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Tuesday 29 September

Quantum Physics

Asymptotic Pseudospectra in Dissipative Floquet Quantum Systems: Geometric Structures and Observable Dynamics

In periodically driven open quantum systems, nonnormality renders the Floquet spectrum insufficient as the system approaches the thermodynamic limit, so that pseudospectra are needed to characterize the dynamics accurately. While conventional approaches mainly focus on the local dynamics of isolated pseudospectra, their global connections and the resulting physical consequences for observables have remained largely unexplored. Here, we uncover this collective behavior by classifying the unit disk into distinct domains of exponential, algebraic, and bounded accuracy according to the asymptotic size-scaling laws of pseudospectral residuals, yielding an underlying geometric structure. We demonstrate the physical implications of this structure through two exactly solvable models. First, in a dissipative shift chain, parameter tuning drives geometric transitions that are detectable via spin-wave observables. Second, in a chiral XY model, we use this geometric structure to explain the origin of a measurable phenomenon: two correlation signals exchange their retention order under continuous parameter tuning. Our findings not only establish a new theoretical paradigm for understanding dissipative Floquet quantum systems, but also predict geometry-driven observables for quantum computing experiments.
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All authors Yuncheng Xie, Haozhe Shi, Zhuocheng Ma, Weibin Chu, Xin-Gao Gong

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from physics.optics

Multi-Parameter Error Mitigation in Parametric Down-Conversion via SU(1, 1) Composite Segmentation

Spontaneous parametric down-conversion is a primary resource for generating non-classical light, yet phase mismatch fluctuations from temperature drift, angular misalignment, and domain fabrication errors reduce pair-generation efficiency and phase stability. Here, we analyze error mitigation in spontaneous parametric down-conversion using composite segmentation governed by SU(1, 1) spatial dynamics. We show that odd spatial Fourier harmonics preserve error-cancellation flatness with pair-generation rates scaling asymptotically as $m^{-2}$, while a coordinate-dilation symmetry provides a design prescription for translating configurations across distinct operating wavelengths (405, 532, and 775 nm). Furthermore, an open-loop thermo-optic bias counteracts off-axis angular drift to broaden the 90%-efficiency angular acceptance half-width by 3.46x, and up to two missing poling domains are tolerated with no numerically resolved loss in relative conversion efficiency. Across a 5$^\circ$C thermal window, the generated pairs sustain a relative conversion efficiency of $\eta \ge 0.954$ with the modeled phase-coherence metric remaining above 0.95, providing a structurally robust approach for entangled photon generation without requiring continuous closed-loop feedback stabilization.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cond-mat.stat-mech

Exact anomalous current fluctuations in the strong-anisotropy limit of the XXZ chain

We study spin-current fluctuations of the folded XXZ chain, which describes the strong-anisotropy limit of the XXZ chain. We obtain an exact expression for the moment-generating function of the time-integrated spin current at infinite temperature. A long-time asymptotic analysis establishes that the rescaled time-integrated current converges to a non-Gaussian distribution described by the M-Wright function. The derivation relies on a nonlocal map to the one-dimensional t-0 model and its exact spin-charge separation. By extending this approach, we also show that the dynamical correlation function of the spins summed over two adjacent sites exhibits a diffusive Gaussian profile at long times.
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All authors Taiki Ishiyama, Taiga Kurose, Kazuya Fujimoto, Tomohiro Sasamoto

Quantum Physics

Experimental certification of multipartite Bell correlations using only few-body symmetric correlations

Certifying Bell correlations in increasingly larger multipartite quantum systems is challenging because conventional Bell inequalities rely on many-body correlations, which become experimentally demanding to estimate as system size grows. Here we demonstrate that multipartite Bell correlations can be certified using few-body permutation-invariant (PI) correlations with a fixed maximal correlation order. We experimentally test few-body PI Bell correlation witnesses tailored for six- and eight-photon postselected Dicke states. The addition of a few four-body correlators is found to significantly enhance the noise tolerance compared with previously studied two-body witnesses: for instance, for six qubits, the selected witness tolerates a white-noise fraction of $p_c\approx0.301$, compared with $p_c\approx0.048$ for the best two-body PI inequality with the same two settings per party. For six and eight photons respectively, we observe violations of the witness bounds by $32$ and $8.9$ standard deviations, arising from postselected polarisation states with fidelities of $0.933(4)$ and $0.916(11)$ to the corresponding half-excitation Dicke states. The witnesses for the six- and eight-photon cases use the same symmetric two- and four-body correlators, just with different coefficients. These results demonstrate an experimentally accessible approach for certifying multipartite Bell correlations in larger systems without requiring full-body correlation measurements.
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All authors Jiacheng Sun, Mengyao Hu, Paweł Cieśliński, Jinfu Chen, Fei Shi, Bowen Wang, Hongyu Yang, Jizhou Wu, Jordi Tura, Valerio Scarani, Dian Wu, Jian Wu

Quantum Physics

Succinct Arguments for QMA in the Quantum Random Oracle Model

Succinct arguments are a fundamental cryptographic primitive for verifying computational claims with small communication. In the classical setting, succinct arguments for NP can be constructed from unstructured hardness alone (e.g., hash functions) by compiling probabilistically checkable proofs (PCPs) or interactive oracle proofs (IOPs) for NP via the commit-and-open paradigm. In contrast, known succinct arguments for QMA rely on “structured” cryptographic primitives, or on the quantum PCP conjecture. We construct the first succinct argument for QMA in the quantum random oracle model (QROM) without relying on additional cryptographic assumptions or unproven conjectures. This yields succinct arguments for QMA from unstructured hardness alone, showing that ideal hash functions not only suffice for succinct arguments for NP but also for QMA. Underlying our result is an efficiency-preserving transformation that compiles quantum interactive oracle proofs (QIOPs), a recently introduced interactive generalization of quantum PCPs, into quantum arguments for the same language, via a natural quantum commit-and-open paradigm. Our transformation applies to every QIOP with public-query soundness, a notion that we formalize to capture a natural requirement of the commit-and-open paradigm and is satisfied by a known QIOP for QMA. As a key ingredient in our transformation, we formalize and construct extractable vector commitments for quantum states with local openings in the QROM, which may be of independent interest.
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Quantum Physics

Consistent histories and the ultrametric on infinite tensor products

The consistent histories formulation of quantum mechanics assigns classical probabilities to sequences of coarse-grained events when the corresponding interference terms vanish. In finite models these terms generically need not vanish exactly, and their smallness alone supplies no asymptotic geometry on the space of histories. We construct such a geometry for histories that accumulate quantum records. When the normalized Dowker - Halliwell interference between two histories factorizes as the cumulative fidelity of their records, its decay is controlled by the accumulated squared Bures distance. In the infinite registration limit, the Kakutani - von Neumann dichotomy gives a sharp sector alternative: summable Bures defect yields weakly equivalent record sequences, whereas nonsummable defect produces orthogonal superselection sectors and vanishing normalized interference. The convergence exponent of the Bures defect defines a pseudo-ultrametric on histories. After quotienting its zero distance degeneracy, it becomes a complete ultrametric, requiring neither compactness of the outcome space nor continuity of the record family, and coincides with the gauge invariant sector metric $\tilde d$ introduced in \cite{LesTP}. Its value, the consistency rate, has three equivalent interpretations: it is the sector separation metric, the polynomial growth exponent of the negative logarithm of normalized interference, and, by the Helstrom formula, the corresponding exponent of the negative logarithm of the minimum error probability for discriminating the cumulative records. Classical separation profiles determine the rate: positive long time mean defect gives the maximal value $\delta=1$, while the borderline profile $d_m^2\asymp m^{-1}$ produces distinct superselection sectors at zero polynomial rate, $\delta=0$.
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Quantum Physics

A Memory-Magic Exchange Law in Streaming Clifford+T Compilation

A phase that reaches a fault-tolerant processor in additive pieces can be remembered until the last piece arrives, or executed on arrival: the first option costs classical memory carried across rounds, the second costs magic states committed before the phase is known. We determine the exchange rate $\alpha$, committed $T$ gates per bit of memory forgone, for ancilla-free coordinatewise Clifford+$T$ compilation. The Ramanujan bound gives $\alpha\ge2$ with explicit constants, the square-root barrier of the spectral method. An elementary determinant method, using that quaternion numerators lie on spheres in both real embeddings of $\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt2)$, counts words near any rotation coset below that barrier. With a height dichotomy for the sphere sections it produces and a fibration over rational projections, it gives every $\alpha<5/2$ unconditionally and uniformly over frames, by an exact SMT check of its continuum case analysis; $5/2$ is where this method stops. At Clifford-framed cosets the volume law holds up to subexponential factors: all but a vanishing fraction of $z$-rotations need $T$-count $(3-o(1))\log_2(1/\varepsilon)$, and processes whose committed pieces are near Clifford-framed $z$-rotations, including per-rotation pipelines, have $\alpha\ge3-o(1)$, which a fractional-passthrough family attains under the Ross-Selinger typical-cost hypothesis. Under an equidistribution conjecture supported by exhaustive enumeration to $T$-count 22, $\alpha=3$ in general and memory should be shed in whole rotations. The bounds hold even when the phases cancel to the identity; side information enters through a conditional entropy; probabilistic mixing halves the costs but not the rate. With clean ancillas and a phase-gradient catalyst, table lookups batched over coordinates drive the rate to $O(1/\log\log(1/\varepsilon))$, so the constant-rate law is specific to coordinatewise synthesis.
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Quantum Physics

A magnetic-field insensitive gate set for trapped-ion nuclear spin qubits

We outline a complete set of operations for manipulating nuclear spin qubits of trapped-ions stored in high magnetic fields such as required for Penning trapping, where the nuclear and electron spins are largely decoupled due to the dominance of the external field Hamiltonian. The reduced nuclear magnetic moment results in insensitivity to external magnetic fields compared to the use of an electron spin, but also makes the nuclear spin hard to manipulate on fast timescales. To maintain speed, we propose a two-qubit phase gate technique which utilizes the electron spin, but for which the qubit remains protected from magnetic fields through retaining the nuclear encoding. This method works for magnetic-field insensitive qubits at lower fields as well as for both microwave and laser field gradients.
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All authors Jonathan Paul Home, Jeremy Flannery, Matteo Mazzanti, Jan Apolin, Shreyans Jain

Quantum Physics

Parametric DRAG for leakage-suppressed exchange gates in superconducting qubits

Programmable exchange interactions support quantum gates and many-body simulation in superconducting circuits. Fast excitation transfer, however, opens two leakage pathways in weakly anharmonic transmons, degrading gates and driving simulated dynamics outside the encoded state space. We introduce parametric derivative removal by adiabatic gate (PDRAG) to suppress both pathways while preserving the target exchange. Their conjugate structure determines first- and second-derivative corrections implemented through one real frequency command. At $g/2\pi=100$ MHz, calibrated PDRAG achieves a geometric-mean leakage reduction of $5.27\times10^5$ relative to the base pulse across 12.5–35 ns in Duffing simulations. At 13 ns, endpoint leakage reaches $1.98\times10^{-7}$ for the calibrated full-exchange pulse. Transferring the derivative coefficients to a charge Hamiltonian gives a mean 893-fold reduction over 12.5–22 ns after amplitude and carrier recalibration. Floquet return interference and charge-induced gap shifts explain the calibration and transfer gains, connecting compact pulse design to leakage-suppressed programmable interactions.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from physics.optics

Scanless quantum Fourier-transform mid-infrared spectroscopy for solids and surface analysis

Quantum infrared (IR) spectroscopy is a novel technique based on nonlinear interferometry and quantum sensing with undetected photons. In this approach, spectrally far-separated correlated photon pairs are used for detection and probing, respectively. Hence, the probing wavelength domain (mid-IR) is substantially different from the detection spectral range (near-IR), which enables shot-noise-limited and cost-effective sensing schemes attractive for applied metrology. In this paper, we implement and employ a custom-built scanless quantum Fourier-transform mid-IR (sQFTIR) microspectrometer for chemical characterization and analysis of solids and interfaces. The sQFTIR system employs spectral-domain acquisition, without the need to scan the optical delay. This results in enhanced sensitivity and short measurement times and therefore enables rapid spectral acquisitions in 100~ms spanning a spectral band from 3000 cm$^{-1}$ - 2400 cm$^{-1}$. The capabilities of our approach are demonstrated for hyperspectral mid-IR imaging of dried pharmaceuticals (insulin on a gold surface) and investigation of a security feature on a banknote. Furthermore, we demonstrate hyperspectral imaging and spectroscopy through a turbid ceramic medium.
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All authors Paul Gattinger, Michela Conti, Franziska Dietz, Andrei N. Halangescu Moldovan, Andreas W. Schell, Markus Brandstetter, Ivan Zorin

Quantum Physics

Quantum Leakage Resilience of Shamir Secret Sharing

We initiate the study of quantum leakage resilience of unmodified Shamir secret sharing over prime fields. A well-studied leakage model for Shamir's secret sharing classically is single-bit local leakage from each share. We consider its quantum analogue where, for each party, a local leakage channel takes as input the party's share and outputs a leaked qubit. Without preshared entanglement, we show that the distinguishing advantage is $2^{-\Omega(n)}$ when the threshold rate $t/n=\tau$ exceeds $\tau_\star\approx0.73339$ by a fixed positive margin. More generally, we allow disjoint entangled blocks of any fixed maximum size where there is no entanglement between different blocks or with the adversary, and each block emits at most a fixed number of qubits. Security holds when the threshold rate is high enough (sufficiently close to one). We then allow a specified set of devices to share entanglement with the adversary. We show that security holds even when a linear number of devices ($\alpha n$ for small $\alpha>0$) share entanglement with each other and with the adversary for a large enough threshold rate. As a complementary negative result, we also show that even classical single-bit leakage makes Shamir scheme insecure if we allow arbitrarily large entanglement between the leakage devices. A GHZ state shared by exactly $t$ leakage devices makes even classical one-bit leakage insecure, without any entanglement with the adversary. In this attack, each participating device emits only one classical bit, and their joint parity distinguishes any chosen pair of secrets with a constant advantage. Thus, for fixed threshold rates above $\tau_\star$, the maximum number of devices that may share arbitrary entanglement with one another and with the adversary while preserving security is linear in $n$ up to constant factors, although the optimal support fraction remains open.
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All authors Rishabh Batra, Fuyuki Kitagawa, Ryo Nishimaki, Takashi Yamakawa

Quantum Physics

Directional transfer from coherence to longitudinal polarization and algebraic storage in a transmon with Markovian dephasing and a glassy environment: A non-Markovian fractional renewal model

We develop a completely positive and trace-preserving non-Markovian transmon model with longitudinal Markovian dephasing and transverse renewal events motivated by a glassy two-level-system environment. A microscopic Hamiltonian identifies coupling subspaces; a normalized Prabhakar waiting-time law phenomenologically coarse grains slow defect reconfigurations. Forward chronological renewal histories yield an exact map-level Volterra equation, a noncommuting kernel–resolvent master equation, and an equivalent drift-conjugated Caputo-type representation with its required initial-value term. Without energy relaxation, Pauli-space dynamics splits into two one-dimensional subspaces and a coupled $(\sigma_y,\sigma_z)$ subspace supporting directional transfer between coherence and longitudinal polarization; $\sigma_x$ polarization is renewal-insensitive. For heavy-tailed waiting times with $0<\alpha<1$, branch-cut analysis gives a generic $t^{-\alpha}$ storage tail in longitudinal polarization generated from initial coherence and $O(t^{-1-\alpha})$ reverse transfer; constant-rate Poisson renewal yields pole-generated exponential decay. Independent zero-temperature relaxation at finite $T_1$ exponentially cuts off these tails when its rate is below twice the pure-dephasing rate. We compare independent inverse-Laplace reconstructions of the waiting-time density, memory kernel, and selected qubit-response components to assess numerical accuracy. For the studied parameters, Prabhakar renewal gives larger forward-transfer magnitudes at the prescribed readout than both a scale-matched constant-rate Poisson reference and an inhomogeneous Poisson reference matching the full expected-count profile, including finite-$T_1$ tests. Both Poisson references yield larger evaluated finite-window peaks. Disorder-motivated renewal memory reshapes transmon decoherence selectively by state and direction.
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Quantum Physics

L-band single-photon generation from a cavity-coupled silicon C-center

Monolithic integration of single-photon sources into silicon photonics offers a compelling solution for realizing scalable quantum telecommunication architectures. Among the candidate silicon color centers, the C-center features a zero-phonon emission in the telecom L-band, corresponding to the spectral window of minimum transmission loss in optical fibers. Despite this advantage, isolating single C-centers has remained an unrealized challenge in solid-state quantum optics. In this work, we report the isolation of a single silicon C-center. We enhance the spontaneous emission rate of the zero-phonon line by coupling the single emitter to a nanophotonic crystal cavity, observing a fivefold reduction in the excited-state lifetime compared to bulk conditions, which corresponds to a Purcell factor lower bound of 33. Second-order autocorrelation measurements confirm single-photon emission from the investigated defect, obtaining an optical purity of $g^{(2)}(0) = 0.23$ without background correction. Our results establish a native telecom L-band quantum light source in silicon, laying the foundation for ultra-low-loss and long-distance quantum applications.
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All authors Carolina Crosta, Kyu-Young Kim, Purbita Purkayastha, Abhijit Biswas, Jasvith Raj Basani, Amirehsan Alizadehherfati, Amirehsan Boreiri, Chang-Min Lee, Fabio Pezzoli, Edo Waks

Quantum Physics

Approximate majorization and high-order capacity of quantum depolarizing channels

A central challenge in quantum information theory is to determine whether entanglement provides an advantage for information processing when coherent operations across multiple channel uses are allowed. For depolarizing channels, King's proof of the additivity of the minimum output entropy rules out such an advantage for classical communication at leading asymptotic order, while leaving open the possibility of an advantage for higher orders. In this work, we conjecture a majorization relation for the outputs of depolarizing channels and prove an approximate version of this conjecture. Our proof combines an exact ordering of shifted log-determinants with an anti-concentration bound for the spectrum of the product-state output, refining King's analysis based on Schatten norms. As a direct application, we obtain a tight third-order expansion for the classical capacity of quantum depolarizing channels. Consequently, entangled codewords and collective decoding can improve the message size over the product-coding strategy by at most $O(\log \log n)$ bits, sharpening our understanding of the role of entanglement in the finite-blocklength regime.
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All authors Zhiwei Song, Xin Wang, Marco Tomamichel, Kun Fang

Quantum Physics

Ultra-high-distance quantum memories from amplified qLDPC codes

A large code distance does not by itself guarantee a well-protected quantum memory, as faults during syndrome extraction can propagate into correlated data errors. Certifying circuit distance becomes demanding as circuits grow. In this work, we introduce distance amplifiers, a modular approach to increasing both code distance and certified circuit-level protection in quantum low-density parity-check codes. The construction tensors a base code with an amplifier, adapting their syndrome-extraction circuits to the amplified code. To certify the resulting memory, we develop a fault-response certificate that yields rigorous lower bounds on circuit distance. Suitable gate ordering and flag qubits control correlated errors, allowing us to establish explicit conditions under which the amplified circuit distance equals the product of the constituent circuit distances. We prove this multiplicative relation for three types of amplifiers: the flagged $[[4,2,2]]$, hypergraph-product, and rotated surface codes. The certificate extends recursively, so the circuit distance multiplies exactly at every amplification step. For example, four successive applications of the flagged $[[4,2,2]]$ amplifier to a $[[18,4,4]]$ seed yield a $[[13320,64,64]]$ code with the circuit distance $d_{\mathrm{circ}} \geq 48$ and check weights $w \leq 14$. We further show how individual logical qubits can be tracked explicitly through amplification. By enabling high-distance quantum memories to be built and certified from smaller building blocks, our framework offers a systematic route toward scalable fault-tolerant quantum computing.
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All authors Zijian Liang, Boren Gu, Yu-An Chen, Jens Eisert, Zongyuan Wang

Quantum Physics

Encoding and Node Choices in Transversal Fault-Tolerant Distributed Quantum Computations: An Initial Study

We compare and study different Bivariate-Bicycle (BB) encodings and node choices for distributed quantum operations such as transversal non-local CNOTs. We observe that while some encodings have more physical qubits requiring more ebits for a distributed computation, reducing ebit consumption alone might not be the best criterion for selecting an encoding for the logical qubits, if the goal is to reduce the logical error rate of the distributed computation; for example, one should also consider encodings with a larger distance, which using more physical qubits can provide. We consider distributed, or non-local, CNOTs and computation of the global gate (GCZ) over distributed logical qubits as examples. The choice of encoding enables particular concurrent operations; e.g., we show that a transversal physical GCZ on a self-dual $[[120,8,12]] BB$ code can realize eight concurrent logical GCZ operations after accounting for the logical permutation induced by transversal Hadamard.
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Quantum Physics

Near-Optimal Quantum Algorithm and Complexity Analysis for Riccati Problems

We develop quantum algorithms that construct block-encodings of solution matrices for continuous- and discrete-time algebraic Riccati equations (CAREs and DAREs), differential Riccati equations (DREs), and finite Riccati recursions. The Quantum Weighted Riesz Method, unifying four kinds of Riccati problems, constructs projectors onto the solution graphs using weighted Riesz branching operators and recovers the solution matrices. Under the stated access and normalization assumptions, our algorithms for CAREs and DAREs have near-optimal query complexity $\Theta(\mathcal R\alpha)$ up to logarithmic factors, with the generalized singularity factor $\mathcal R$ that reflects spectral separation, and the output normalization $\alpha$. For DREs and finite-horizon problems, the query complexity has an additional initialization conditioning factor $\kappa_{\rm init}$. We establish product query lower bounds for specified input-oracle families, demonstrating necessary joint dependence on spectral separation and initialization or output scale. We also prove that selected-value promise problems are BQP-complete on explicit circuit-generated families of single-control discrete-time algebraic and zero-terminal differential Riccati equations. Applications include classical feedback evaluation for linear-quadratic control, a query-complexity comparison for stable random-phase approximation Riccati equations in quantum chemistry, and heated boundary control with numerical validation.
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All authors Jingyao Wang, Yanqiao Wang, Bowen Li, Jin-Peng Liu, Zhengfeng Ji

Quantum Physics

Optimal Entanglement Routing in Quantum Repeater Chains: Beyond Fixed Operation Order and Purification Schedule

Entanglement routing establishes entangled pairs between distant nodes of a quantum network by purifying and swapping pairs generated on elementary links. Existing methods typically restrict the decision space along two axes: the operation order, often fixed to purify-then-swap (PtS), and the purification schedule of each link, often restricted to pumping. Focusing on linear repeater chains with finite link capacities, we relax both restrictions and study the maximization of the expected end-to-end throughput subject to a fidelity threshold under two quantum-noise models. We develop a unified capacity-aware optimization framework comprising an exact mixed-integer linear program (MILP) under PtS, instantiated with either pumping or general tree purification schedules, and an exact dynamic program (DP) over arbitrary operation orders. Under symmetric Pauli noise, we prove that pumping converges to a fidelity strictly below unity, imposing a capacity-independent feasibility bound and a maximum chain length on every pumping-based PtS method, whereas general tree schedules yield a capacity-dependent bound. We further prove that post-swap purification never increases the throughput, so a free operation order can only increase feasibility. Numerical evaluations confirm the bounds: tree schedules serve over 90% of the requests that pumping cannot at moderate fidelity thresholds; within the pumping class, a free operation order recovers much of this advantage; but once links use tree schedules, the tree-based MILP and the order-exact DP serve identical request sets throughout. Operation order and purification schedule are thus substitutes, with the purification schedule the dominant factor governing feasibility under symmetric Pauli noise.
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All authors Aikaterini Mandilara, Antonia Tsili, Dimitris Syvridis, Konstantinos Christodoulopoulos

Quantum Physics

Encoding universal quantum computation into quantized Berry phases: Hardness results and classical algorithms

The Berry phase is a fundamental geometric quantity for characterizing the geometry and topology of quantum many-body systems. Previous work established a super-polynomial quantum advantage in Berry phase estimation at inverse-polynomial precision, given an ansatz state approximating the initial ground state. However, whether this hardness persists for Berry phases quantized by symmetry, which can be distinguished at constant precision, remained open. In this work, we characterize the computational complexity of quantized Berry phase estimation. First, we prove that deciding whether the Berry phase is exactly $0$ or $\pi$ is $\mathsf{BQP}$-complete when the spectral gap is inverse-polynomially small. This result implies that distinguishing the quantized Berry phase still has a super-polynomial quantum advantage, assuming $\mathsf{BPP}\neq \mathsf{BQP}$. To prove this result, we introduce an encoding that maps the output of any quantum computation to a Berry phase that is exactly $0$ or $\pi$. Second, we extend this hardness to physically motivated Hamiltonians on a 2D square lattice, including Heisenberg and XY interactions. Third, we provide a classical polynomial-time algorithm for geometrically local Hamiltonians on fixed-dimensional lattices with constant spectral gaps. Therefore we identify that the spectral gap is a key resource for the classical tractability, rather than precision. These results establish a super-polynomial quantum advantage for computing a quantized topological invariant that is unchanged under symmetry- and gap-preserving deformations, and provide new steps towards practical quantum advantage in quantum physics.
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Quantum Physics

Non-Canonical Quantum Otto Engine

The fast-developing quantum technology is propelling thermal machine, which lies at the heart of thermodynamics, into a new golden era. Being stochastic because of the non-negligible thermal and quantum fluctuations, the efficiency and power of a finite-time quantum heat engine exhibit a trade-off, preventing the simultaneous achievement of high power and high efficiency. Conventional studies treat the statistics of a heat engine by assuming canonical thermalization, which is valid only under weak-coupling conditions. We here investigate the noncanonical effect on the statistics of the efficiency and power for a finite-time quantum Otto cycle. It is revealed that their average values and variances are highly controllable by engineering the energy spectrum structure of the composite system consisting of the working substance and the bath. Near the quantum critical point induced by the formation of a bound state in the energy spectrum, the average efficiency and power can be boosted simultaneously, meanwhile, both of their variances are decreased. Deepening our understanding of the usefulness of quantum reservoir engineering in thermodynamics, our result lays the foundation for the realization of efficient and stable quantum energy devices.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cs.NE

Adaptive Rotation for iSOMA: Geometry, Benchmarking, and Noise Robustness in Variational Quantum Objectives

We study whether the coordinate dependence of the improved Self-Organizing Migrating Algorithm (iSOMA) can be reduced while retaining its inexpensive leader-directed migration mechanism. We introduce iSOMA-AR, which learns a basis from successful migration displacements and selectively applies the standard perturbation mask in that basis. On the complete noiseless BBOB suite, iSOMA- AR significantly outperformed baseline iSOMA across matched conditions, with the largest gains on geometrically difficult landscapes. A targeted ablation shows that the learned orientation is beneficial on a rotated ill-conditioned landscape and that moderate changes of the gate threshold and rotation cap preserve the qualitative result. On CEC 2011 Real World Optimization Problems, iSOMA-AR outperformed iL-SHADE on most problems, although its advantage over baseline iSOMA was not statistically significant. A canonical-jSO rerun is reported as a post-hoc sensitivity check alongside the original jSO-derived comparator. On frustrated-spin variational quantum objectives, adaptive rotation improved most transverse-field conditions, while gains on the diagonal and anisotropic models were absent or selective. Under strong effective sampling noise, the SOMA variants were the most robust population-based methods in the comparison, but iSOMA-AR was not significantly better than baseline iSOMA. Repairing all-zero PRT masks greatly reduced repeated-point evaluations without changing endpoint quality significantly, making this implementation detail unlikely to explain the noise result. Overall, adaptive rotation is most useful on coordinate-sensitive deterministic problems, while the observed noise robustness appears to arise mainly from the underlying SOMA migration mechanism.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from physics.optics

Optically-Induced Modulation and Programming of Diamond Photonic Cavities

Single-crystal diamond combines exceptional optical, thermal, and mechanical properties while hosting optically addressable and spin-coherent colour centres, making it a promising platform for integrated quantum and nonlinear photonics. However, practical post-fabrication mechanisms for dynamically controlling and tuning monolithic diamond photonic circuits remain limited. Here, we demonstrate all-optical modulation and long-lived tuning of suspended diamond Fabry–Perot nanobeam cavities containing nitrogen-vacancy centres. Under 532~nm illumination, the infrared (1000 to 1100~nm) cavity response is governed by two competing contributions: a well-understood thermo-optic red-shift, and a novel charge-mediated blue-shift that we attribute to the free-carrier plasma dispersion effect. With 10~mW of 20~kHz-modulated green light, we achieve an infrared modulation depth of approximately 45% of the available reflection contrast. Green illumination also produces quasi-permanent photo-refractive resonance blue-shifts, with a maximum observed tuning of 3.15~nm (0.87~THz), without measurable degradation of the cavity linewidth or contrast. Achieving the same cavity shift in a lithium-niobate Pockels modulator would require 200 to 500~V across a \(5~\mu\mathrm{m}\) electrode gap. These results establish a monolithic diamond nanophotonic platform combining agile and reversible modulation with long-lived optical reconfiguration, two key ingredients in photonic technologies.
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All authors Yuchun Zhu, Amirali Arabmoheghi, Nicolas Le Thomas, Niels Quack, Valentin Goblot, Christophe Galland

Quantum Physics

A quantum thermal machine surpassing the classical thermodynamic limit on precision

Precision in nonequilibrium processes comes at a thermodynamic cost: suppressing fluctuations generally requires increased dissipation. Thermodynamic uncertainty relations (TURs) make this trade-off quantitative by linking current fluctuations to entropy production in classical stochastic dynamics. In the decade since its discovery, the canonical steady-state TUR and its finite-time generalizations have become a cornerstone of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, constraining the performance of molecular machines and allowing heat dissipation to be inferred from observable fluctuations. Whether the canonical TUR can be violated in a controlled quantum device remains an outstanding experimental question, in part because doing so requires resolving extremely small steady-state currents as well as their fluctuations. Here we experimentally show that steady-state quantum transport can surpass the precision permitted by the canonical TUR. We observe this violation in a superconducting quantum thermal machine coupled to a microwave waveguide acting as a cold bath and to a classical noise source providing an effective infinite-temperature bath. We observe a TUR ratio $Q = 1.71 \pm 0.17$, in violation of the classical bound $Q \geq 2$. Our results demonstrate a fundamental distinction between classical and quantum thermodynamics, paving the way for quantum thermal devices that achieve enhanced precision at reduced energy cost.
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All authors Simon Sundelin, Ludvig Nordqvist, Khalak Mahadeviya, Vyom Kulkarni, Mohammed Ali Aamir, Mark T. Mitchison, Simone Gasparinetti

Quantum Physics

Margenau-Hill distribution as a Necessary and Sufficient Signature of Measurement Incompatibility

Measurement incompatibility and the negativity of quasi-probability distributions both demonstrate the signature of nonclassicality. However, their relations largely remained qualitative, and no explicit operational connection has been established. We provide an operational link between measurement incompatibility and the Margenau-Hill(MH) quasi-probability distribution associated with two dichotomic observables. { We first derive the joint measurability (measurement compatibility) condition for any pair of dichotomic observables in arbitrary finite dimension $d$.} We then rigorously prove that for any pair of unsharp dichotomic measurements in dimension $d$, the positivity of the MH distribution is equivalent to joint measurability i.e., the MH distribution is positive if and only if the measurements are jointly measurable. We further introduce the MH-like quasi-probability distribution for $n$ dichotomic unsharp observables in arbitrary finite dimension and derive a sufficient condition of joint-measurability when the observables are mutually anticommuting. Finally, we propose an interferometric setup, inspired by quantum-switch architectures, that directly reconstructs MH quasi-probability which in turn provides a test of incompatibility.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cond-mat.quant-gas

Second-order coherence properties of ultrafast polariton dynamics in plasmonic lattices

The first-order coherence properties of strongly coupled systems supporting polariton lasing and Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) have been thoroughly studied and show consistent results. In contrast, second-order coherence properties have been found to vary for different systems, and the second-order coherence function can deviate from the value of one, typical for atomic BEC, revealing super-Poissonian fluctuations even above the BEC/polariton lasing threshold. This calls for a deeper understanding of the emission statistics and dynamics in light-based condensates, especially in the non-equilibrium regime. Here we demonstrate a coherent state of polariton emission from a plasmonic lattice measured as the second-order coherence function value separately for $\mathrm{\Gamma}$- and non-$\mathrm{\Gamma}$-point radiation (ground state and high-energy tail). We observe a high degree of coherence with the value $g^{(2)}(\tau=0)-1<10^{-4}$. We also demonstrate the ultrafast ($>$1 THz) nature of the dynamics. The process can be interpreted as a BEC with ultrafast, sub-50-fs thermalization, but we also suggest an alternative explanation as superradiance in a system where the emitters have vibrational degrees of freedom.
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All authors Evgeny A. Mamonov, Lukas Freter, Sioneh Eyvazi, Elliot W. Lloyd, Päivi Törmä

Quantum Physics

Arbitrary high-dimensional entanglement purification with the superposition of paths

High-dimensional quantum entanglement offers significant advantages over its two-dimensional counterparts in various quantum information processing tasks. We propose a scalable method for implementing an arbitrary high-dimensional entanglement purification protocol (HDEPP) using path superposition. By selecting appropriate single-qudit gates, qudit-flip errors and phase-flip errors can be purified. Counterintuitively, the HDEPP becomes more robust for higher-dimensional systems and exhibits enhanced purification fidelity as the dimension increases. Our HDEPP not only requires fewer operational resources but also in principle can achieve unity fidelity through multiple rounds of iteration. Furthermore, we develop feasible optical schemes to purify the frequency degree of freedom of photons suffering from qudit-flip and phase-flip errors using hyperentanglement. This work paves the way toward high-dimensional quantum communication and quantum networks.
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All authors Zi-Han Zheng, Wen-Qiang Liu, Chen-Ming Bai, Hai-Rui Wei

Quantum Physics

SQUARE: Structured Quantum Representation Adapters as Compact Quadratic Feature Maps for Frozen Language Models

Frozen language models (LMs) are increasingly used as fixed feature extractors for downstream reranking, scoring, and preference modeling, raising a practical question: how should a compact module represent interactions among features in a fixed low-dimensional bottleneck? Common linear and low-rank adapters remain linear at the adaptation module itself, whereas explicit second-order alternatives introduce pairwise interactions through direct parameterization or predefined factorizations. We propose SQUARE, a Structured QUAntum REpresentation adapter that amplitude-encodes the bottleneck vector, applies a parameterized quantum circuit, and measures the resulting state. We show that each basis-probability feature is exactly a normalized quadratic form in the bottleneck coordinates, while the additional Pauli-$Z$ readouts are signed linear combinations of these probabilities. The measured map can therefore parameterize interactions over $O(d^2)$ coordinate pairs through a small set of shared circuit parameters, where $d$ is the bottleneck dimension. It provides a structured parameterization within, rather than beyond, the classical normalized-quadratic feature class. In a disjoint same-pipeline evaluation over eight GLUE-derived controlled interaction tasks and five shared seeds, SQUARE achieves an average test accuracy of $0.7565$, compared with $0.7355$ for an affine normalized-quadratic predictor, $0.7271$ for the evaluated parameter-matched Givens mixing model, $0.6817$ for an MLP, and $0.6155$ for a frozen-circuit control. Under reduced supervision, it also shows consistent gains over the strongest evaluated classical comparator, with the same qualitative pattern across multiple frozen LM backbones. All circuit experiments use simulation, while the learned feature map can be evaluated exactly in batched PyTorch without quantum hardware.
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All authors Emily Jimin Roh, Hyojun Ahn, Hoyeong Lee, Soohyun Park, Sung Whan Yoon, Vaneet Aggarwal, Joongheon Kim

Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from math.FA

Stability of isometries of quantum states

We prove dimension-independent Hyers–Ulam stability for surjective approximate isometries of the positive trace-class cone in both the trace and Bures metrics. Here $\varepsilon\geq0$ is a uniform upper bound on the additive error in preserving distances. Such an approximate isometry is uniformly approximated by a Wigner symmetry (a unitary or antiunitary conjugation), with error at most $9\varepsilon/2$ in the trace metric and $2\sqrt2\varepsilon$ in the Bures metric, even if it does not fix zero. For maps fixing zero, the trace bound improves to $3\varepsilon$ even under the hypothesis of $\delta$-surjectivity, independently of $\delta$. In infinite dimensions, we construct spectrum-preserving homeomorphisms of the full state space, including mixed states, whose distortions tend to zero in both metrics but which stay a fixed uniform distance from every Wigner symmetry. For state spaces, stability holds in each fixed finite dimension with a dimension-dependent modulus tending to zero as $\varepsilon\to0$, but no such modulus can be chosen independently of dimension.
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2609.37133 · 29 Sep · 43 pages. Comments welcome. v2: Removed the surjectivity assumption from finite-dimensional state-space stability; showed that the state-space bijections are spectrum-preserving homeomorphisms; proved uniqueness of the approximating Wigner symmetry on the cone and extended Bures stability to approximately surjective maps fixing zero

Quantum Physics

Minimal building blocks for molecular quantum circuits with exact spin symmetry

Preserving particle number and spin helps quantum circuits target molecular electronic states, but does not guarantee access to every state with the required quantum numbers. We determine which additional operations, combined with spin-independent orbital rotations connecting all spatial orbitals, generate every real state-space rotation within each complete subspace of fixed particle number $N$, total spin $S$, and spin projection $M_S$. We consider spin-free molecular calculations in real orbitals, without an additional spatial-symmetry restriction, and continuously tunable operations that preserve particle number, full spin symmetry, and real amplitudes. Below the maximal-spin limits set by the electron and hole numbers, repeated singlet-pair transfer between any two fixed spatial orbitals is sufficient. On nontrivial maximal-spin boundaries, pair transfer vanishes, and an additional generator built from one- and two-electron terms is sufficient exactly when its action in the target subspace is not a linear combination of orbital-rotation generators. The minimum number of spatial orbitals needed by one additional generator is two in the interior and three on nontrivial boundaries, even when terms involving more than two electrons are allowed. Both minima are attained using only one- and two-electron terms. The three-orbital optimum rotates two orbitals according to the occupation of a third, and its unitary factors exactly into eight commuting Pauli rotations. Molecular benchmarks show that this operation removes the observed boundary energy-error plateaus, while sparse interior constructions attain the prescribed energy accuracy with fewer compiled CNOT gates in selected fixed-orbital comparisons.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from hep-th

Constructing and Probing Three-Boundary Booklet Geometries

Partially entangled thermal states (PETS) provide semiclassical families of black-hole microstates prepared through heavy shell insertions. We extend this shell-state framework and propose three-boundary partially entangled thermal states (PETS$_3$) by replacing the two-index insertion data with a trivalent junction tensor. The corresponding bulk three-boundary booklet geometry is constrained semiclassically by the Israel junction condition, allowing us to identify candidate symmetric and mixed-orientation branches. We verify the self-consistency of this construction by counting states in the symmetric all-black-hole sector. Using a heavy-operator probe, we further estimate the detection-to-universal ratio to be $Z_D/Z_U \simeq 3$, twice the two-boundary value of $3/2$. These results suggest that a fine-tuned probe localized on one boundary can test the proposed three-boundary shell state and potentially distinguish it from its two-boundary counterpart.
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