Peer Revenue Equity in science

Papers

Fresh from arXiv, typeset properly. Highlighted words trade on the market.

Physics Quantum Physics

quant-ph Watch Quantum Physics (sign in to use)

Friday 29 May

Quantum Physics

Learning Midcircuit Measurement Backaction from Three Repeated Measurements

Accurate modeling of midcircuit measurements (MCMs) is essential for dynamic-circuit operations such as syndrome extraction, measurement-based reset, and the separation of state-preparation and measurement error. Unlike terminal measurement, a noisy MCM both produces a classical outcome and alters the incoming quantum state, thereby influencing subsequent circuit operations. This makes conventional confusion-matrix or fidelity-level characterization insufficient. Here, we introduce an efficient, self-consistent protocol for learning a single-qubit Z-twirled MCM instrument, retaining the readout-backaction correlations and excitation-decay asymmetry that are erased in Pauli-error descriptions. Remarkably, readout bit strings from only three repeated MCMs on a maximally mixed input determine all learnable parameters of the reduced instrument, up to a single unidentifiable gauge degree of freedom. Physicality constraints convert this nonidentifiability into narrow, gauge-aware error intervals. Implemented on IBM superconducting processors, the learned instrument improves Pauli-observable prediction by $\sim 100\times$ over a conventional confusion-matrix model and reveals a $T_1$-decay dominated backaction. Our protocol provides a compact characterization layer for state-preparation and measurement error separation, reset optimization, and noise-aware quantum error correction.
Read the full abstract

All authors Chia-Tung Chu, Su-un Lee, Han Zheng, Senrui Chen, Bibek Pokharel, Alireza Seif, Liang Jiang

Quantum Physics

Polytopic Quantum Resource Theories: Geometry and Structures

Quantum resource theories provide a unifying framework to quantify, compare, and manipulate quantum resources under well-defined operational constraints. Here, we consider any resource theory where the set of free states can be expressed as a convex combination of a set of quantum states, referred to as extremal states and name them as polytopic quantum resource theories (PQRT). These include some of the most studied resource theories, such as coherence and magic. We formulate a novel tensorial representation of PQRTs that reveals the underlying geometry of these theories and provides insight into the origin of the resources. We further address a fundamental question in resource theories that when two theories should be regarded as physically equivalent, and to this purpose we introduce notions of homomorphism and isomorphism that compare both the structure of free states and the allowed transformations. Using the tools we develop, we find results revealing the geometrical and structural foundations of such theories. Interestingly, we find that all polytopic resource theories with a fixed number of pure extremal points are equivalent under a physical map, up to normalisation. Additionally, we introduce linearly independent polytopic resource theories (resource theory of “basis-non-convexity”), where the set of extremal free states forms a basis of the quantum density operators. We further study the categorical structures of PQRTs beyond single systems.
Read the full abstract

All authors Moein Naseri, Chirag Srivastava, Chandan Datta, John H. Selby, Shubhayan Sarkar

Quantum Physics

Quantum Signal Processing for Linear PDEs: Circuit Design and Experimental Validation

Quantum algorithms offer new avenues for solving partial differential equations (PDEs). While the potential for end-to-end quantum advantage is at present not well understood, recent literature presents explicit circuit constructions for solving certain classes of linear PDEs in the frequency domain and thus offers concrete examples to study. In this work, we develop end-to-end implementations of these quantum circuits compiled to machine-level instructions and benchmark them in both numerical simulations and IBMQ hardware experiments. We focus on the advection, wave, and Poisson equations and study quantum circuits that propagate the dynamics in frequency space via the quantum Fourier transform using approximate methods based on a first-order approximation which offer compact representations with uncontrollable approximation error, and polynomial approximation methods based on quantum signal processing (QSP) leading to deeper circuits with tunable algorithmic error. In addition, we experimentally demonstrate that the QSP-augmented algorithm can provide accurate solutions under realistic hardware constraints. Finally, we extend our method to address non-homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions and verify it numerically for a Poisson equation with source term obtained from high-fidelity physics simulations of a capacitively coupled plasma.
Read the full abstract

All authors Hyeongjin Kim, Revathi Jambunathan, Jan Balewski, Daan Camps

Quantum Physics

Software compensation of trigger-synchronous control-frame errors in qubits and qudits

Quantum control experiments are often subject to coherent, time-dependent disturbances that vary over timescales comparable to the experiment duration. We show that when such disturbances are reproducible with respect to a trigger signal, their effect can be measured and compensated through software-defined updates to the control frequency and phase. We experimentally verify the performance of our protocol using a trapped $^{137}$Ba$^+$ ion experiencing magnetic-field-induced energy shifts synchronous with the laboratory AC mains power. Using this compensation technique, the calibrated AC line contribution to the instantaneous oscillator detuning is reduced by $21(9)\times$, and the fitted AC-induced phase amplitude is reduced below the measurement uncertainty. We use randomized benchmarking to validate the compensation performance in quantum gate sequences, recovering an average single-qubit gate fidelity of 99.93(1)% with a magnetic-field-sensitive qubit. Finally, we extend the compensation framework to multi-level qudit control. Using the Bernstein-Vazirani algorithm as a benchmark, we increase the algorithm's success probability from 10(7)% to 70(9)% in a 16 level system when compensation is enabled. Our results demonstrate that trigger-synchronized coherent errors can be reframed as deterministic control-frame errors and corrected in software.
Read the full abstract

All authors Gaurav A. Tathed, Nicholas C.F. Zutt, Collin J.C. Epstein, Crystal Senko

Quantum Physics

Physics-Informed Learning of Effective Error Processes from Limited Noisy Transmon Measurements for Robust QAOA Reliability

We study whether limited finite-shot calibration measurements from a hidden transmon-inspired simulator can be used to learn compact, task-relevant effective error models for variational-algorithm reliability. Each physical element is modeled as a weakly anharmonic qutrit with coherent control imperfections, dissipation, dephasing, leakage, readout assignment error, and sampling noise, while the learner receives only selected local tomography data and, in the three-qubit extension, targeted pair probes. The learned objects are local affine Bloch response maps supplemented by process-relative edge residuals, and they are tested through their ability to reproduce and mitigate deformations of QAOA/MaxCut cost landscapes in simulation. The results show that strongly incomplete local data can still support useful response-map inference, that regularized linear models become competitive with neural networks in the scaled three-qubit setting, and that pair probes provide useful edge-level information, giving the clearest edge-residual prediction gain at the full pair-probe budget and a measurable downstream QAOA benefit. In the best non-oracle test, a Clifford-data-regression-style local-inverse correction reduces the finite-shot QAOA landscape error from $0.18187\,[0.17576,0.18798]$ to $0.01811\,[0.01751,0.01871]$, corresponding to a $10\times$ improvement. The study supports a hardware-aware, measurement-efficient calibration strategy, while incorporating leakage-explicit diagnostics and a non-oracle regression-style correction.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

Geometric Instability and Self-Limitation in Driven Quantum Systems

We develop a unified geometric framework for local non-adiabaticity in driven quantum systems. We show that the previously introduced AMT non adiabaticity parameter arises as a special realization of a more general geometric instability criterion governed by the normalized Fubini Study distinguishability speed. The local geometric evolution speed is identified as the physically relevant quantity controlling the onset of non-adiabatic instability. We introduce a universal dimensionless instability parameter measuring the competition between quantum-state evolution speed and spectral-gap protection. This quantity provides a local, gauge-invariant, and basis-independent criterion for arbitrary driven Hamiltonians. Near quantum critical points, the instability parameter diverges through inverse gap amplification, recovering the Kibble Zurek freeze-out condition directly from local geometric data. We prove that monotonic occupation-dependent nonlinear regulators geometrically compress the quantum metric, establishing a self-limitation theorem in which nonlinear spectral deformation confines the accessible region of projective Hilbert space under strong driving. The multimode extension yields a matrix-valued instability criterion that identifies collective instability channels invisible to scalar descriptions. The framework naturally extends to open quantum systems through the Bures metric and quantum Fisher geometry, where thermal mixing and Lindblad decay increase the instability threshold through geometric suppression of state distinguishability. The instability threshold further implies a universal geometric lower bound on coherent control time and quantum gate duration.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

No-Go Theorem for Ancilla-Assisted Gaussian Enhancement in Passive-Unitary Estimation

We study the maximum quantum Fisher information (QFI) for estimating a single parameter embedded in a generic multimode lossless passive Gaussian unitary using general Gaussian probes under a signal-energy constraint. Unlike previous work, which imposed a total energy constraint on the full probe, we constrain only the transmitted signal modes while allowing an arbitrary number of locally retained ancilla modes with arbitrarily large energy. We prove that this additional freedom does not increase the maximum achievable QFI; the optimum remains identical to that attainable without extra ancilla energy. The same conclusion also extends to the sequential setting under a total energy constraint. We also characterize the family of optimal probe states and show that entanglement is not necessary to attain the optimum in the lossless setting. This extends the result of Matsubara et al. to the physically motivated signal-energy-constrained scenario and establishes a no-go theorem for ancilla-assisted Gaussian enhancement in noiseless passive-unitary estimation.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

Topics on Foundations of Physics: From the quantum to the (semi) classical, gravity, thermodynamics, and (or beyond) our possible detections

The work leading to this thesis focuses on assessing and extending quantum theories in order to explore and test their implications across various regimes – including thermodynamics, semiclassical and quantum gravity scenarios, and the in principle detectable predictions of such theories. The general motivation stems from a basic desire to understand the world form its very foundations. For instance, how can we bridge the gap between what we observe or `perceive' and the fundamental quantum nature in our theories. In particular, this work originated from the search to a better understanding of the nature of time according to our physical theories and the common perception that it invariably `flows' to the future, or, in other words, why do we observe distinct natural processes evolving asymmetrically in time? These motivations led to three distinct, yet interconnected and successful, lines of research, presented here in three separate parts: I. On Possible Detections within Physical Theories; II. On Explaining the Approach to Thermodynamic Equilibrium; and III. Relativistic Collapse Theories and a Self-Consistent Model of Semiclassical Gravity.
Read the full abstract

2606.00255 · 29 May · Doctoral thesis submitted to the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Front page and acknowledgments are in Spanish, the main body is in English. Introductions are in both languages. This version contains typographical and editorial improvements made after the institutional submission: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14330/TES01000881995 .(112 pages, 5 figures)

Quantum Physics

Symmetry-Protected Quantum Computing using Metamaterials

We propose a new architecture for practical quantum computing that combines three established principles: symmetry protection of relative-motion qubits via the generalized Kohn theorem, control via twisted-light orbital angular momentum, and metamaterial nanofocusing (e.g. using Weyl-semimetal plasmonics). Crucially, the core mechanism is generic: it applies to any current or future quantum computing system involving parabolic confinement, including cold atoms, ions, and semiconductor dots.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

Bath-induced deviations from Gibbs statistics for strongly interacting oscillators

The Redfield quantum master equation is widely used to study the dynamics of interacting sub-systems that are weakly coupled to baths. Redfield dynamics under secular approximation preserves positivity of the reduced density operator and thermalizes the system into a Gibbs state at equilibrium. Long-time effects arising from non-secular terms are often neglected, but depending on the system spectrum and relative bath couplings, non-secular contributions are shown here to drive the system into a non-Gibbs state. For two strongly interacting quantum oscillators with independent baths at equal temperature, we analyze the microscopic origin of the deviations from Gibbs statistics. Provided that the oscillators are unequally damped by their baths, we show that steady state occupation numbers can significantly deviate from a Boltzmann distribution due to an excitation flux driven by bath-induced coherences between nearly-degenerate oscillator levels. Conditions for the recovery of thermal Gibbs statistics are discussed and experimental signatures suggested.
Read the full abstract

All authors Felipe Recabal, Adrian E. Rubio Lopez, Johannes Schachenmayer, Felipe Herrera

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from hep-ph

Matter-Wave Interferometers as Open-System Dark Matter Detectors

Matter-wave interferometers (MWIs) offer a uniquely quantum route to dark matter (DM) detection: DM can reveal itself through phase and decoherence between spatially separated wavepackets, even when negligible energy deposition or resolvable recoil occurs. We formulate these effects in an open effective field theory for MWIs using the Schwinger-Keldysh formalism, which highlights a structural asymmetry between the two detection channels. For elastic spin-independent DM scattering, decoherence inherits novel Bose enhancement or Pauli blocking factors, while the phase is at most linear in the DM occupation number. By retaining the DM's coherence time, this framework spans Markovian and non-Markovian dynamics across a wide range of DM masses, and systematically organizes corrections beyond the heavy-probe limit.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

How to make quantum cheese: efficient geometry oracles for exponentially many pseudorandom microstructures

Quantum algorithms for simulating linear systems are often formulated under oracle access assumptions. A central question is when such oracles can be implemented by polynomial-size quantum circuits. In this paper, we study this question for materials specified by rules rather than by exhaustive descriptions. We focus on textured materials with exponentially many geometric features. In two settings, we show that, without additional structure, describing such geometries yields Grover-type lower bounds, making the corresponding quantum oracles intractable in general. In contrast, when suitable structure is imposed, we identify a broad family of pseudorandom locally textured materials whose geometry can be queried through a polynomial-size quantum circuit. We provide explicit circuit constructions for these oracles and verify their behaviour through numerical simulation.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

Phase-Sensitive Crystal-Edge Effects in Linear Optical Parametric Oscillators: Why Nominally Identical Squeezers Behave Differently

Efficient and reproducible squeezed-light sources are essential for quantum information processing and precision metrology. Compact linear standing-wave optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) are attractive because they combine low optical loss, low pump-power requirements, and large longitudinal mode spacing. In doubly resonant cavities, however, the nonlinear interaction is not determined solely by bulk phase matching: forward- and backward-generated fields recombine coherently, making the effective gain sensitive to crystal-edge termination, wavelength-dependent coating phases, and the cavity resonance condition. Here, we show that these microscopic phase contributions can produce large threshold variations between nominally similar OPOs. We combine double-pass second-harmonic generation with OPO threshold measurements to extract the relevant crystal-cavity phases and analyse three linear OPO systems. The observed devices exhibit threshold variations of up to nearly six-fold, traced to the phase-dependent nonlinear-gain envelope at accessible doubly resonant operating points. Our results establish a phase-aware framework for compact linear OPOs and provide design guidelines for reproducible low-threshold squeezed-light sources in scalable photonic quantum systems.
Read the full abstract

All authors Jonas Junker, Donghwa Lee, Reda Louahaj, Oscar Cordero, Romain Brunel, Jens A. H. Nielsen, Ulrik L. Andersen, Jonas S. Neergaard-Nielsen

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cond-mat.str-el

Extracting central charge from ground-state overlaps of spatially deformed Hamiltonians

We show that the conformal anomaly of a $(1+1)$-dimensional conformal field theory can be extracted directly from a ground-state wave-function overlap associated with a spatial conformal deformation. Focusing on the $q$-Möbius deformation, we derive an exact overlap formula between the deformed and undeformed ground states, whose exponent directly encodes the central charge. Motivated by this result, we construct a lattice estimator based solely on ground-state overlaps and apply it to representative critical quantum chains and the gapless edge modes of a two-dimensional Chern insulator. Numerical results demonstrate that the resulting overlaps provide a simple and robust probe of the central charge in microscopic models. We further demonstrate that the deformed ground states retain universal geometric structures in their entanglement spectra and entanglement entropies. These results provide a simple wave-function-based route to probing conformal data in critical systems and topological edge modes.
Read the full abstract

All authors Chen Bai, Xinyu Sun, Liang-Hong Mo, Hong-Hao Tu

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cond-mat.quant-gas

Aharonov-Casher Chern bands for ultracold dark state atoms

We consider the Aharonov-Casher (AC) condition for ultracold atoms adiabatically following the dark-state in a $\Lambda$-type atom-light coupling scheme. The AC condition establishes a relation between the geometric scalar potential and the synthetic magnetic field, resulting in a fully degenerate lowest Landau-level-like band in the adiabatic limit even if the magnetic field is inhomogeneous but has a proper sign. We derive a general requirement for the atom-light coupling under which the AC condition applies. The requirement holds if the Rabi frequencies of the $\Lambda$ scheme are superpositions of plane waves with the appropriate amplitudes and phases. In particular, the Rabi frequencies made of $N=3,\,4,\,6$ fine tuned plane waves yield a smooth background magnetic field of definite sign, as well as an array of non-measurable Aharonov-Bohm flux singularities. Departing from the fine tuning, the latter singularities turn into narrow subwavelength patches of the magnetic field with an opposite sign, which broaden the lowest energy band. The lowest band is also broadened for the fine tuned situation due to deviation from the adiabatic approach because of the finite atom-light coupling strength. It is shown that a proper combination of the two imperfections (departure from fine tuning and finite atom-light coupling strength) can lead to a significant reduction of the width of the lowest band, which can be made almost completely flat and furthermore becomes characterized by a nearly perfect geometry needed for simulating the fractional Hall states.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

Optical Memory Optimization Across Rubidium Isotopes and Transitions

We investigate optical memory efficiency and storage time across $^{85}\mathrm{Rb}$ and $^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$ isotopes on both the D$_1$ and D$_2$ transitions. Maximum efficiency of up to $44\%$ was achieved using the D$_1$ line in both isotopes, with up to 1.5 ms storage time. %Maximum efficiencies of $44\%$ were measured for both isotopes on the D$_1$ line, in agreement within $1\sigma$, while the longest storage time reached is $1.5$ ms. These performance levels are enabled by warm vapor rubidium buffer-gas filled cells, large optical depth, and a near-resonant EIT scheme optimized with respect to the one- and two-photon detuning. Our results provide practical guidelines for optimizing the performance of warm rubidium vapor optical memories in simplified experimental configurations. We expect that the optimization approach employed here, specifically operating at elevated temperatures while identifying the optimal single-photon and two-photon detunings, should lead to improved performance of the quantum memory.
Read the full abstract

All authors T. Danielov, I. Puljić, M. {\DJ}ujić, D. Aumiler, N. Šantić, T. Ban

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cond-mat.mes-hall

Chirality routing non-polaritonic vacuum correlations in Landau polaritons

Ultrastrong coupling between matter and cavity vacuum fields can turn the electromagnetic vacuum into a structured quantum environment, thereby opening passive routes for modifying and manipulating material properties. Recent work has identified light–matter entanglement as an important ingredient in these property changes, which raises the question of where the relevant vacuum correlations actually reside. Landau polaritons provide chiral ultrastrong coupling systems in which one circular cavity polarization forms the bright polariton branches. Here, using a quantum information approach, we show that an exact chiral charge in a multimode Hopfield model routes the dominant anomalous correlations, squeezing, and cavity–matter entanglement into the opposite polarization. We find that, using parameters extracted from a multimode Landau polariton system, this hidden sector correlates the cyclotron resonance with finite momentum magnetoplasmons through Gaussian discord, while pairwise matter–matter entanglement remains absent. We further predict a polarization anisotropy of dressed vacuum electric field fluctuations as a signature of this chiral routing. These results identify chirality as a symmetry principle for organizing ultrastrong coupling vacua and show that quantum information tools provide a powerful framework for revealing the salient properties of Landau polaritons.
Read the full abstract

All authors Ayoub EL-Amrani, Zakaria Mzaouali, Houssam Sabri, Herschel Rabitz, Abdelouahed El Fatimy, Dukhyung Lee

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from hep-th

Phase separation seeded by Z2 and U(1) topological defects from holography

We study the interaction between spontaneous symmetry breaking and phase separation dynamics in holography. Using a double-quench protocol, the system first rapidly crosses the critical point and generates topological defects, while a second quench drives the system into a nonlinear unstable regime with spinodal decomposition. We investigate both $\mathbb{Z}_2$ and $U(1)$ symmetric systems, where different types of topological defects emerge during symmetry breaking. We show that topological defects dynamically determine the nucleation sites of phase separation. As the instability grows, the defect cores expand into macroscopic phase-separated domains. Despite the distinct symmetries and topological properties of these defects, both systems exhibit the same universal dynamical behavior, indicating that topological defects can universally serve as dynamical seeds for subsequent phase separation.
Read the full abstract

All authors Zi-Qiang Zhao, Zhang-Yu Nie, Jing-Fei Zhang, Xin Zhang

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cond-mat.str-el

Twin Phases: Intrinsic Deconfined Quantum Criticality

We introduce the concept of twin phases for a symmetry $\mathcal{S}$, defined as inequivalent phases, whose order parameters are part of the same generalized charge under $\mathcal{S}$. Stable, direct transitions between such twin phases are never spontaneous-symmetry-breaking transitions, even after (partially) gauging the initial symmetry $\mathcal{S}$: they are phase transitions without hidden symmetry breaking. We illustrate this with an (anomalous) finite group symmetry in 1+1d, which exhibits such intrinsically beyond Landau transition, i.e. an intrinsically Deconfined Quantum Critical Point (DQCP).
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cond-mat.quant-gas

Floquet Engineering of Quantum Transport through two Driven Impurities

Floquet engineering offers powerful tools to manipulate quantum states by periodically driving physical parameters. In this work, we investigate the quantum transport through two periodically driven impurities in a mesoscopic one-dimensional channel. By mapping the time-dependent Hamiltonian into an effective multichannel scattering problem, we unveil a rich landscape of transport phenomena arising from the interplay between Fabry-Perot cavity modes and Fano interference. We demonstrate that the inter-impurity distance acts as a critical control parameter, allowing for the formation of Bound States in the Continuum (BICs). Furthermore, we identify Quasi-BICs, extremely narrow resonances with finite lifetimes, that can be dynamically tuned by the drive amplitude. We show that these states enable a robust coherent trapping mechanism, allowing the system to switch from perfect transparency or reflection to strong localization with giant Wigner time delays. Our results suggest possible applications for tunable delay lines and quantum memories, with feasible experimental realizations in the context of cold atoms.
Read the full abstract

All authors Vincenzo Bruno, Corinna Kollath, Roberta Citro, Ameneh Sheikhan

Quantum Physics

More efficient Clifford+T synthesis for small-angle rotations and application to Trotterization

Clifford+T synthesis of rotation gates is an important routine in fault-tolerant quantum compilation. While Clifford+T synthesis is scalable, it has a high overhead of tens of T gates per rotation in practice, translating to high resource estimates for many fault-tolerant algorithms. However, these well-known results, including those using probabilistic mixtures [Quantum 7, 1208 (2023)], are independent of the rotation angle $\theta$, requiring $O(\log 1/\delta)$ T gates. We show that it is possible to do much better for small angles, reducing the T cost to $\tilde{O}(\theta^2/\delta)$, and returning to existing $O(\log1/\delta)$ results in the worst case. This is particularly important since many algorithms, such as Trotterization, are dominated by small-angle rotations. Further, we perform a detailed theoretical and numerical study of quasi-probabilities, which can further reduce the total T cost of large circuits by orders of magnitude with only a small overhead in sample complexity. We also develop a scheme based on quasi-probability mixtures of Clifford+T fallback channels. We derive new $\theta$-dependent formulas that can be used for resource estimation of fault-tolerant quantum algorithms. As an application of our results, we show that the gate cost of Trotterization circuits compiled to a Clifford+T gate set is constant in the small Trotter step size limit, and can be reduced by orders of magnitude even for large step sizes. The cost of fault-tolerant Trotterization for a variety of applications should be re-examined in light of these results. Our work dispels the widely-stated claim that Clifford+T rotation synthesis has a high cost independent of $\theta$, and further develops a scalable quasi-probability method for rotation synthesis. We also expect our results to bring forward useful early fault-tolerant quantum computing by reducing required magic state resources.
Read the full abstract

All authors Marius Bothe, Christoph Sünderhauf, Michael J. Witham, Earl T. Campbell, Nick S. Blunt

Quantum Physics

High-rate and computationally-efficient seedless extractors for device-independent quantum cryptography

Device-independent (DI) quantum cryptography provides secure cryptography with minimal trust in, or characterisation of, the used quantum devices. An essential component of DI protocols is the use of randomness extractors for privacy amplification, but these typically require an initial seed of randomness that introduces a potential vulnerability. To solve this problem, the security of seedless extractors was proven in Quantum 9, 1654 (2025). The core idea was to use the Bell violation of the raw data, rather than its min-entropy, as the extractor promise. However, the large fluctuations in the Bell inequality used required many rounds to precisely estimate the Bell violation, consuming substantial randomness and making the protocol very inefficient. In this work, we present a new proof technique based on a truncation method that allows the user to estimate the protocol parameters with an asymptotically vanishing fraction of rounds and, as a consequence, achieves the optimal rate of one key bit per singlet. Notably, we prove this result using seedless extractors that can be implemented efficiently.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

Entanglement in quantum channel discrimination: sometimes less is more

Entanglement is known to be a powerful resource that improves performance in various quantum information and computational tasks. A standard example of such a phenomenon is the possibility of perfectly discriminating all four Pauli operations in a single shot via the superdense coding protocol. While entanglement is often a powerful resource for quantum channel discrimination, this is not necessarily the case. In this work, we identify scenarios in which the maximally entangled state is a bad choice of input state and, more generally, show that excessive entanglement can reduce channel discriminability dramatically. To do so, we present an explicit pair of unitary channels which are perfectly discriminable without entanglement, but for which any strategy with maximally entangled input states is $\epsilon$-close to a blind uniform guessing strategy. To develop a systematic approach, we introduce the concepts of Maximal Entanglement Worst Case (MEWC) and Maximal Entanglement Best Case (MEBC) pairs of channels, and present conditions for a pair of channels to be MEWC or MEBC. With these conditions, we show that the optimal input states for discriminating MEWC pairs of channels are necessarily separable, and provide non-trivial examples of measurement channels for which entanglement necessarily reduces the maximum probability of discrimination.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

Experimental demonstration of quantum advantage in communication complexity for Euclidean distance problem

When considering the complexity of communication protocols, the aim is to perform a certain task with the minimum amount of communication resources, such as time and transmitted information. The use of quantum states may lead to an exponential advantage in the use of such resources. Here, we are interested in the task of calculating the Euclidean distance between two vectors representing real data sets. It has been previously shown that it is possible to obtain an advantage for this task based on quantum fingerprinting. This protocol is defined in the simultaneous message passing model of communication complexity, where the two parties do not communicate with each other but send data to a third party, and exploits practical fingerprints generated using trains of coherent state pulses instead of highly entangled qubit states that are hard to generate for large input sizes needed to demonstrate an exponential advantage. We perform a proof-of-principle experimental demonstration of the Euclidean distance protocol using amplitude modulation techniques for encoding non-binary data sets and high-performance superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors required to increase the accessible input size. We show a quantum advantage in transmitted information surpassing the best classical protocol for an input size of $10^8$, for diverse types of data sets, including those corresponding to real grayscale images, and with reasonable precision and error bounds. Our results highlight the potential of quantum communication complexity for use in a broad set of applications.
Read the full abstract

All authors Verena Yacoub, Niraj Kumar, Iordanis Kerenidis, Eleni Diamanti

Quantum Physics

An efficient Progressive Swapping to the Middle distribution protocol adapted to imperfect quantum memories in quantum networks

The distribution of entangled pairs of photons on the links composing a quantum network, combined with Bell state measurements and teleportation, is the basic apparatus to transfer quantum bits (qubits) over long distances. Entanglement distribution establishes an end-to-end entangled pair while consuming intermediate pairs on links and holding them for a certain time period. The technical literature identifies two main kinds of protocols, parallel and sequential ones, the latter having an advantage in resource consumption over the former. In this paper, we introduce an efficient swapping protocol called Progressive Swapping to the Middle (PSM) as it combines the existing Progressive Swapping (PS) protocol from both extremities of a path that meet in the middle where the received pairs are swapped. We compare PSM with two parallel protocols and PS; in our evaluation, we take into account imperfect memories and fidelity degradation. We demonstrate that PSM yields a much better link probability than PS while keeping a reasonable link fidelity, and shows an advantage in resource consumption over other protocols.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

(Non-)Traversable Quantum Phase Transitions

Quantum phase transitions manifest as an abrupt change in the ground state of a many-body system; yet it is an open question whether this sudden change necessarily precludes a continuous dynamical connection between the two phases. We introduce a classification of quantum phase transitions based on this geometric aspect of the ground-state manifold, that differs from known classifications. By leveraging the framework of counterdiabatic driving, we explicitly construct schedules that dynamically connect one phase to another. This strategy allows us to uncover a large class of quantum phase transitions, where the states on both sides are separated only by a finite geometric distance in the thermodynamic limit. We term such transitions traversable, since exact counterdiabatic driving links the two phases via a finite dynamical protocol in the thermodynamic limit. We show that multiple known transitions fall into this class – e.g., symmetry-breaking transitions obeying hyperscaling and discontinuous transitions with an enhanced continuous symmetry. We further show the existence of quantum phase transitions that cannot be crossed dynamically even with the help of nonlocal counterdiabatic driving, as they would require divergent amplitudes and frequencies. Geometrically, these nontraversable transitions correspond to an infinite distance separating the two phases of matter; we show that the class comprises continuous transitions exhibiting mean-field universality, and discontinuous transitions arising from the competition between metastable minima. Our geometric classification goes beyond the known taxonomy, is independent of local order parameters and renormalization group fixed points, and has direct implications for the complexity of state preparation and adiabatic quantum computation.
Read the full abstract

All authors Federico Balducci, Paul M. Schindler, Andrea Solfanelli, Marin Bukov

Quantum Physics

Support Vector Machine with a Scalable Quantum Kernel

Quantum support vector machines are classification algorithms that rely on quantum-generated kernels. The fidelity quantum kernel commonly used in quantum support vector machines suffers from exponential concentration as system size increases, preventing an efficient scaling beyond fewqubit systems. We introduce the Hamming quantum kernel, a classical post-processing method that is based on the same measurement outcomes as the fidelity quantum kernel. However, it avoids the exponential concentration problem by using the full measurement statistics rather than a single fidelity value. We evaluate the approach on both classical data (MNIST) and synthetic data generated from quantum circuits, using systems ranging from 2 to 27 qubits. Throughout the simulations, the Hamming quantum kernel outperforms the fidelity quantum kernel whenever 15 or more qubits are used. Furthermore, for synthetic quantum data, our method consistently outperforms the classical Gaussian kernel. This demonstrates that the Hamming quantum kernel improves the expressivity and robustness at larger qubit scales without requiring any additional quantum ressources.
Read the full abstract

All authors Anant Agnihotri, Michael Krebsbach, Florentin Reiter, Thomas Wellens

Quantum Physics

Pseudoentanglement in constant depth: How trivial states can have non-trivial entanglement structure

We construct a family of 2D-local constant-depth quantum circuits that output states whose entanglement entropy across a specified cut cannot be estimated in quantum polynomial time. As constant-depth quantum circuits can be learned from polynomially many quantum samples, our resulting pseudoentangled states are implicitly public-key and not pseudorandom. This separates pseudoentanglement from pseudorandomness in the shallow-circuit regime: the former is possible, while the latter is not. The construction is based on the quantum intractability of the Dense-Sparse Learning Parity with Noise problem introduced in [DJ25] and uses a bounded-fan-in, bounded-fan-out classical randomized encoding for linear maps $\mathbf{x} \mapsto \mathbf{Mx},$ which could be of independent interest. As applications, we obtain quantum hardness for the problem of learning the entanglement structure (across a fixed cut) of the ground-state of 1D and 2D local Hamiltonians. The 1D Hamiltonian has an inverse polynomial gap, whereas the 2D one has a constant gap. This complements the result of [BZZ24] that showed only factoring-based hardness for the 1D case, though achieving a volume versus area entanglement difference.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

Engineered Randomness for Ubiquitous Quantum-Enhanced Metrology in Exponential-Dimensional Manifolds

The exponential growth of many-body Hilbert space presents a fundamental barrier to quantum technology, obscuring the search for physically significant states within an astronomically vast landscape. Consequently, resources for quantum-enhanced metrology have been largely confined to the symmetric subspace whose dimensionality scales only polynomially with the particle number-leaving the vast majority of the Hilbert space largely unexplored and poorly understood. Here we challenge this paradigm by demonstrating that metrological advantage can arise as a ubiquitous feature across exponential-dimensional manifolds. By tailoring the first-moment structure of random unitaries, we uncover dense manifolds of engineered random states (ERSs) where Heisenberg-limited scaling emerges as a statistically generic property. This ubiquity endows these resource states with inherent resilience against parameter disorder. We experimentally validate this framework on a trapped-ion processor, achieving a metrological enhancement of $6.98 \pm 0.38$ dB beyond the standard quantum limit. Potential applications extend to diverse platforms, ranging from superconducting circuits and waveguide QED to solid-state spins and polar molecules. Our results establish a powerful paradigm where quantum-enhanced precision can be harvested from the exponential vastness of the Hilbert space.
Read the full abstract

All authors Yaoming Chu, Baiyi Yu, Hartmut Häffner, Markus Heyl, Nathan Goldman, Jianming Cai

Quantum Physics

Intrinsic locality dimension of quantum codes

Quantum error-correcting codes are a cornerstone of quantum computing, with broad and profound connections to physics and mathematics. In this work, we introduce the notion of intrinsic locality dimension of stabilizer codes, which is independent of the underlying geometry of quantum codes and naturally extends to non-integer values. Drawing on mathematical tools from fractal geometry and geometric measure theory, the intrinsic locality dimension accommodates flexible architectures and provides a quantitative measure of code connectivity, encompassing both topological codes and algebraic constructions such as bivariate-bicycle-type codes. We show how the intrinsic dimension serves as a fundamental organizing parameter that unifies code properties. In particular, we prove general limitations on code parameters and compatible fault-tolerant logical gates induced by the intrinsic dimension, generalizing the Bravyi–Poulin–Terhal and Bravyi–König bounds for regular topological codes, respectively. Furthermore, we consider implications on thermal properties: toward fully characterizing the geometry requirement for self-correcting quantum memories (SCQMs), we present a conditional no-go result for SCQMs in dimension $3-\epsilon$ and take stock of existing results on low-dimensional SCQMs. Our theory provides a unifying mathematical framework for understanding the fundamental capabilities and geometric implementations of quantum error correction and fault tolerance.
Read the full abstract