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Monday 30 March

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from math-ph

Invariant measures of randomized quantum trajectories

Quantum trajectories are Markov chains modeling quantum systems subjected to repeated indirect measurements. Their stationary regime depends on what observables are measured on the probes used to indirectly measure the system. In this article we explore the properties of quantum trajectories when the choice of probe observable is randomized. The randomization induces some regularization of the quantum trajectories. We show that non-singular randomization ensures that quantum trajectories purify and therefore accept a unique invariant probability measure. We furthermore study the regularity of that invariant measure. In that endeavour, we introduce a new notion of ergodicity for quantum channels, which we call multiplicative primitivity. It is a priory stronger than primitivity but weaker than positivity improving. Finally, we compute some invariant measures for canonical quantum channels and explore the limits of our assumptions with several examples.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from physics.chem-ph

Hunting for quantum advantage in electronic structure calculations is a highly non-trivial task

In light of major developments over the past decades in both quantum computing and simulations on classical hardware, it is a serious challenge to identify a real-world problem where quantum advantage is expected to appear. In quantum chemistry, electronic structure calculations of strongly correlated, i.e. multi-reference problems, are often argued to fall into such category because of their intractability with standard methods based on mean-field theory. Therefore, providing state-of-the-art benchmark data by classical algorithms is necessary to make a decisive conclusion when such competing development directions are compared. We report cutting-edge performance results together with high accuracy ground state energy for the Fe$_4$S$_4$ molecular cluster on a CAS(54,36) model space, a problem that has been included quite recently among the list of systems in the Quantum Advantage Tracker webpage maintained by IBM and RIKEN. Pushing the limits even further, we also present CAS-SCF based orbital optimizations for unprecedented CAS sizes of up to 89 electrons in 102 orbitals [CAS(89,102)] for the Fe$_5$S$_{12}$H$_4^{5-}$ molecular system comprising twenty five open shell orbitals in its sextet ground state and an active spaces size of 331 electrons in 451 orbitals. We have achieved our results via mixed-precision spin-adapted ab initio Density Matrix Renormalization Group (DMRG) electronic structure calculations interfaced with the ORCA program package and utilizing the NVIDIA Blackwell graphics processing unit (GPU) platform. We argue that DMRG benchmark data should be taken as a classical reference when quantum advantage is reported. In addition, full exploitation of classical hardware should also be considered since even the most advanced DMRG implementations are still in a premature stage regarding utilization of all the benefits of GPU technology.
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All authors Örs Legeza, Andor Menczer, Miklós Antal Werner, Sotiris S. Xantheas, Frank Neese, Martin Ganahl, Cole Brower, Samuel Rodriguez Bernabeu, Jeff Hammond, John Gunnels

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from nucl-th

Neural Quantum States in Non-Stabilizer Regimes: Benchmarks with Atomic Nuclei

As neural networks are known to efficiently represent classes of tensor-network states as well as volume-law-entangled states, identifying which properties determine the representational capabilities of neural quantum states (NQS) remains an open question. We construct NQS representations of ground states of medium-mass atomic nuclei, which typically exhibit significant entanglement and non-stabilizerness, to study their performance in relation to the quantum complexity of the target state. Leveraging a second-quantized formulation of NQS tailored for nuclear-physics applications, we perform calculations in active orbital spaces using a restricted Boltzmann machine (RBM), a prototypical NQS ansatz. For a fixed number of configurations, we find that states with larger non-stabilizerness are systematically harder to learn, as evidenced by reduced accuracy. This finding suggests that non-stabilizerness is a primary factor governing the compression and representational efficiency of RBMs in entangled regimes, and motivates extending these studies to more sophisticated network architectures.
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Quantum Physics

Shor's algorithm is possible with as few as 10,000 reconfigurable atomic qubits

Quantum computers have the potential to perform computational tasks beyond the reach of classical machines. A prominent example is Shor's algorithm for integer factorization and discrete logarithms, which is of both fundamental importance and practical relevance to cryptography. However, due to the high overhead of quantum error correction, optimized resource estimates for cryptographically relevant instances of Shor's algorithm require millions of physical qubits. Here, by leveraging advances in high-rate quantum error-correcting codes, efficient logical instruction sets, and circuit design, we show that Shor's algorithm can be executed at cryptographically relevant scales with as few as 10,000 reconfigurable atomic qubits. Increasing the number of physical qubits improves time efficiency by enabling greater parallelism; under plausible assumptions, the runtime for discrete logarithms on the P-256 elliptic curve could be just a few days for a system with 26,000 physical qubits, while the runtime for factoring RSA-2048 integers is one to two orders of magnitude longer. Recent neutral-atom experiments have demonstrated universal fault-tolerant operations below the error-correction threshold, computation on arrays of hundreds of qubits, and trapping arrays with more than 6,000 highly coherent qubits. Although substantial engineering challenges remain, our theoretical analysis indicates that an appropriately designed neutral-atom architecture could support quantum computation at cryptographically relevant scales. More broadly, these results highlight the capability of neutral atoms for fault-tolerant quantum computing with wide-ranging scientific and technological applications.
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All authors Madelyn Cain, Qian Xu, Robbie King, Lewis R. B. Picard, Harry Levine, Manuel Endres, John Preskill, Hsin-Yuan Huang, Dolev Bluvstein

Quantum Physics

Quantum Riemannian Hamiltonian Descent

We propose Quantum Riemannian Hamiltonian Descent (QRHD), a quantum algorithm for continuous optimization on Riemannian manifolds that extends Quantum Hamiltonian Descent (QHD) by incorporating geometric structure of the parameter space via a position-dependent metric in the kinetic term. We formulate QRHD in both operator and path integral formalisms and derive the corresponding quantum equations of motion, showing that quantum corrections appear in the action integral but they are suppressed at late times by the time-dependent dissipation factor. This implies that convergence near optimal points is controlled by the classical potential while quantum effects influence early-time dynamics. By analyzing the semiclassical equation, we estimate a lower bound on the convergence time and numerically demonstrate whether QRHD works as a quantum optimization algorithm in some examples. A quantum circuit implementation based on time-dependent Hamiltonian simulation is also discussed and the query complexity is estimated.
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Quantum Physics

First-Click Time Measurements

There are two distinct perspectives on the quantum time-of-arrival: one can ask for the probability that a particle is found at the detector at a given time, regardless of whether it was previously detected, or for the probability that the particle is detected there for the first time. In this work, we analyze the latter by constructing the time-of-arrival distribution conditioned on the particle not having been detected at earlier times – the first-click distribution. We work within the Page and Wootters formalism, where time is treated as a quantum observable, and introduce a memory mechanism that records the outcomes of successive detection attempts separated by the detector's finite time resolution. We apply this framework to a single Gaussian wave packet and to a superposition of two overlapping wave packets. We find that conditioning on non-detection redistributes probability toward earlier arrival times, producing narrower and sharper distributions compared with the standard unconditioned case. This effect persists in the presence of quantum interference, though coarser time resolutions broaden the distribution and shift it toward later times.
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All authors Mafalda Pinto Couto, Lorenzo Maccone, Lorenzo Catani, Simone Roncallo

Quantum Physics

Lindbladian Simulation with Commutator Bounds

Trotter decomposition provides a simple approach to simulating open quantum systems by decomposing the Lindbladian into a sum of individual terms. While it is established that Trotter errors in Hamiltonian simulation depend on nested commutators of the summands, such a relationship remains poorly understood for Lindbladian dynamics. In this Letter, we derive commutator-based Trotter error bounds for Lindbladian simulation, yielding an $O(\sqrt{N})$ scaling in the number of Trotter steps for locally interacting systems on $N$ sites. When estimating observable averages, we apply Richardson extrapolation to achieve polylogarithmic precision while maintaining the commutator scaling. To bound the extrapolation remainder, we develop a general truncation bound for the Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff expansion that bypasses common convergence issues in physically relevant systems. For local Lindbladians, our results demonstrate that the Trotter-based methods outperform prior simulation techniques in system-size scaling while requiring only $O(1)$ ancillas. Numerical simulations further validate the predicted system-size and precision scaling.
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All authors Xinzhao Wang, Shuo Zhou, Xiaoyang Wang, Yi-Cong Zheng, Shengyu Zhang, Tongyang Li

Quantum Physics

Average Equilibration Time for Gaussian Unitary Ensemble Hamiltonians

Understanding equilibration times in closed quantum systems is essential for characterising their approach to equilibrium. Chaotic many-body systems are paradigmatic in this context: they are expected to thermalise according to the eigenstate thermalisation hypothesis and exhibit spectral properties well described by random matrix theory (RMT). While RMT successfully captures spectral correlations, its ability to provide quantitative predictions for equilibration timescales has remained largely unexplored. Here, we study equilibration within RMT using the framework of equilibration as dephasing, focusing on closed systems whose Hamiltonians are drawn from the Gaussian unitary ensemble (GUE). We derive an analytical expression that approximates the average equilibration time of the GUE and show that it is independent of both the initial state and the choice of observable, a consequence of the rotational invariance of the GUE. Numerical simulations confirm our analytical expression and demonstrate that our approximation is in close agreement with the true average equilibration time of the GUE. We find that the equilibration time decreases with system size and vanishes in the thermodynamic limit. This unphysical result indicates that the true equilibration timescale of realistic chaotic many-body systems must be dominated by physical features not captured by random matrix ensembles – the GUE in particular.
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All authors Emanuel Schwarzhans, Alessandro Candeloro, Felix C. Binder, Maximilian P. E. Lock, Pharnam Bakhshinezhad

Quantum Physics

Discriminating idempotent quantum channels

We study binary discrimination of idempotent quantum channels. When the two channels share a common full-rank invariant state, we show that a simple image inclusion condition completely determines the asymptotic behavior: when it holds, a broad family of channel divergences collapse to a closed-form, single-letter expression, regularization is unnecessary, and all error exponents (Stein/Chernoff/Hoeffding/strong-converse) are explicitly computable with no adaptive advantage. Crucially, this yields the strong converse property for this channel family. When the inclusion fails, asymmetric exponents become infinite, implying perfect asymptotic discrimination. We apply the results to GNS-symmetric channels, showing discrimination rates for large number of self-iterations converge exponentially fast to those of the corresponding idempotent peripheral projections. Without a common invariant state, we show that the same image inclusion still guarantees additivity of the sandwiched Rényi cb-divergence for every $\alpha>1$, which suffices to establish the strong converse property and single-letter expressions for the Stein exponents.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from physics.hist-ph

From Hole Theory to Quantum Field Theory: Relativistic Fermions and the Role of Ettore Majorana (1933-1937)

Between 1933 and 1937, the treatment of relativistic spin-1/2 particles, initially rooted in Hole theory, evolved into the modern framework of quantum field theory. This paper reconstructs the crucial stages of that transition by examining the formal and physical progress of the numerous authors who shaped the field's modern formalism. This historical study traces the development of fermionic field theory in full, beginning with the foundational work of the 1920s, focussing on the results of the 1930s, and concluding with the influential synthesis of Wolfgang Pauli in 1941, the content of which has shaped the subsequent tradition. Within this framework, particular emphasis is given to Ettore Majorana's 1937 quantisation procedure and argument for anti-commuting fermionic quantum fields. This study demonstrates that Majorana's work was not merely a technical variant, but the definitive rejection of the concept of negative energy solutions, whose conceptual clarity and educational value remain vital today.
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Quantum Physics

The Power of Power-of-SWAP: Postselected Quantum Computation with the Exchange Interaction

We introduce Exchange Quantum Polynomial Time (XQP) circuits, which comprise quantum computation using only computational basis SPAM and the isotropic Heisenberg exchange interaction. Structurally, this restricted model captures decoherence-free subspace computation without access to singlet states. We prove that XQP, as well as its constrained family consisting solely of $\sqrt{\mathrm{SWAP}}$ gates, is universal for quantum computation under polynomial overheads in circuit depth and size. This establishes the universality of the $\sqrt{\mathrm{SWAP}}$ gate on its own under a logical encoding of qubits. We further prove that circuits generated by $\sqrt{\mathrm{SWAP}}$ gates are semi-universal, and thus generate $t$-designs for the uniform distribution over SU(2)-invariant unitaries. Finally, we study additional properties of the XQP model, including its relation to the six-vertex and Potts model in statistical physics. Our findings suggest that XQP circuits are naturally suited to near-term hardware and provide a simple platform for experimental demonstrations of quantum advantage.
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Quantum Physics

Tunable Nonlocal $ZZ$ Interaction for Remote Controlled-Z Gates Between Distributed Fixed-Frequency Qubits

Scaling superconducting quantum processors toward fault-tolerant operation will likely require architectures that extend beyond monolithic chips. Modular processors connected by low-loss superconducting links provide a promising route, but implementing entangling gates between remote fixed-frequency qubits remains challenging. Here we propose a distributed architecture in which two synchronously controlled double-transmon couplers mediate the interaction between fixed-frequency transmons in separate packages connected by a 25-cm coaxial cable. The scheme activates a tunable nonlocal $ZZ$ interaction on demand while suppressing residual static coupling, allowing the superconducting link to function as a gate-native interconnect rather than solely as a state-transfer channel. Circuit-level simulations show an on/off ratio exceeding $10^6$ and a remote controlled-Z gate with a projected coherent fidelity of $99.99\%$ under experimentally relevant parameters. Open-system simulations further indicate that, within the representative Markovian noise model considered here, endpoint-qubit decoherence is the largest contribution to gate infidelity, while photon loss in the retained cable modes remains smaller but non-negligible. These results identify DTC-mediated tunable nonlocal coupling as a promising gate primitive for modular superconducting processors based on fixed-frequency qubits.
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All authors Benzheng Yuan, Chaojie Zhang, Haoran He, Yangyang Fei, Chuanbing Han, Shuya Wang, Huihui Sun, Qing Mu, Bo Zhao, Fudong Liu, Weilong Wang, Zheng Shan

Quantum Physics

Quantized Dissipation from the Inverse-Square Anomaly in a Non-Hermitian Klein-Gordon Field

We construct an exactly solvable relativistic model that embeds the anomalous inverse-square interaction into a non-Hermitian Klein-Gordon field theory through a purely imaginary, scale-invariant scalar potential. The stationary field equation reduces to an inverse-square Schrodinger-type problem with a quadratic spectral parameter. Imposing a strictly outgoing boundary condition at the singularity-interpreted as irreversible absorption-selects a unique physical realization and converts the fall-to-the-center instability into a discrete, log-periodic spectrum of complex energies. The resulting decay rates exhibit universal geometric spacing, determined solely by the anomalous scaling exponent and insensitive to microscopic short-distance regularization. This structure defines an emergent kinematic energy scale that controls dissipative dynamics and provides a minimal analytic framework for studying scale anomaly, boundary-condition-induced non-Hermiticity, and quantized dissipation in relativistic open quantum systems.
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Quantum Physics

SesQ: A Surface Electrostatic Simulator for Precise Energy Participation Ratio Simulation in Superconducting Qubits

An accurate and efficient numerical electromagnetic model for superconducting qubits is essential for characterizing and minimizing design-dependent dielectric losses. The energy participation ratio (EPR) is the commonly adopted metric used to evaluate these losses, but its calculation presents a severe multiscale computational challenge. Conventional finite element method (FEM) requires 3D volumetric meshing, leading to prohibitive computational costs and memory requirements when attempting to capture singular electric fields at nanometer-thin material interfaces. To address this bottleneck, we propose SesQ, a surface integral equation simulator tailored for the precise simulation of the EPR. By applying discretization on 2D surfaces, deriving a semi-analytical multilayer Green's function, and employing a dedicated non-conformal boundary mesh refinement scheme, SesQ accurately resolves singular edge fields without an explosive growth in the number of unknowns. Validations with analytically solvable models demonstrate that SesQ accelerates capacitance extraction by roughly two orders of magnitude compared to commercial FEM tools. While achieving comparable accuracy for capacitance extraction, SesQ delivers superior precision for EPR calculation. Simulations of practical transmon qubits further reveal that FEM approaches tend to significantly underestimate the EPR. Finally, the high efficiency of SesQ enables rapid iteration in the layout optimization, as demonstrated by minimizing the EPR of the qubit pattern, establishing the simulator as a powerful tool for the automated design of low-loss superconducting quantum circuits.
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All authors Ziang Wang, Shuyuan Guan, Feng Wu, Xiaohang Zhang, Qiong Li, Jianxin Chen, Xin Wan, Tian Xia, Hui-Hai Zhao

Quantum Physics

Photon-triplets for quantum optics generated by a phase-matched third-order difference-frequency mixing in a KTiOPO4 bulk crystal pumped at 532 nm

We report implementation and modelling of an efficient photon-triplets generation experiment based on a difference-frequency-mixing of two picosecond beams at 532 nm and 1491 nm in a type II phase-matched KTP crystal. The photon-triplets flux was measured as a function of the energy of the two incident beams using a coincidence protocol. A maximal flux of 11.6 photon-triplets per second was achieved. These experimental data were satisfactorily described by a semiclassical model based on the quantum fluctuations of vacuum and the classical equations of nonlinear optics.
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All authors Gaspar Mougin-Trichon, Veronique Boutou, Corinne Felix, David Jegouso, Benoit Boulanger

Quantum Physics

Probing excited-state quantum phase transitions with trapped cold ions

We propose concrete protocols to realize quantum criticality due to excited-state quantum phase transitions (ESQPTs) experimentally in presumably the simplest and most resilient system involving a single trapped ion oscillating in a radio-frequency Paul trap. We identify a specific class of excited states of the Extended Rabi Model (ERM) Hamiltonian, which occur between two critical ESQPT energies of the model in its (anti)Jaynes-Cummings superradiant phase. Properties of these states motivate the definition of several ESQPT witness observables. We study their critical scaling behaviors as well as various distinct state evolutions by driving the system across the quantum criticalities by changing the qubit-phonon coupling strength linearly in time at different finite rates. A mapping of the theoretical control parameters of the ERM to the experimental parameters of a trapped ion setup is provided, and simulations are performed for values referencing existing state-of-the-art setups, addressing both unitary state evolutions as well as relevant open-system corrections.
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Quantum Physics

Open-System Adiabatic Quantum Search under Dephasing

Adiabatic quantum algorithms must evolve slowly enough to suppress non-adiabatic transitions while remaining fast enough to be practical. In open systems, this trade-off is reshaped by decoherence. For Hamiltonians subject to dephasing Lindbladians, Avron et al. [Phys. Rev. A 82, 040304(R) (2010)] showed that a unique timetable exists that maximizes the fidelity with a target state. This optimal schedule is characterized by a constant tunneling rate along the adiabatic path. In this work, we revisit their analysis and apply it to the adiabatic Grover search framework, obtaining closed-form expressions for the optimal evolution schedule, the minimum runtime, and the resulting achievable fidelity. Moreover, by invoking an energy-time uncertainty argument, we identify a critical dephasing threshold beyond which further noise-assisted acceleration is prohibited, showing that the apparent advantage of strong dephasing is a Zeno-type stabilization mechanism rather than a conventional algorithmic speedup over unitary Grover search.
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Quantum Physics

Emergent-Coupling-Based Ansatz Evaluated on a Superconducting Quantum Processor

The performance of the variational quantum eigensolver depends critically on the choice of ansatz. In this work, we experimentally evaluate the emergent-coupling-based ansatz (ECBA), a physically motivated variational ansatz for disordered systems. The ECBA is based on a renormalization (semi-)group approach to determine the dominant effective couplings, resulting in shallow circuits that capture the essential long-range entanglement structure while balancing local correlations. We implement the ECBA on superconducting quantum processors and benchmark it on disordered Heisenberg chain models. Using classically pre-optimized parameters and error mitigation techniques, we study systems of up to 30 qubits and observe an experimental relative energy accuracy of 96.41% for the largest system. Furthermore, we find that the ECBA can be efficiently embedded on hardware with two-dimensional square-lattice connectivity. We compare to commonly used hardware efficient ansätze and observe that the ECBA achieves significantly higher accuracy at a similar gate count.
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Quantum Physics

$1/N^2$ Precision Interferometry with Collectively Enhanced Atomic Mirror

Quantum metrology exploits quantum resources to enhance measurement precision beyond the classical limit. Conventional protocols normally rely on the preparation of delicate quantum states to acquire these resources, posing a major challenge for scaling and robustness. Here we introduce a paradigm that circumvents this requirement with a collectively enhanced quantum mirror (CEAM), i.e., a mesoscopic array of $N$ atoms coupled to a semi-infinite waveguide. When injecting single photons into the waveguide and estimating the CEAM-boundary distance from the reflection phase, a $1/N^2$ precision scaling can be obtained, which surpasses the Heisenberg limit. In this protocol, the quantum resource stems from the cooperative optical response, requiring no entangled state preparation. Our scheme is robust against positional and coupling disorder, offering a practical route to ultra-sensitive quantum metrology in integrated photonic systems.
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All authors Yuan Liu, Ke-Mi Xu, Hong-Bo Sun, Linhan Lin

Quantum Physics

Mixed-register Stabilizer Codes: A Coding-theoretic Perspective

Protecting information in systems that have more than two basis states (qudits) not only offers a promising route for reducing the number of individual quantum locations that must be protected, while more accurately reflecting the structure of realistic quantum hardware, but also has some possibly enticing foundational strengths. While work in the past has largely focused on protecting information in quantum devices with locations that are some consistent local structure, this work considers coding-theoretic constraints on devices constructed from locations which may vary in their local structures – these are mixed-register quantum devices. In this work we provide some general results for mixed-register Pauli operators, then identify some stabilizer encoded information forms that are forbidden. Building on these insights, we construct coding-theoretically optimal mixed-register stabilizer codes from sets of codes defined on coprime local-dimensions. The construction of such codes results in codes with logical subspaces that do not directly correspond to any of the constituent local-dimensions.
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Quantum Physics

Phase statistics of a single qubit emission as a direct probe of its coherence

The emission of photon from an individual atom encodes the phase of its initialized quantum state. Using single-shot heterodyne detection, we measure the phase distribution of the emission from a superconducting transmon qubit in an open waveguide configuration and track its evolution over time. We demonstrate that the presence of a quantum superposition is encoded in the phase statistics of the emission and remains resolvable despite a high noise level. These phase statistics serve as a quantitative probe of the qubit coherence. The decay of the emission envelope with increasing integration time reveals the energy relaxation rate of the emitted wavepacket, while phase distribution broadening tracks pure dephasing processes. We thereby establish a direct link between the decoherence dynamics of an open quantum system and the statistical properties of its radiated field.
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All authors A. Sultanov, E. Mutsenik, L. Kaczmarek, M. Schmelz, G. Oelsner, R. Stolz, E. Il'ichev

Quantum Physics

Learning unified control of intrinsic nonlinear spin dynamics in atomic qudits for magnetometry

Generating and preserving metrologically useful quantum states is a central challenge in quantum-enhanced metrology. In low-field atomic magnetometry with multilevel atoms, the nonlinear Zeeman (NLZ) effect is both a resource and a limitation. It can generate internal spin squeezing within a single atomic qudit, but under fixed readout it also rotates and distorts the measurement-relevant quadrature, limiting the usable metrological gain. The problem is further complicated by the time dependence of both the squeezing axis and the nonlinear evolution itself. Here we show that reinforcement learning can transform NLZ dynamics from a source of readout degradation into a sustained metrological resource. Using only experimentally accessible low-order spin moments, a trained agent identifies a unified control policy for this class of intrinsically nonlinear sensing dynamics. We illustrate the approach in the \(f=21/2\) manifold of \(^{161}\mathrm{Dy}\), where the learned policy rapidly prepares strongly squeezed internal states and stabilizes more than \(4\,\mathrm{dB}\) of fixed-axis spin squeezing under continuous NLZ evolution. Including state-preparation overhead, the learned protocol yields a single-atom magnetic-field sensitivity of \(13.9\,\mathrm{pT}/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}\), approximately \(3\,\mathrm{dB}\) beyond the standard quantum limit. Our results establish learning-based control as an experimentally feasible route for converting unavoidable intrinsic nonlinear dynamics in multilevel atomic sensors into operational metrological advantage.
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All authors C. Z. Cao, J. Z. Han, M. Xiong, M. Deng, L. Wang, Q. Liu, X. Lv, M. Xue

Quantum Physics

Resource-efficient quantum approximate optimization algorithm via Bayesian optimization and maximum-probability evaluation

The quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA) is a leading variational approach to combinatorial optimization, but its practical performance depends strongly on objective design, parameter search, and shot allocation. We present a resource-efficient QAOA framework that uses the cut value of the most probable measured bitstring as the optimization objective, combines it with Bayesian optimization, and adaptively allocates shots using dual criteria based on mode confidence and normalized cut-value variance. Numerical experiments on 3-regular MaxCut show that, for both unweighted and weighted instances, the proposed scheme achieves discrete-solution quality comparable to that of the conventional expectation-based objective while typically requiring fewer total shots to reach the same final mode accuracy. These results indicate that reorganizing QAOA around the maximum-probability bitstring provides an effective route to improving practical performance under limited measurement budgets.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from hep-ph

The force of attraction between nucleons due to vacuum fluctuation

We investigate quantum vacuum interactions arising from the zero-point fluctuations of a spatially confined massive scalar field. Deriving analytical expressions for the planar interaction energy and vacuum pressure, we identify a fundamental transition from the canonical power-law scaling of massless fields to a distinct quantum saturation regime. We prove that in the macroscopic limit, where the boundary separation far exceeds the field's Compton wavelength ($a \gg \lambda_c$), the interaction energy does not vanish; instead, it asymptotes to a persistent constant, $-\hbar c / (24\pi \lambda_c^3)$. This reveals a cohesive zero-point energy reservoir inherent to massive vacua. Applying this formalism to the femtometer scale of the deuteron ($^2$H) nuclei, we demonstrate that confining massive pion fluctuations generates an attractive force between nucleons.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from physics.chem-ph

Perspective of Fermi's golden rule and its generalizations in chemical physics

This perspective provides a succinct history of Fermi's golden rule (FGR), overview of its derivation, assumptions, and representative forms. Major applications of FGR, mostly in the field of chemical physics, are reviewed. These illustrate the broad applicability and success of FGR. Ambiguities and open issues encountered in practical applications of FGR are clarified. Recent advances in generalizations of FGR and computational methods for practical applications are addressed.
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Quantum Physics

The local characterization of global tensor network eigenstates

We study the conditions under which Matrix Product States (MPS) or Matrix Product Operators are exact eigenvectors of an extensive local operator, such as a Hamiltonian. By suitably choosing the local operator, this covers a wide range of settings: Exact eigenstates of Hamiltonians, including scar states, exact MPS trajectories for driven quantum systems, steady states of local Lindbladians, generalized symmetries of either Hamiltonians or density matrices, and many more. Our key result is that a local, fixed-size equation—namely, how a single term in the operator acts on a block of tensors—provides a necessary and sufficient condition for exact solutions. This local characterization allows us to obtain the full space of MPS solutions to all of the aforementioned problems; in particular, we exemplify the power of our results by recovering the quantum group symmetries of the XXZ model. We also discuss applications to numerical algorithms with MPS and the generalization of our results to 2D, i.e., projected entangled pair states (PEPS).
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All authors José Garre Rubio, András Molnár, Norbert Schuch, Frank Verstraete

Quantum Physics

Towards Analyzing Formic Acid Using Classical and Quantum Methods

Catalytic carbon fixation to formic acid is important for studying the reduction of carbon footprint and the emergence of life. Can discrete quantum exhaustive search merged with other methods help reduce the carbon footprint? We suggest merging quantum, quantum inspired, and classical tools for a better simulation of various relevant processes. Quantum tools are often used for analyzing the electronic structure of molecules, sometimes because this problem is not scalable (in the number of orbitals) on classical computers while it is potentially approximately scalable on (future) quantum computers. It is potentially even solvable in the near future using variational quantum eigensolvers (VQE) yet a major obstacle to such analysis is the appearance of barren plateaus in the Hilbert space describing the problem. Here we make use of the basic (standard) tools while also including a novel one – the discrete quantum exhaustive search, which relies on mutually unbiased bases, for analyzing the simplest non-catalytic process involving carbon dioxide, hydrogen and formic acid.
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Quantum Physics

Efficient Quantum Algorithm for Robust Training

Adversarial training is a standard defense against malicious input perturbations in security-critical machine-learning systems. Its main burden is structural: before every parameter update, the current model must first be attacked to find a new adversarial perturbation, making training increasingly expensive and hard to sustain at large-model scale. Here we give an end-to-end quantum procedure for projected-gradient robust training under local stability and sparsity assumptions. The key step is to reformulate the coupled attacker–learner dynamics as a high-dimensional sparse linear system whose terminal block yields the final network-parameter state. In this formulation, the dominant query cost scales linearly with training time steps, up to logarithmic factors, and polylogarithmically with model size, while the full gate complexity records separate input-preparation and sparse-access overheads. This places core computational tasks for AI security on a concrete quantum footing and identifies a regime in which robust-training overhead can be reduced.
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All authors Yue Wang, Guangyi He, Liepeng Zhang, Lukas Gonon, Qi Zhao

Quantum Physics

Compact Continuous-Variable Quantum Key Distribution System Employing Monolithically Integrated Silicon Photonic Transceiver

We demonstrate the first CV-QKD system featuring a custom-designed monolithic silicon photonic dual-polarisation transceiver. Leveraging PS-64-QAM, we achieved 1.9 Mbit/s secret key rate across 25 km of standard single-mode fibre, highlighting the potential of electronic-photonic integration for practical QKD.
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All authors Denis Fatkhiev, João dos Reis Frazão, Alireza H. Derkani, Kadir Gümüş, Menno van den Hout, Aaron Albores-Mejia, Chigo Okonkwo

Quantum Physics

Local robust shadows on a trapped ion computer – a case study

We experimentally demonstrate local robust shadows on a trapped-ion quantum computing system, a protocol developed to counteract measurement errors. We alternate between a calibration stage and the shadow estimation stage and also introduce Pauli-X-twirling before measurements in both stages to symmetrize error rates. We then demonstrate the protocol on a trapped-ion quantum computer with artificially shortened measurement pulse duration. This yields faster experiments at the cost of increased error rates which are subsequently mitigated by the robust shadow protocol. We benchmark this approach on three exemplary quantum states: a local Haar random state, as well as standard and Pauli-correlation-encoded QAOA states. In all three cases, the local robust shadow protocol succeeds at mitigating the increased error rates hailing from shorter measurement pulse durations.
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All authors Jadwiga Wilkens, Milena Guevara-Bertsch, Marwa Marso, Mederika Zangerl, Florian Girtler, Albert Frisch, Juris Ulmanis, Ingo Roth, Richard Kueng