise from the coexistence of bound states embedded in the energy continuum and bound states outside it, leading to hybrid oscillatory modes. We analytically derive the conditions required for the emergence of these states, numerically simulate their formation through spontaneous emission, and predict their long-time behaviour. Our results demonstrate that such bound-state superpositions enable the generation of emitter-emitter interaction through free evolution, while supporting oscillatory breathing modes of the photon density between the emitters.
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Quantum Physics
Device for MHz-rate rastering of arbitrary 2D optical potentials
Current architectures for neutral-atom arrays utilize devices such as acousto-optic deflectors (AODs) and spatial light modulators (SLMs) to multiplex a single classical control line into N qubit control lines. Dynamic control is speed-limited by the response time of AODs, and geometrically constrained to respect a product structure, limiting motion to row-by-row or column-by-column moves. We propose an optical rastering device that can produce any 2D pattern, not limited to grids, at 1 MHz refresh rates. We demonstrate a design with a resolution of 40 x 40 that can be further scaled up to 100 x 100 to match existing and future neutral atom devices. The ability to simultaneously transport atomic qubits in arbitrary directions will enhance qubit connectivity, enable more efficient circuits, and may have broader applications ranging from LiDAR to fluorescence microscopy.
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Quantum Physics
Edge-Local and Qubit-Efficient Quantum Graph Learning for the NISQ Era
Graph neural networks (GNNs) are a powerful framework for learning representations from graph-structured data, but their direct implementation on near-term quantum hardware remains challenging due to circuit depth, multi-qubit interactions, and qubit scalability constraints. In this work, we introduce a hybrid quantum graph learning architecture designed explicitly for unsupervised learning in the noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) regime. Our approach combines a variational quantum feature extraction layer with an edge-local and qubit-efficient quantum message-passing mechanism inspired by the Quantum Alternating Operator Ansatz (QAOA) framework. The message-passing operation is decomposed into pairwise interactions along graph edges using standard single- and two-qubit gates. For a graph with $N$ nodes and $n$-qubit feature registers, this reduces the number of qubits required at one time from $Nn$ to at most $2n$. We train the model using the Deep Graph Infomax objective to perform unsupervised node representation learning. The external class labels are not used during graph construction or training and are used only to evaluate the learned embeddings. Experiments on the Cora citation network and the Phase 3 release of the 1000 Genomes Project show that the quantum edge interaction contributes to the quality of the learned node representations.
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Quantum Physics
Benchmarking the Lights Out Problem on Real Quantum Hardware
We implement the Lights Out problem on a 2D grid and on Mobius ladder graphs and evaluate the performance of Grover's search on real quantum hardware. We use two instances using 9 and 16 qubits, and implement them on publicly available quantum hardware by IBM and IQM. Our experiments show improvements in IBM hardware between the Heron r1 and Heron r2 generations, highlighting progress in IBM hardware during the 2023-2024 period. The Lights Out circuits produced output distributions close to uniform on IQM devices. To diagnose device limitations, we additionally ran a small Grover SAT baseline, finding that IQM Garnet performs more reliably than other tested IQM devices. We also observed that QPUs of the same manufacturing revision can differ significantly in performance (a newer device is not guaranteed to be better), and that calibration has a significant impact on the performance of quantum devices, so the choice of device strongly depends on calibration quality.
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Quantum Physics
Dynamic Synaptic Modulation of LMG Qubits populations in a Bio-Inspired Quantum Brain
We present a biologically inspired quantum neural network that encodes neuronal populations as fully connected qubits governed by the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick (LMG) quantum Hamiltonian and modulated by a synaptic-efficacy feedback implementing activity-dependent changes in the collective time scale. The framework links collective quantum many-body modes and collective-state structure to population homeostasis and rhythmogenesis, outlining scalable computational primitives long-lived operating regimes, activity-dependent oscillation periods, and size-dependent robustness that position LMG-based architectures as promising blueprints for bio-inspired quantum brains on future quantum hardware.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from hep-th
Gaussian continuous tensor network states: short-distance properties and imaginary-time evolution
We study Gaussian continuous tensor network states (GCTNS) - a finitely parameterized subclass of Gaussian states admitting an interpretation as continuum limits of discrete tensor network states. We show that, at short distance, GCTNS correspond to vacua of free Lifshitz theories with even dynamical exponent, establishing a connection between certain entanglement properties of the two. Two schemes for approximating ground states of free bosonic field theories using GCTNS are presented: rational approximants to the exact dispersion relation and Trotterized imaginary-time evolution. We apply them to Klein-Gordon theory and characterize the resulting GCTNS, identifying the scale at which deviations from its conformal short-distance behavior appear. In particular, we construct an optimal rational approximation for which, at fixed accuracy, the bond dimension grows only logarithmically with the UV cutoff. These results provide a simple and analytically controlled setting to assess the strengths and limitations of GCTNS as variational ansätze for relativistic quantum fields.
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Quantum Physics
Hardware-Agnostic Modeling of Quantum Side-Channel Leakage via Conditional Dynamics and Learning from Full Correlation Data
We study a sequential coherent side-channel model in which an adversarial probe qubit interacts with a target qubit during a hidden gate sequence. Repeating the same hidden sequence for $N$ shots yields an empirical full-correlation record: the joint histogram $\widehat{P}_g(b)$ over probe bit-strings $b\in\{0,1\}^k$, which is a sufficient statistic for classical post-processing under identically and independently distributed (i.i.d.)\ shots but grows exponentially with circuit depth. We first describe this sequential probe framework in a coupling- and measurement-agnostic form, emphasizing the scaling of the observation space and why exact analytic distinguishability becomes intractable with circuit depth. We then specialize to a representative instantiation (a controlled-rotation probe coupling with fixed projective readout and a commuting $R_x$ gate alphabet) where we (i) derive a depth-dependent leakage envelope whose maximizer predicts a coupling band as a function of depth {if the measurement data is reduced to marginal statistics}, and (ii) provide an operational decoder, via machine learning, a single parameter-conditioned map from $\widehat{P}_g$ to Alice's per-step gate labels, generalizing across coupling and noise settings without retraining.
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Quantum Physics
Enhanced Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detector Performances using Silicon Capping
Niobium Titanium nitride (NbTiN) based superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs) are known for their high performance across a wide spectral range, from the X-ray to the mid-infrared. Nonetheless, fabrication challenges and performance degradation attributable to surface oxidation and lack of uniformity in films thinner than 5 nm remain a significant barrier for achieving high-quality detectors. In this work, we study the influence of a Silicon capping layer on film properties and on the performance of SNSPDs. A Silicon capping layer effectively suppresses oxidation and increases the superconducting transition temperature. This enables superconductivity in films as thin as 3 nm at 3 K, increases critical current in patterned nanowires and significantly extends the saturation plateau from the visible to the near infrared (up to 2050 nm): These detectors maintain sub-50 ps timing jitter, even for nanowires as wide as 250 nm and with detection areas of 20x20{\mu}m2. Our results establish that thinner films protected by a capping layer allow for the fabrication of wider wires, decreasing nanofabrication challenges and extending the operating temperature range for efficient single photon detection.
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Quantum Physics
Limits of Clifford Disentangling in Tensor Network States
Tensor network methods leverage the limited entanglement of quantum states to efficiently simulate many-body systems. Alternatively, Clifford circuits provide a framework for handling highly entangled stabilizer states, which have low magic and are thus also classically tractable. Clifford tensor networks combine the benefits of both approaches, exploiting Clifford circuits to reduce the classical complexity of the tensor network description of states, with promising effects on simulation approaches. We study the disentangling power of Clifford transformations acting on tensor networks, with a particular emphasis on entanglement cooling strategies. We identify regimes where exact or heuristic Clifford disentanglers are effective, explain the link between the two approaches, and characterize their breakdown as non-Clifford resources accumulate. Additionally, we prove that, beyond stabilizer settings, no Clifford operation can universally disentangle even a single qubit from an arbitrary non-Clifford rotation. Our results clarify both the capabilities and fundamental limitations of Clifford-based simulation methods.
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Quantum Physics
Robustness of Kardar-Parisi-Zhang-like transport in long-range interacting quantum spin chains
Isotropic integrable spin chains such as the Heisenberg model feature superdiffusive spin transport belonging to an as-yet-unidentified dynamical universality class closely related to that of Kardar, Parisi, and Zhang (KPZ). To determine whether these results extend to more generic one-dimensional models, particularly those realizable in quantum simulators, we investigate spin and energy transport in non-integrable, long-range Heisenberg models using state-of-the-art tensor network methods. Despite the lack of integrability and the asymptotic expectation of diffusion, for power-law models (with exponent $2 < \alpha < \infty$) we observe long-lived $z=3/2$ superdiffusive spin transport and two-point correlators consistent with KPZ scaling functions, up to times $t \sim 10^3/J$. We conjecture that this KPZ-like transport is due to the proximity of such power-law-interacting models to the integrable family of Inozemtsev models, which we show to also exhibit KPZ-like spin transport across all interaction ranges. Finally, we consider anisotropic spin models naturally realized in Rydberg atom arrays and ultracold polar molecules, demonstrating that a wide range of long-lived, non-diffusive transport can be observed in experimental settings.
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Quantum Physics
Entanglement-assisted Hamiltonian dynamics learning
Approximating the dynamics given by a complex many-body Hamiltonian with a simpler effective model lies at the interface of quantum Hamiltonian learning and quantum simulation. In this context, quantum generative adversarial networks (QGANs) have been shown to outperform standard Trotter-based approximations. However, their performance is often hindered by training plateaus and local minima that become increasingly severe with system size. To overcome these limitations, we propose an entanglement-assisted learning strategy that couples a single randomly initialized auxiliary qubit to the learning system at an intermediate stage of the training process. The interplay between randomization and entanglement significantly enhances the learning performance of the protocol.
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Quantum Physics
QwaveMPS: An efficient open-source Python package for simulating non-Markovian waveguide-QED using matrix product states
QwaveMPS is an open-source Python library for simulating one-dimensional quantum many-body waveguide systems using matrix product states (MPS). It provides a user-friendly interface for constructing, evolving, and analyzing quantum states and operators, facilitating studies in quantum physics and quantum information with waveguide-QED systems. This approach enables efficient, scalable simulations by focusing computational resources on the most relevant parts of the quantum system. Thus, one can study a wide range of complex dynamical interactions, including time-delayed feedback effects in the non-Markovian regime and deeply nonlinear systems, at a highly reduced computational cost compared to full Hilbert space approaches, making it both practical and convenient to model a variety of open waveguide-QED systems (in Markovian and non-Markovian regimes), treating quantized atoms and quantized photons on an equal footing. The QwaveMPS package automates the waveguide-QED-specific tensor-network operations, including construction of the time-bin evolution operator from physical parameters, the swap network required for delayed interactions, orthogonality-center and truncation management, the matrix-product factorization of $N$-photon Fock-state inputs, and the evaluation of single-time and two-time field observables (such as the second-order quantum correlation function) at chosen points along the waveguide.