Peer Revenue Play credits. Real papers.

Papers

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

Physics Quantum Physics

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

Monday 13 July

Quantum Physics

Lie-Algebraic Subspace Quantization for Zero-Shot Quantum Learning and Barren-Plateau Mitigation

The barren plateau phenomenon severely limits the scalability of parameterized quantum circuits (PQCs). We present an analytical framework for zero-shot classical-to-quantum parameter transfer and manifold-based model merging without quantum-side optimization. Our parameter transfer map converts classical neural-network weights into low-dimensional quantum evolutions using Stiefel subspace selection, nearest-unitary polar projection, and logarithmic generator extraction. We prove a Subspace Quantization Theorem that bounds the reconstruction error by geometric truncation and exact non-unitarity, with the latter becoming second order in the near-unitary regime. Identity-centered architectures naturally produce generators near the identity, avoiding logarithm branch-cut singularities and mitigating initialization-time gradient concentration. We further derive an explicit error bound for manifold-based model merging and show that the same construction provides a warm-start initialization whose active dynamics remain confined to a k-dimensional subspace. Experiments on IBM ibm_kobe demonstrate Hellinger fidelity of 0.987 at k=8, while subspace gradients remain resolvable up to 128 physical qubits.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

Decoherence of a quantum magneto-oscillator: Effect of field-bath interaction

We investigate the quantum dissipative dynamics of a charged magneto-oscillator(CMO) coupled to a heat bath of harmonic oscillators in the presence of an additional field-bath interaction. The problem is formulated within the framework of the generalized quantum Langevin equation, where the external confining potential modifies the random force correlations and the memory kernel of the environment, and the effective spring constant. Using the corresponding non-Markovian master equation, we examine the influence of the field-bath coupling on the temporal decay of the reduced density matrix of the system. We show that the additional interaction leads to an enhancement of the decoherence rate by altering the dissipative response of the bath. Thus our results shed light on the role of field-bath coupling in the quantum to classical transition of a CMO. The resulting fluctuation-dissipation relation is analyzed, and the position autocorrelation, position-velocity correlation and velocity autocorrelation are obtained explicitly. The dependence of these experimentally accessible quantities on the field-bath coupling parameter is discussed. We outline an experimental proposal for testing our theoretical predictions. The study sheds light on reservoir engineering which is central to quantum technologies.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cond-mat.soft

Molecular Dynamics-Derived Coloured Noise Mediates Anderson Localisation and Environment-Assisted Transport of Tryptophan Excitons in Tubulin

The tryptophan residues in tubulin $\alpha\beta$-dimers form an ordered aromatic network that has been proposed to support quantum exciton transport even under physiological environmental noise. Existing studies of this system mostly assume white-noise dephasing, but the statistical properties of the protein-solvent bath coupled to tryptophan sites remain uncharacterised under physiological conditions. Here we characterise this fluctuation bath via all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of a solvated tubulin dimer at 310 K, combining high-frequency and long-time trajectories with 10 fs and 10 ps sampling intervals. The resulting autocorrelation of the site-energy fluctuations is tri-exponential, with three well-separated decay modes: sub-100-fs and picosecond fluctuations driven by water dynamics, and a nanosecond mode originating from protein conformational rearrangements. All three modes fall deep within the non-Markovian regime. We further demonstrate that the slow protein mode introduces strong quasi-static disorder, which results in Anderson localisation, while the two fast water modes frequently tune chromophore pairs through resonance, enabling environment-assisted quantum transport (ENAQT). On the full eight-site network, the coloured-noise bath confines excitons predominantly to strongly coupled proximal tryptophan pairs, in marked contrast to the more uniform delocalisation predicted by the standard white-noise Haken-Strobl model. Our workflow generalises to other pigment-protein systems with solvent-exposed chromophores.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

When cheap gradients fail: the measurement cost of attacking quantum classifiers

Adversarial perturbations threaten machine learning classifiers, including variational quantum classifiers. We show that finite quantum measurement statistics (shot noise) act as a built-in defense against gradient-based test-time attacks whose cost scales unfavorably for the attacker. Because every gradient component must be inferred from repeated circuit executions under any unbiased gradient-estimation rule, white-box extraction consumes a dimension-dependent measurement budget that measurement grouping cannot remove in expressive circuits. Under stated assumptions, single-step attacks need at least quadratically many shots in the input dimension $d$, growing as $d^{5/2}$ under norm-concentration scaling, with a sufficient-budget analysis for iterative attacks via stochastic gradient Langevin dynamics. Simulations up to 784 input dimensions validate the law: the realized total budget is the $d^{5/2}$ geometric floor for plateau-mitigated models and grows as $d^{3.00}$ for the tested deep circuits, whose gradient norms decay with dimension absent barren-plateau mitigation; folding the measured gradient norm back in recovers the parameter-free $d^{3/2}$ shot-noise geometry. Against a matched classical baseline whose attack overhead is dimension-independent (the cheap-gradient principle of automatic differentiation), the quantum gradient cost ratio grows empirically as $d^{3.00}$, so the attacker's relative cost diverges as the model scales. Experiments on a 156-qubit IBM processor (ibm_boston, 4-qubit circuits, $d=12$) reproduce the effect: at matched budgets the device attack tracks the ideal within a few percent, with the high-shot gradient faithful to the exact one. The defense operates precisely when the forward map is classically hard to simulate: only then is a white-box attacker denied the simulate-and-backpropagate shortcut and must pay the measurement cost we quantify.
Read the full abstract

All authors Bacui Li, Chandra Thapa, Tansu Alpcan, Udaya Parampalli

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

Spectroscopy of low-lying valley states in hot Si/SiGe quantum dots

The presence of low-lying valley states in Si may hinder the development of large-scale spin-based quantum processors. Rapid prototyping of novel Si/SiGe heterostructures and gate stacks will be central to identifying pathways that increase the valley splitting. We compare the performance of pulsed-gate spectroscopy (PGS) and detuning axis spectroscopy (DAPS) at temperatures up to 700 mK. We find that DAPS outperforms PGS, with DAPS resolving valley splittings as small as ~86 $\mu$eV, while the energy resolution of PGS is only ~210~$\mu$eV. Our work demonstrates that DAPS can be used to efficiently extract valley splittings at elevated temperatures in high throughput cryostats.
Read the full abstract

All authors Connor Nasseraddin, Heun Mo Yoo, Tanner M. Janda, Jason R. Petta

Quantum Physics

Many-Body Physics with Rydberg Atoms: Quantum Simulation and Non-equilibrium Dynamics

Rydberg atoms, characterized by their strong and long-range dipole-dipole interactions, provide a versatile platform for exploring intriguing collective and many-body effects. Recently, the experimental realization of these effects in dense ensembles and reconfigurable atomic arrays has attracted significant interest, particularly for applications in quantum simulations and non-equilibrium physics. This review focuses on such recent development, discussing the theoretical foundations of the interactions between Rydberg atoms and the ensuing many-body physics, while providing a critical survey of experimental techniques for their precise manipulation and observation. We further discuss recent breakthroughs in leveraging Rydberg collective effects to probe novel many-body phases and non-equilibrium dynamics of these systems. By synthesizing theoretical insights with experimental milestones, we provide a comprehensive perspective on this rapidly evolving field and its transformative potential for future quantum technologies.
Read the full abstract

All authors Zhengyang Bai, Cheng Chen, Fan Yang, Weibin Li

Quantum Physics

Overcoming Fourier Locking in Quantum Data Re-uploading Classifiers via Spectral Homotopy

Data re-uploading parameterized quantum circuits (DRU-PQCs) are universal function approximators, yet their expressivity produces oscillatory, non-convex loss landscapes that resist gradient-based optimization. We show that the primary optimization bottleneck in DRU-PQCs is not insufficient capacity but a structural failure mode we term Fourier locking (FL): because encoding weights and entangling layers are nonlinearly coupled, random initialization on high-frequency targets collapses the encoding parameters into spurious local minima. Two Fisher diagnostics characterize FL. The input-space quantum Fisher information $F_x$ measures the effective frequency content of the encoded state; the Fisher discriminant ratio of the measured features measures their alignment with the class labels. In two independent 50-seed experiments, the locking is literal: trapped circuits hold $F_x$ frozen for the entire run, while escaping circuits migrate their frequency content (direct training: $r_{pb} = -0.48$; curriculum: $d = 1.34$; both $p < 0.001$). The replicated signature is this spectral mobility, not any endpoint value of $F_x$, and trapped circuits retain a fully non-degenerate parameter-space QFIM ($r_{pb} \approx 0$): the failure is spectral misalignment of a responsive state, not a loss of geometric sensitivity. A frequency-staged homotopy protocol that paces the target frequency ($f: 1.0 \to 3.0$) convexifies the early loss landscape; escaping circuits raise $F_x$ in step with the curriculum, and the escape rate triples (18% vs. 6%). Fourier locking is a frequency-alignment problem, and its remedy is frequency pacing.
Read the full abstract

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

Layer-Resolved Topological Metals in the Bilayer Lieb Lattice

We identify a two-dimensional time-reversal-invariant topological metallic phase on a bilayer Lieb lattice, characterized by a quantized layer–resolved pseudo-spin Chern number. Without the orbital-angular-momentum-dependent (OAM-dependent) coupling, the system gives rise to a time-reversal-invariant topological semimetal with a zero indirect gap and quantized pseudo-spin Chern number. Opposite-sign intralayer OAM-dependent coupling immediately converts the zero-indirect-gap semimetal into a metal, in which the global spectrum is metallic while the layer–resolved pseudo-spin Chern number remains well defined as long as the direct gap at each crystal momentum and the pseudo-spin gap remain open. The model also exhibits asymmetric boundary states: in the semimetallic regime, one edge hosts perfectly flat bands, whereas the opposite edge supports gapless counter-propagating modes forming a one-dimensional Dirac cone. An edge-localized interlayer coupling gaps only the counter-propagating edge states, leaving the flat-band edge essentially intact, while intralayer OAM-dependent coupling bends the exact flat band into a dispersive boundary mode without affecting the gapped Dirac edge. These results open a route toward the controlled engineering of layer–resolved topological gapless phases in synthetic and quantum materials.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cond-mat.supr-con

Ferroelectric–Superconducting Interaction in Epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7-{\delta}/BaTiO3 Films

Microscopic theories predict that the critical temperature of a superconducting layer can be strongly modified in proximity to a ferroelectric; however, experimental evidence is lacking. We report on BaTiO3 (BTO)/YBa2Cu3O7-{\delta} (YBCO) heterostructures grown on SrTiO3 (001) substrates using pulsed laser deposition (PLD), with precise control of growth conditions and oxygen stoichiometry. Piezoresponse force microscopy confirms ferroelectric switching within both single-layer and heterostructured films. Neutron reflectometry measurements show low roughness parameters for the buried interfaces, which is critical for mediating the interfacial coupling between superconductivity and ferroelectric polarization. The superconducting transition temperature ($T_{\mathrm{C}}^{R}$) measured from the $R(T)$ curve of the single-layer YBCO was approximately 86 K, and a transition temperature ($T_{\mathrm{C}}^{M}$) of approximately 80-85 K was observed from the $M(T)$ curve. For the heterostructure film (YBCO/BTO/YBCO) grown under the same conditions, both resistivity and magnetization measurements indicate lower transition temperatures of approximately 75 K and approximately 55 K, respectively, as well as a lower overall susceptibility. These findings highlight the need to combine multiple techniques to characterize BTO/YBCO heterostructures and identify subtle features of the ferroelectric–superconducting coupling. This establishes BTO/YBCO heterostructures as promising systems for tunable oxide electronics and reconfigurable superconducting devices.
Read the full abstract

All authors Louis Oppong-Antwi, David L. Cortie, Qi Zhang, Avi Bendavid, Nagarajan Valanoor, Wendy Purches, Golrokh Akhgar

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from physics.optics

Non-Abelian holonomic transformations in digitally coupled acoustic waveguides guided by the global adiabatic criterion

An acoustic platform is validated for implementing compact non-Abelian holonomic transformations (NHTs) guided by a global adiabatic criterion (GAC). A tripod model is mapped onto a digitally coupled four-waveguide structure, where designed coupling envelopes and an acoustically-induced-transparency phase-control module implement a two-stage phase-stitched holonomic evolution. Compared with a reference Gaussian envelope, the GAC-guided power-law profile flattens the spatial distribution of the global nonadiabatic burden, thereby providing a quantitative basis for compact acoustic implementation. Full-wave simulations show Pauli-$X$ and Hadamard-type target transformations, with excellent agreement between the extracted normalized intensities and analytical coupled-mode predictions. These target responses are obtained with half the coupling length required by the reference Gaussian implementations. More uniquely, the same phase-stitched structure also supports unidirectional acoustic mode conversion, which is closely related to a reduced two-mode non-Hermitian picture associated with an encircled exceptional point (EP). These results validate acoustic NHTs as a robust geometric route for compact wave control, establish the GAC as a powerful guideline for fast adiabatic transport in digitally coupled systems, and further demonstrate that the same phase-stitched architecture supports unidirectional mode conversion through EP-assisted branch selection.
Read the full abstract

All authors Jin-Kang Guo, Jia Li, Jin-Lei Wu, Chuan-Cun Shu

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cond-mat.dis-nn

Analytical mobility edge in nonreciprocal quasiperiodic lattices with next-nearest-neighbor hopping

We investigate localization transitions and spectral topology in a one-dimensional non-Hermitian generalization of the Aubry-André model in which both the nearest-neighbor and the next-nearest-neighbor hopping amplitudes are nonreciprocal. By extending the Fermi-surface point-matching method to nonreciprocal hopping, we derive a closed-form expression for the energy-dependent mobility edge in which the two nonreciprocity parameters are absorbed into exponentially renormalized effective hopping amplitudes. The mobility edge forms a single parabola in the energy–potential plane: nearest-neighbor nonreciprocity rigidly shifts the localization boundary toward stronger potentials, whereas next-nearest-neighbor nonreciprocity reduces the curvature of the boundary and thereby broadens the energy window in which extended and localized states coexist. Exact diagonalization confirms the analytical boundary for purely nearest-neighbor, purely next-nearest-neighbor, and combined nonreciprocity, and recovers the known Hermitian mobility edge in the reciprocal limit. We further analyze the spectral topology under periodic boundary conditions and show that the spectral winding numbers evaluated at base energies near the two band edges directly bracket the mixed phase: the winding number at the lower band edge drops when the mobility edge enters the spectrum and the first localized states appear, while the winding number at the upper band edge drops when the last extended states localize, delineating the full potential-strength window over which extended and localized states coexist. These results provide a compact analytical framework that connects energy-dependent localization, spectral topology, and nonreciprocity in quasiperiodic lattices, and they are directly testable in photonic, atomic, and electrical-circuit platforms.
Read the full abstract

Sunday 12 July

Quantum Physics

Double Covariance Model for Entangled Quantum States: Gaussian Reduction to Second Order Covariances

We propose a novel approach to the problem of interconnecting the probabilistic formalisms of classical and quantum physics, focusing on its most challenging aspect: the classical probabilistic generation of entangled states. We show that the statistics encoded in the density operators of composite quantum systems correspond to fourth-order classical statistics. Specifically, to generate a density operator, one must consider the covariance of a random covariance operator. We term this framework the Double Covariance Model (DCM). This double covariance possesses a non-trivial internal structure that arises from the interplay between two distinct time scales, combining temporal and statistical covariances. In this article, we exploit a well-known property of Gaussian processes: the second-order moment determines the moments of higher orders, specifically the fourth-order moment. This Gaussian reduction simplifies the DCM by reducing it to second-order statistics. Utilizing (circular) Gaussian processes simplifies and generalizes the DCM construction for entangled states, rendering it mathematically rigorous. Furthermore, it clarifies the classical probabilistic meaning of concurrence, a foundational quantitative measure of entanglement.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

The quantum coherence as a phase property of the wave function

The quantum coherence as a phase property of the most fundamental quantum mechanical entity, the wave function, is explained for the first time. Phase-sensitive nonadiabatic dressed states, arising from the interaction of a quantum system and a coherent external electromagnetic field, are used in these considerations. Two types of phase correlations in the multilevel phase-sensitive nonadiabatic dressed states are found: a rapidly changing phase correlation between the real and the virtual components and a stationary phase correlation between different virtual components of these states.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

$p$-Form Gauge Dynamics and Digital Quantum Simulation – Flux and Cosmological Constant Neutralization

I develop a Hamiltonian framework for ${\mathbb Z}_k$ $p$-form gauge fields on arbitrary oriented cell complexes in arbitrary dimensions. Gauge qudits are defined by $p$-cells, charged boundary qudits by $(p-1)$-cells, Gauss-law generators by boundary map $\partial_p$, and magnetic checks by $\partial_{p+1}$. The same cellular structure produces local dressed Wilson operators, and at $k=2$ a Calderbank-Shor-Steane check complex relevant to quantum error correction. I then specialize to $p=2, k=2$, where the magnetic 3-cell term is absent and the one-form Gauss-law can be solved exactly. The physical Hilbert space is parameterized by plaquette electric-flux variables, while the link configuration is reconstructed as the dynamical boundary of the evolving flux domains. The reduced Hamiltonian is an Ising-type plaquette model, where its local transverse-field term is the physical image of the boundary-dressed Wilson operator $\sigma_p^z\prod_{\ell\in\partial p}\tau_\ell^z$. A tube-cap quench compares two initial flux fillings with the same initial boundary loops. Exact diagonalization on $4\times4$, $6\times4$, and $5\times5$ tori finds that the cap loses $20$-$37\%$ of its occupied-flux area, while the tube remains nearly pinned. A finite-size scaling locates a dynamical crossover of tension-to-density ratio near $(m/\varepsilon_E)_c\simeq1.89$. The unreduced plaquette-plus-link encoding provides local Gauss-law checks and a direct digital implementation, while the reduced plaquette-only Hamiltonian supplies the exact benchmark. The result places the specific top-form discharge and the cosmological constant neutralization calculation inside a general higher-form Hamiltonian and coding framework.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

Randomized Quantum Optimal Control

Quantum optimal control (QOC) aims to find control functions that optimally steer a quantum system toward a target operation. We introduce a randomized QOC framework where optimization is carried over an ensemble of control functions and their probabilities, instead of a single set of functions. Using this framework, we prove that randomized QOC can reach a target accuracy faster than any deterministic protocol under the same resource constraints. We also develop general symmetry-based constructions that convert a given control into an ensemble of controls that can systematically reduce the error. We benchmark these constructions for CNOT implementation and find that the resulting randomized protocol quadratically suppresses the error of the optimized deterministic solution. In addition, we introduce randomized GRAPE, which generalizes GRAPE to directly optimize control ensembles and their associated probabilities. Finally, as a related application, we discuss randomized boundary-pulse constructions {that enhance} robustness against coherent noise.
Read the full abstract

All authors Leeseok Kim, Francisco Riberi, Kevin Baca, Milad Marvian

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cond-mat.mtrl-sci

A Cluster-Based Model of the Spectrum of Erbium-Doped GdVO$_4$

Experimental observations of rare-earth ions doped into an antiferromagnetic crystal show an enriched optical spectrum. In this paper we present a cluster-based model to describe erbium ions doped into a gadolinium vanadate (Er:GdVO$_4$) host crystal, wherein the erbium ion couples directly to its four nearest neighbour gadolinium ions, which in turn couple to the mean field of the rest of the crystal. Compared to previous models in the literature, the parameters used to fit this model are fewer in number, with clearer physical origins. Agreement with the experimentally observed optical spectrum of Er:GdVO$_4$ suggests that our model succeeds in capturing the most important interactions of the system, suggesting that it may be useful for predicting microwave-to-optical transduction in future experiments.
Read the full abstract

All authors Zachary H. Roberts, Masaya Hiraishi, Luke S. Trainor, Jevon J. Longdell

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from hep-th

Krylov Complexity from Loschmidt Amplitude

Krylov complexity is a powerful diagnostic of quantum dynamics, with clear connections to other measures of quantum chaos and operator growth. One such measure is the Loschmidt amplitude, defined as the overlap of initially identical states evolved under two slightly different Hamiltonians. Its decay in certain systems is controlled by the classical Lyapunov exponent. Using the algebraic properties of the Krylov complexity operator, we express Krylov complexity as the derivative of a Loschmidt amplitude whose perturbation is parameterized by an angular variable $\phi$. This formulation allows us to define a spectral propagator that encodes the entire complexity distribution, which we characterize for specific types of systems. We study the two-dimensional quantum geometry spanned by time and $\phi$ where the original and deformed trajectories reside, demonstrating that Krylov complexity is upper-bounded by its volume. We also express the time derivative of Krylov complexity in terms of a distinct Loschmidt amplitude. Depending on the growth of the Lanczos coefficients, the perturbation term in this amplitude can be truncated. We propose that the strength of this perturbation provides a classification scheme for Krylov complexity dynamics and relate it to the $\phi$-derivative of the spectral propagator. Using this analytical framework, we derive general relations between the time-dependence of the survival amplitude and Krylov space measures.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

Driven Quantum Stars as Controlled Primitives for Real-Time Spin Dynamics

Quantum advantage in real-time spin dynamics should be assessed against the strongest relevant classical substitutes, not merely against the qubit nature of the microscopic system. We develop a physics-based diagnostic for this boundary by reducing a qubit spin model to a spin-Landau–Lifshitz (LL) classical sector and organizing the residual quantum sector as controlled corrections. The control parameter is graph coordination: we study a spin star with \(d\) leaves and \(O(1/d)\) hub–leaf couplings. In its homogeneous form the star benchmarks the transition from LL-substitutable dynamics to genuinely quantum, discrete-sector interference; in its fully driven form, with time-dependent fields and bilinear couplings, it is the basic message-passing primitive for tree and loopy spin structures. For coherent-state return amplitudes we prove exact leaf elimination and derive a continuous-time \(1/d\) hierarchy. L0 is a driven one-spin weak-mean-field theory, while G1 is a Gaussian nonlocal-in-time influence correction coupling leaf two-time kernels to the hub weak two-point function. On bounded finite-time windows away from zeros of the boundary amplitudes, the hierarchy gives \(\log\mathcal A-\log\mathcal A_{\rm L0}=O(1/d)\) and \(\log\mathcal A-\log\mathcal A_{\rm L0}-\Delta_{\rm G1}=O(1/d^2)\); numerical tests on fully driven anisotropic ensembles give slopes \(-1.05\) and \(-2.03\). Static, inhomogeneous, aligned, and fully driven stars provide validation rungs, and comparison with a temporal matrix-product influence-matrix baseline delineates complementary regimes. Unlike rank compression on a Trotter grid, the hierarchy is ordered by a physical parameter, formulated in continuous time, and each truncation level is itself a physical theory, with the LL sector as the high-coordination limit.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

GroupFunctions.jl: computing individual entries of the irreducible representations of the unitary group U(d)

GroupFunctions.jl is a Julia library for computing individual matrix elements of irreducible representations of U(d). These matrix elements, called group functions, can be evaluated symbolically or numerically. For SU(2), they reduce to the Wigner D-functions. The library computes these matrix elements in a carrier-space basis enumerated by Gelfand-Tsetlin patterns. It can also compute entire representation operators, construct input unitaries from parameterisations common in quantum optics, translate Gelfand-Tsetlin patterns into occupation-number kets, and compute the associated Schur functions. Results can be exported in a form compatible with Mathematica.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from physics.chem-ph

Thawed Gaussian Ehrenfest dynamics

Ehrenfest dynamics is a widely used mixed quantum–classical approach for nonadiabatic molecular dynamics, whereas thawed Gaussian wavepacket dynamics provides an efficient semiclassical description of adiabatic nuclear quantum dynamics. Here we describe thawed Gaussian Ehrenfest dynamics (TGED), which unifies and generalizes these two methods to capture both electronic nonadiabaticity and nuclear quantum effects within a single framework. The fully variational formulation of TGED is derived by applying the time-dependent variational principle to a Hartree product of electronic and Gaussian nuclear wavepackets. Replacing the effective locally quadratic molecular potential obtained from this variational treatment by alternative effective locally quadratic potentials yields an infinite family of TGED methods, of which we present several members. We analyze the limiting cases of the general formalism and show, in particular, that it reduces to conventional Ehrenfest dynamics in the classical limit for the nuclei and to thawed Gaussian wavepacket dynamics in the absence of electronic coupling. Finally, we present explicit geometric integrators for the entire family of methods and identify the conditions under which the different approximations become exact.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from math-ph

Jordan Pair Quantum Theory and the Standard Model

Jordan pairs and hermitian Jordan triples were discovered by mathematicians studying Jordan algebras, which describe the possible algebras of observables in quantum mechanics. We point out a striking correspondence between the doubly exceptional hermitian Jordan triple (the so-called “bi-Cayley” triple) and the structure of the Standard Model of particle physics. We also point out how ordinary quantum mechanics may be reformulated, and generalized, using hermitian Jordan triples.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

Quantum-enhanced physical-layer threat detection in metropolitan-scale fiber networks

Network security is widely recognized as a key application of quantum technology. However, its large-scale deployment is hindered by the need for tight coordination between fundamentally different quantum and classical processing steps in conventional protocols. This requirement introduces strong cross-layer interdependencies that conflict with the modular, layered architectures enabling scalability in modern communication networks. Here, we present an alternative strategy that confines all quantum interventions to the physical layer and remains transparently compatible with existing network abstractions. This is achieved by directly embedding quantum features and classical information within the same optical field using bright squeezed light. Physical-layer signals are analyzed using a cumulative sum (CUSUM) method to enable quantum-enhanced threat detection. We validate the practicality of this approach through field deployment over a metropolitan-scale fiber network and further demonstrate network-level security functionalities enabled by physical-layer quantum-enhanced thread detection. These results establish a practical, scalable framework for seamlessly integrating quantum-enhanced security into large-scale communication infrastructure.
Read the full abstract

All authors Yung-Cheng Kao, Siddharth Pal, Alex Forencich, Dylan Cirimelli-Low, Chaohan Cui, Jack Postlewaite, Pao-Kang Chen, Nicola Alic, Saikat Guha, Prithwish Basu, Linran Fan

Quantum Physics

Demonstrating Quadratic Monte Carlo Speedup via Quantum Amplitude Estimation: Nuclear Engineering Examples

We demonstrate quantum amplitude estimation (QAE) as a route to quadratic speedup for Monte Carlo-type expectation values in nuclear engineering. Using QPE-based QAE, we study two examples: a discrete fission-neutron-yield expectation and a U-238 resonance integral under a $1/E$ slowing-down spectrum. The toy problem is implemented as a gate-level Qiskit circuit, while the resonance-integral example is simulated through an exact eigendecomposition of the Grover operator to avoid state-preparation decomposition bottlenecks. In both cases, the squared error scales as $O(1/T^2)$ with the number of oracle calls $T$, compared with the classical Monte Carlo scaling $O(1/N)$. For the U-238 example, QAE recovers the resonance integral to approximately $0.03%$ relative error with $m=14$ phase-estimation qubits.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

Spectral gap of Lee-Yang Hamiltonians

The Lee-Yang theorem and its quantum extensions state that, for a broad class of Hamiltonians on any graph, the partition function's zeros in the complex magnetic field plane lie only on the imaginary axis. For these Hamiltonians, we prove that under a uniform Z-field of any strength h, the ground state has a spectral gap of at least h/4, independent of the system size and of the coupling strengths. The proof uses the zero-freeness of the partition function as given by Asano and Suzuki-Fisher to show exponential decay of the imaginary-time correlations for any product of Z-operators. Our result gives a polynomial-time quantum algorithm for computing the ground state energy of any Lee-Yang Hamiltonian.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

Connectivity-induced surface-loss penalty in superconducting qubit-coupler lattices

Recent advances in design and fabrication have increased the energy-relaxation times of isolated superconducting transmon qubits to the hundreds-of-microseconds regime, with reported values exceeding 500 $\mu$s. However, the same progress has not automatically translated to multiqubit processors, where qubits are embedded in connected qubit-coupler lattices and often exhibit much shorter lifetimes than isolated qubits. To identify possible sources of this discrepancy, here we use finite-element simulation to investigate how surface participation ratios and the resulting surface dielectric loss change when a qubit is embedded in a flip-chip qubit-coupler lattice. Controlled comparisons show that higher connectivity can indeed lead to larger surface loss: in the simulated lattice, connecting a qubit to two and four couplers increases the surface loss by factors of 1.3 and 1.8, respectively. We attribute this change to the combined effects of added edge fields from coupling claws, field redistribution over the larger connected metal network, and hybridization with coupler modes. We further examine how this connectivity-induced surface-loss penalty depends on the geometric design parameters of both the qubit electrodes and the coupling claws, and derive guidelines for designing low-loss multiqubit processors.
Read the full abstract

All authors Xu-Yang Gu, Gui-Han Liang, Ming-Chuan Wang, Yongxi Xiao, Cheng-Lin Deng, Zheng-He Liu, Tian-Ming Li, Kai Xu, Zhongcheng Xiang, Heng Fan

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from physics.app-ph

Accessing 100 GHz Mechanical Modes in Bulk Crystals at Cryogenic Temperatures

Sub-terahertz electromechanics offers a promising route to probe mechanical quantum motion at experimentally friendly Kelvin temperatures. Traditionally, high-frequency mechanical resonators rely on advanced microfabrication to shape complex microstructures, while bulk crystals have been largely overlooked due to their large inertia and challenging transduction at such frequencies. Here we show that bulk lithium niobate can host mechanically accessible modes near 100 GHz when coupled via plug-and-play three-dimensional microwave cavities. This approach enables efficient, non-contact excitation of centimeter-scale, milligram-mass vibrational modes across 7.0–110 GHz, with mechanical quality factors up to 30,000 at W band. Furthermore, using a frequency-tunable superconducting niobium cavity at 4 K, we demonstrate strong coupling between a microwave cavity mode and multiple mechanical modes, enabling coherent energy exchange between microwave photons and mechanical phonons with cooperativity up to 16.6 at 110 GHz. These results establish a versatile platform for accessing massive high-frequency mechanical modes and for precision tests of mechanical quantum physics at elevated temperatures.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

Nonlocal nonstabilizerness for slightly entangled quantum many-body states

Nonlocal nonstabilizerness quantifies the irreducible magic resource encoded in bipartite entanglement, but its evaluation is generally hindered by a highly nonconvex optimization over local unitary transformations. Here we propose a Schmidt-reference-state framework that replaces this optimization by a direct construction from the sorted Schmidt spectrum. We conjecture that the nonlocal stabilizer Rényi entropy (SRE) is given by the SRE of the corresponding reference state, and support this conjecture through analytical and numerical evidences. Our framework makes nonlocal nonstabilizerness efficiently accessible for weakly entangled many-body states whenever the entanglement spectrum is available. Applying it to Haar-random states, critical spin chains, and PXP dynamics, we show that nonlocal SRE captures nonstabilizer structures in the entanglement spectrum that are invisible to conventional entanglement measures. Our results establish entanglement spectra as a powerful window into irreducible nonstabilizer correlations, opening a broadly applicable route to studying nonlocal magic resources of quantum many-body systems in and out of equilibrium.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics

MDQEC-QAS: Meta-Decoding for Quantum Error Correction with Hardware-Aware VQC Search and Confidence-Gated Recovery

We propose a unified meta-decoding framework for quantum error correction that learns syndrome-to-recovery mappings across multiple stabilizer codes and noise settings, without requiring separate decoders for each configuration. The benchmark includes FiveQubit, Steane, Planar3x3, and Planar5x5 codes, four noise families, and five evaluation regimes: interpolation, unseen-p transfer, unseen-noise transfer, few-shot unseen-code adaptation, and few-shot held-out-size adaptation. We compare a classical Meta-MLP teacher-trained baseline with variational quantum circuit (VQC) meta-decoders selected through hardware-aware quantum architecture search over qubit count, circuit depth, and entangling topology. The Meta-MLP achieves teacher-label accuracies of 0.9993, 0.9118, 0.9342, 0.6304, and 0.7548 across the five regimes, while the hardware-aware VQC achieves 0.9400, 0.8495, 0.8415, 0.5678, and 0.7143. However, logical-level evaluation shows that high teacher-label accuracy alone is insufficient in the most challenging Planar5x5 setting. During interpolation, the raw logical-failure ratios relative to the teacher are 12.08 and 25.91 for the Meta-MLP and VQC, respectively, whereas confidence-gated fallback reduces them to 1.71 and 1.11. These results support confidence-aware selective recovery rather than unconditional teacher replacement.
Read the full abstract

All authors Prashant Kumar Choudhary, Nouhaila Innan, Muhammad Shafique, Rajeev Singh

Quantum Physics

Passive spectral-admittance bounds and exact continuum certificates for multiresonator quantum-memory interfaces

Broadband quantum-memory interfaces are often assessed by center-frequency impedance matching or by a sampled efficiency curve. Neither supplies an operational continuous-band certificate, and absorption is not automatically reversible storage. We model a passive one-port multiresonator interface by a positive-real spectral admittance with explicitly identified controlled output channels. If their one-photon subspace is mapped isometrically into long-lived registers, the write probability for a normalized spectrum $f$ supported in a band $\mathcal{B}$ is $1-\int_{\mathcal{B}} |r(i\omega)|^2 |f(\omega)|^2\,d\omega$, and the worst-case write efficiency is $1-\|r\|_{L^\infty(\mathcal{B})}^2$. We prove that a finite passive rational interface cannot have zero reflection on a nonzero interval and derive the Bode–Fano floor $\|r\|_\infty \geq \exp[-\pi\kappa/(2B)]$ for a band of half-width $B$. At fixed pole locations, minimax synthesis is a quasiconvex semi-infinite problem in the oscillator strengths. We then give an exact computer-assisted certificate: after a decimal design is converted into an explicit rational system, the continuum reflection bound becomes positivity of one univariate polynomial and is proved by Sturm root counting; exact Routh–Hurwitz determinants certify stability and minimum phase. In units $\kappa=2$ and $B=1$, an 11-mode design obeys $0.064112405 \leq \|r\|_\infty < 0.0641125$, implying a conditional uniform write guarantee above $0.995889587$. This is a reproducible certificate for a specified interface, not a claim of global movable-pole optimality or of an experimentally complete memory.
Read the full abstract

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from hep-th

Certified boundary-magic witness for state-dependent proto-area in a holographic code

We study a four-qubit product-EPR holographic code whose reconstructing region contains matter and one leg of a geometry bond. Seven deformations compare local, bipartite, bond-stabilizing, and bond-moving operators. Exact spectra show that only matter-controlled bond motion produces a leading quadratic logical-state dependence of the boundary entropy. We select one state-independent physical recovery by optimizing coherent information of the channel Choi state. A separate semidefinite program maximizes entanglement fidelity over all channels. At fixed coupling the physical recovery attains that optimum to numerical precision, while recovered-entropy subtraction leaves a nonzero variational proto-area response. Total stabilizer Renyi magic is also nonzero for deformations with no boundary response, so it does not characterize the effect. Projecting the exact stabilizer-Renyi quadratic form away from pairwise Pauli tangents defines a leading-order boundary witness. Its global convex minimum is positive for the bond-moving deformation and zero for the six comparisons. For the reference-matter-geometry resource partition, however, pairwise tangents span the full projective tangent space at the product-EPR base, so the witness vanishes for every Hermitian deformation. A two-bound extension retains this degeneracy but exhibits a split-geometry structural residual and a logical-state-dependent cut switch. These results establish a finite-code witness, not a universal magic law or continuum gravitational dynamics.
Read the full abstract