Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cond-mat.supr-con
Papers
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Monday 5 October
We construct two superconducting pairing models on doped Kitaev honeycomb, whose microscopic kernels are derived rather than assumed. Both are driven by a bond-local glue neutral between the even- and odd-parity pairing channels; the chirality–parity linkage is set by bond-star geometry, not by the microscopic glue. (i) Model~1(odd-parity sector): the kernel follows from the flux-sector selection rule of the pure model, fixing its component-diagonal, nearest-neighbor separable, rank-one-per-bond form, with $w_\alpha=J_K^2\chi_\alpha\propto r_\alpha m_\alpha$, where $m_\alpha$ follows from the Hellmann–Feynman theorem and $r_\alpha\simeq0.24$ is computed numerically. The spin-vertex state is a unitary triplet with a bond-locked anisotropic $\mathbf d$ vector; its gap is a Gram sum of bond sines, so nodal directions are fixed by geometry. (ii) Model~2(even): the kernel is fixed by the $C_3$ little-group selection rule of a zone-corner chiral phonon, up to a Cooper-channel extension whose momentum constraint we state explicitly. The charge-vertex pairing is a $d+id$ singlet: the parity decomposition $f_\pm=g_\pm+p_\pm$ projects onto $g_\pm$, so chirality is slaved to the phonon polarization, with $C=\pm4$ and $\kappa_{xy}/T=2\kappa_0$. Reversing the pump helicity reverses the Chern number, Kerr rotation, and thermal Hall sign. (iii) General theorem: on odd-fold bond stars, the angular-momentum ladder of a single-star chiral form factor alternates in parity. Every chiral state selected by such a bond-local form factor is a geometrically enforced singlet–triplet composite with universal amplitude ratios ($n=3$: $d\oplus p$; $n=5$: $g\oplus p$ or $d\oplus f$); coherent doubled-star combinations can restore parity purity. The Chern number of the mixed state follows the dominant on-shell component across a topological boundary. The spin glue drives $C=\pm2$; the charge kernel $C=\pm4$.
Quantum Physics
When Equivalent Quantum Circuits Lose Synthesis Choices
Quantum compilers synthesize high-level operations, such as the quantum Fourier transform and multi-controlled X gates, into gate-level circuits. Across compilation stages, a circuit may be serialized, exchanged as OpenQASM, converted between compilers, or lowered to gates. These representation changes can preserve computation while removing the high-level operation itself, leaving the receiving compiler unable to apply a requested synthesis method. We call this loss synthesis availability. We study synthesis availability in Qiskit, TKET, and Cirq through controlled experiments, repository analysis, circuits captured from project tests, and a Munich Quantum Toolkit pipeline. Synthesis availability survives serialization when deserialization restores the high-level operation and survives compiler conversion only when the receiving compiler supports that operation. It does not survive the evaluated OpenQASM routes. After a direct OpenQASM 3 round trip, requested synthesis has no effect in all 360 delivered conditions even though compilation succeeds. In the MQT pipeline, OpenQASM 2 interchange increases the two-qubit gate count by 37.2 percent for an eight-qubit Grover circuit. We also introduce Verified, which records high-level operations before a representation change and reconstructs them only when a check confirms that the record still matches the delivered circuit. Verified restores requested synthesis in all 830 recovery runs, with median verification times from 2.0 to 638 ms per operation family. The check rejects every stale record but also some valid records. These results show that preserving functional equivalence alone is insufficient when later synthesis choices depend on retained high-level structure.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cond-mat.mes-hall
An ab initio based compact analytical formula for inelastic x-ray scattering from spatially localized excitons
In this contribution we provide a compact model for the description of inelastic x-ray scattering of spatially localized excitons. We combine our analytical theory with first principles calculations and apply it to the material lithium fluoride (LiF). A comparison of two different approaches for the underlying single-particle wave functions to calculate the spectrum yield a qualitatively good agreement with experimental data but also shows that a detailed description of the wave functions is essential to obtain qualitative results.
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Quantum Physics
Geometric Measure of Entanglement of Rank-2 Mixed Multiqubit States and its Estimation on a Quantum Processor
The geometric measure of entanglement of mixed states is investigated based on its relation to spin correlations. We derive an analytical expression for the entanglement of rank-2 mixed states composed of arbitrary multiqubit pure states within a two-dimensional Hilbert subspace. The dependence of the entanglement of rank-2 mixed multiqubit states on the parameters characterizing arbitrary pure states in the mixture is studied both analytically and using quantum computing. For a particular class of mixed states, namely, equal-probability mixtures of an arbitrary multiqubit state and the Schrödinger cat state, we construct quantum protocols for detecting the geometric measure of entanglement based on its relation to spin correlations. We quantify the entanglement using both the AerSimulator and the ibm_marrakesh quantum computer. The effects of quantum-computing errors are also analyzed. The simulation results reproduce the analytical dependencies, while measurements on the quantum device demonstrate good agreement with theoretical predictions within estimated error bounds.
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Quantum Physics
Collective Quantum State Preparation Is Nonadditive
Quantum state preparation is a basic primitive of quantum computation and control, but its resource cost is usually analyzed for one target state or under an independent-copy construction. Here we study the many-copy problem under weighted Pauli control, where a Pauli-product rotation $e^{i\phi P}$ is charged by its rotation angle $|\phi|$, independently of the weight of $P$. We derive the exact single-qubit preparation cost and show that it is strictly nonadditive: a four-pulse collective protocol prepares two $T$ states at lower cost than two optimal one-copy protocols. We further identify finite regions of the Bloch sphere with collective saving, including trajectories that remain product throughout, showing that transient entanglement is not the only mechanism behind the advantage. Complementarily, a dimension-independent Rényi-entropy speed limit gives an extensive lower bound for every coherent target and an exponential fidelity penalty below a finite preparation rate. These results establish a many-copy geometry of state synthesis in which uncorrelated outputs can nevertheless benefit from collective control.
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Quantum Physics
Gaussian Universality and Its Breakdown in Tensor-Network Machine Learning
Gaussian-process limits are powerful in describing overparameterized machine learning models, yet their validity in structured tensor-network architectures remains unclear. Here we analytically present a moment-based approach that identifies precise conditions for the emergence and breakdown of Gaussian universality in tensor-network learning models, with a focus on matrix product states. We prove that in the large bond dimension limit, the learning models with both local and global observables converge to Gaussian processes, with explicit finite-size bounds on higher-order moment deviations. Whereas in the large physical dimension limit, the Gaussian universality no longer persists: while the models with local observables retain Gaussian-process behavior, those global cases exhibit persistent non-Gaussian corrections. Our results reveal that Gaussian-process behavior in tensor-network learning is controlled not only by parameter number, but also by architectural scaling, observable locality, and the spectral properties.
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Quantum Physics
Quantum data loading from the learned shared structure of real signals
Preparing quantum states from classical data can cost more than the computation they serve; most loaders tailor a circuit to each input. Here we show that the signals of a real dataset share structure that can be learned once and reused. Our quantum-native loader learns a low-dimensional description of a dataset and prepares every signal with one fixed circuit set by a few numbers. Across seven views of five public datasets it meets the targets of the strongest structured loader at equal gate cost with several times fewer numbers per signal. These numbers can be inferred from a random subset: in a preregistered blind replication the subset needed to come within ten per cent of full-signal accuracy stayed constant within a prespecified margin as signals grew sixteenfold, whereas the structured loader needed ever more. It declines what it cannot represent, covering fewer cases than that baseline and no electrocardiogram.
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Quantum Physics
Comparing thresholds of XZZX and rotated surface codes under spatio-temporal correlated noise
While independent and identically distributed noise is typically assumed in quantum computing research, complex error models such as correlated and spatio-temporal errors remain underexplored. In this paper, the performance of $\mathrm{XZZX}$ and rotated surface codes is evaluated under these complex noise models. Standard graph-based decoders struggle with the hyperedges generated by correlated errors on bias-tailored codes. To address this, we employ the Minimum Weight Parity Factor (MWPF) decoder, which natively processes syndrome hypergraphs without artificial edge decomposition. Our simulations show that under strong Z-biased circuit-level correlated noise ($\eta=100$), the threshold of the rotated code degrades to $\approx 0.36\%$, while the $\mathrm{XZZX}$ code drops to $\approx 0.70\%$. Furthermore, a distinct non-monotonic threshold dependence is observed for the $\mathrm{XZZX}$ code across different bias ratios. While the $\mathrm{XZZX}$ code effectively absorbs high-density Z-type hyperedges at extreme biases, it exhibits a threshold minimum at moderate biases ($\eta \approx 10$) because transverse X and Y errors actively bridge the diagonal strings, breaking the code's one-dimensional decoupling symmetry. These findings demonstrate that utilizing hypergraph-aware decoders is critical, as the performance of bias-tailored codes is highly sensitive to the geometric structure of spatio-temporal correlated noise.
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Quantum Physics
Materialised symmetries of 2D translationally invariant codes
There has been significant recent interest in near-term qLDPC codes as high-performance alternatives to surface and color codes. One such class of codes is 2-dimensional translationally invariant (TI) codes, such as bivariate bicycle codes, which share similar properties to topological codes. Fundamental objects in the study of such codes are the materialised symmetries, which can be used for the construction of matching-based decoders. These decoders generalise the minimum-weight perfect matching decoder for toric codes and provide similar asymptotic performance guarantees that heuristic decoders such as BP and its variants lack. Despite this, the mathematical structure of symmetries along with their properties under translation and restriction to finite-sized lattices has not been well-studied. We describe a decomposition of symmetry spaces of 2D CSS TI codes on infinite lattices into translation-invariant subspaces which allow us to write an explicit basis of symmetries in a plane-wave-like form. We then describe how to adapt this infinite lattice basis so that any corresponding rectangular periodic lattice basis can be obtained by restriction to basis elements compatible with the periodic boundaries. This allows us to describe how the symmetry space varies with different rectangular dimensions. We illustrate via examples that it is often straightforward in practice to determine a basis of symmetries on twisted boundaries as well, without needing to recompute the decomposition. We comment on the applications of this framework to matching-based decoders and provide examples of symmetries of such codes as the gross code.
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Quantum Physics
Polynomial neural surrogates for designing photonic quantum experiments
Physics simulators can support the discovery of quantum experiments by predicting the states generated by experimental configurations. When these simulators are computationally expensive, repeated simulator calls can limit the search for experiments that generate a desired quantum state. Here, we develop a physics-inspired polynomial neural surrogate for PyTheus, a graph-based quantum-optics simulator, to predict quantum states and use it to design quantum experiments. Its polynomial activations are motivated by the relation between graph perfect matchings and the resulting state amplitudes. We train separate surrogate models for four-, six-, and eight-photon systems and show that they achieve higher prediction accuracy with fewer trainable parameters than standard multilayer perceptrons. We then use the trained surrogates for inverse design of GHZ, W, and linear-cluster states. For the larger systems, the surrogates also enable faster inverse design than direct optimization with PyTheus. These results suggest that incorporating the underlying physics into neural surrogates can provide an efficient approach to quantum experiment design.
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Quantum Physics
Metastability in Quantum Dynamics for Optimization
Metastability separates apparent equilibration from true convergence: a dynamical system can remain near an intermediate state long before reaching its stationary state. In quantum dynamics used for optimization, such a plateau can delay progress toward a target concentrated near the global minimizers of a nonconvex potential. In this paper, we initiate the study of the general mechanisms by which coherent evolution and dissipation shape metastability, using quantum Langevin dynamics (QLD) as a concrete example [CLW+25], where the objective function is encoded in the potential and coherent transfer between wells interacts with tunable dissipation. To quantify this interaction, we solve a two-state model precisely and derive a spectral-separation criterion in terms of tunneling frequency, dissipation strength, and damping imbalance. Extending the analysis to multi-state models, we show that sufficiently weak tunneling between wells can separate slow population transfer from fast relaxation within each well. In addition, we establish conditions under which changing the structure of dissipation shortens the time needed to approach a prescribed target state. Numerical experiments on double-well and multi-well potentials demonstrate these improvements while keeping the target and accuracy fixed and accounting for the time spent on control.
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Quantum Physics
Free fermion models with an operator entanglement growing as $O(\sqrt{t})$
We study the time evolution of the Operator Space Entanglement Entropy (OSEE) of one-dimensional number-conserving free fermions subject to a random space- and time-dependent evolution. It is known that, in free-fermion systems without randomness, the OSEE of local operators grows at most logarithmically in time. Here we show that, in the presence of randomness, the OSEE of local spin operators involving a Jordan-Wigner string grows as $\mathcal O(\sqrt t)$, for all values of the Rényi index. We establish this in two models: a Brownian Hamiltonian and a brick-wall matchgate circuit. We also consider the OSEE of the evolution operator, and we show that it also grows as $\mathcal O(\sqrt{t})$, in contrast with the linear growth generically expected without randomness. We analytically compute the average entropies of the two operators by mapping the quantum models to the symmetric simple exclusion process, relying on an assumption of self-averaging which we support numerically. We also consider two other types of randomness: random evolution in time that keeps spatial translation invariance, and quenched disorder. In the former case, we find that the OSEE also grows as $\sqrt{t}$. In the latter case, we find that the entropy grows as $\mathcal O( \log \log t)$ for Hamiltonian evolution both for local operators with a Jordan-Wigner string and for the evolution operator, whereas it remains bounded at all times in the brick-wall matchgate circuit.
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Quantum Physics
Joint GKP Encoding for GHZ States Transmission over Bosonic Quantum MIMO Channels
We study transmission of a Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state over nonunitary quantum multiple-input multiple-output (QuMIMO) channels using finite-energy Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) encoding. A coupled-mode model describes coherent mixing, mode-dependent attenuation, and Gaussian noise. The transceiver combines programmable passive meshes, quantum-limited MMSE gain, local GKP recovery, and joint classical syndrome decoding. We optimize complex-Givens lattices using instantaneous channel-state information (CSI), current singular values with channel statistics, or statistics alone. Simulations show that joint lattice shaping outperforms product GKP processing. Under coherent-basis drift, full instantaneous CSI improves GHZ-state preservation, whereas singular-value conditioned and fully statistical designs perform similarly because neither resolves the current singular frames. These findings identify singular-frame geometry as a critical resource beyond attenuation knowledge where joint GKP processing adapts the logical lattice and receiver to anisotropic bosonic noise rather than merely inverting multimode mixing.
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Quantum Physics
Fast mixing of the SYK model at high temperatures
The Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model is a strongly interacting fermionic system. Its dynamics are difficult to analyze with Lieb-Robinson bounds and cluster expansions due to its all-to-all disordered interactions. We prove that, with high probability over the disorder, the SYK model admits a quantum Gibbs sampler with a system-size-independent spectral gap at sufficiently high constant temperatures. This yields polynomial-time preparation of SYK Gibbs states on a quantum computer. While prior non-rigorous computations that suggested SYK thermalization were limited to studying local correlators, we emphasize that our result holds up to arbitrary inverse polynomial trace distance. Our proof introduces the pseudo-Lindbladian approach to fermions and uses an especially simple SYK analysis based on a comparison to classical dynamics.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cond-mat.quant-gas
Rotation Breaks Kibble-Zurek Universality
We show that trap rotation overrides Kibble-Zurek (KZ) universality when a 2D Bose-Einstein condensate forms via a finite-time quench. In stochastic Gross-Pitaevskii simulations, the rotation-induced chiral bias drives the vortex number close to the Feynman-Onsager (FO) value, independent of the quench time. Ramping up rotation with the quench restores the KZ scaling at low frequencies, with vortex numbers below the FO value. The vortices form a disordered lattice that a pinning potential can order into an Abrikosov lattice, even at low rotation. Trap rotation thus offers a control knob for critical dynamics.
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Quantum Physics
Evaluating the performance of QEC primitives on quantum processors at large width and depth
Quantum error correction (QEC) relies on repeated parity extraction, mid-circuit measurement (MCM), reset, feed-forward, and scheduling, yet these primitives are usually assessed either in isolation or through resource-demanding experiments. We introduce a few-sample benchmark of QEC-relevant primitives based on an MCM implementation of the quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA) with a fixed set of linear parameters (LR-QAOA). For a chosen code, the QAOA Hamiltonian is constructed from its check structure, such that the resulting circuit mimics the syndrome-extraction connectivity and MCM pattern while producing a direct algorithmic signal, the approximation-ratio r. The LR-QAOA depth, defined by the number of QAOA layers, plays a role analogous to the number of repeated syndrome-extraction rounds in a QEC experiment. From QPU executions, the decay of r with depth defines an effective hardware error, which we map to an equivalent two-qubit depolarizing rate {\lambda}eff. We compare direct and MCM-mediated implementations across 10 QPUs from IBM, IQM, and Quantinuum, with circuits containing up to 2950 MCM operations. On Quantinuum's Helios-1 and H2-1, we run code-structured LR-QAOA benchmarks for surface-code, triangular color-code, and bivariate-bicycle qLDPC Hamiltonians up to 81, 91, and 48 data qubits, respectively, using up to 480 MCM operations. On IBM ibm_phoenix, we implement the surface-code structure and compare the LR-QAOA response with logical-memory experiments, observing a correlation between the benchmark and the logical performance across different regions of the QPU. Its construction and low resource requirements provide a practical benchmark for comparing hardware generations and QEC implementations before full logical-memory experiments are performed.
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Quantum Physics
Robust Diamond Quantum Sensing in Double-Quantum 4-Ramsey Interferometry by Dual-Feedback Scheme
We developed a highly sensitive and long-term stable diamond quantum magnetometer by integrating a dual-feedback system that compensates for common- and differential-mode frequency shifts in double-quantum (DQ) 4-Ramsey interferometry. Detecting extremely weak magnetic-field signals requires extensive signal accumulation to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio. However, deviations from the optimal operating frequencies caused by thermal drift or environmental magnetic noise severely hinder the long-term stability of such a sensing system. To overcome the limitation, we first derived analytical solutions for the signal response to common- and differential-mode detunings based on a detuning-inclusive Hamiltonian to theoretically clarify the robustness limit in DQ 4-Ramsey sensing. Guided by this theoretical model, we introduced synchronized frequency modulation and a dual-feedback scheme to independently track and compensate for these frequency shifts while maintaining an optimal magnetic-field response. The proposed method enabled stable continuous operation against temperature variations of 2.8 K. By maintaining a magnetic field sensitivity of 7.0 pT/Hz^1/2 in the frequency range of 5-100 Hz for a prolonged duration of 4 hours, we achieved an extremely low noise floor of 64 fT/Hz^1/2. During prolonged continuous sensing, the system exhibited the expected 1/T^1/2 scaling with integration time T, and prevented both the underestimation of amplitude and waveform distortion. These results establish a robust approach for long-term DQ 4-Ramsey diamond magnetometry and demonstrate its potential for detecting weak biomagnetic signals.
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Quantum Physics
Fusion-assisted decoding of non-Abelian topological order
Maximum likelihood (ML) decoders perform quantum error correction by measuring a set of syndromes, classically computing an optimal recovery based on these syndromes and the noise model, and then performing that recovery. ML decoders are well understood for the toric code and generalize straightforwardly to other surface codes with Abelian anyons, where they can saturate information-theoretic decoding thresholds. On the other hand, codes with non-Abelian anyons have become increasingly relevant because they can support transversal or constant-depth non-Clifford gates and admit efficient preparation protocols in modern quantum devices. However, they present new challenges for decoding: non-Abelian anyons cannot in general be deterministically annihilated, and the logical operators cannot be classified by Abelian homology. In this work, we show that refined syndrome sets, including measurements that resolve non-Abelian anyon fusion outcomes, systematically improve the performance of ML decoders. We demonstrate this concretely by constructing explicit decoders for the $D_4$ quantum double model under charge noise, and obtaining numerical results for thresholds via mappings to classical statistical-mechanics models. We show that there is a nonzero noise threshold below which the entire logical qudit can be recovered with a single round of measurements.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cond-mat.mes-hall
Giant Conductance Enhancement in Graphene Nanoscrolls via Interlayer-Coupled States
Graphene nanoscrolls form a unique radial superlattice whose geometry enables transport behaviors distinct from their flat counterparts. We theoretically demonstrate that rolling a graphene nanoribbon into a few-turn nanoscroll (1.0-1.2 turns) triggers a giant enhancement in longitudinal conductance by an order of magnitude (nearly twentyfold). We show that this effect stems from interlayer hopping between open boundaries, which not only transforms localized edge states into one-dimensional-like conducting channels and also induces a significant Fermi energy shift. Our results reveal an inverse scaling of conductance with turn number, establishing GNSs as a platform for geometry-driven quantum transport and offering a tunable approach to engineering nanoarchitectural electronic states.
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Quantum Physics
Classical observable coalescence as a discriminating diagnostic for spectral degeneracies in non-Hermitian systems
Exceptional points (EPs) are conventionally identified through eigenvector coalescence, inaccessible in classical platforms lacking a Hamiltonian spectrum. We introduce classical observable coalescence as a diagnostic identifying EPs directly from physical configurations, and demonstrate it in a known non-Hermitian Ising chain with coupling $J$ and staggered imaginary field $\gamma$, chosen for verifiability against established quantum results. A mean-field reduction of the Heisenberg dynamics yields equilibrium branches organising into two symmetry-related families whose fusion at the boundary of the EP supersurface $|\gamma|=|J|$ exhibits the characteristic $\sqrt{J^2-\gamma^2}$ branch-point structure and two-sheeted Riemann topology. Crucially, the degeneracy at $\gamma=0,\eta =0 $ is shown to be a diabolic point, producing no observable coalescence, establishing the diagnostic as discriminating rather than merely suggestive. An exact Jordan-Wigner and Bogoliubov-de Gennes treatment confirms eigenvector coalescence at the same threshold, and a coupled gain-loss circuit realisation is proposed, establishing classical observables as experimentally accessible signatures of non-Hermitian criticality.
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Quantum Physics
Spectral Analysis Beyond the Spectral Gap: Rapid Mixing of Quantum Gibbs Samplers in One Dimension
We prove rapid mixing of a quantum Gibbs sampler for general one-dimensional non-commuting local spin systems at every fixed positive temperature. In particular, for a system of $n$ sites, we show that the Kubo–Martin–Schwinger (KMS) detailed-balanced Gibbs sampler of~\cite{CKG2023} converges from any initial state to trace-norm error $\epsilon$ in time $O(\log^4(n)+\log(1/\epsilon))$. This improves the previous $O(n+\log(1/\epsilon))$ bound and establishes rapid mixing beyond high-temperature and weak-interaction regimes. Our proof explains why the slowest decay rate, captured by the spectral gap, can substantially underestimate the speed of equilibration. The key insight is that a state far from equilibrium must have a substantial component outside the span of low-weight Pauli operators, where stronger dissipation estimates apply. This yields two stages of relaxation: a double-exponential convergence from a bad initial state, followed by exponential convergence near equilibrium. We turn this mechanism into a framework for proving rapid mixing through spectral analysis beyond the gap. Our decay estimate is equivalent to exponential convergence in sandwiched Rényi-2 divergence. Together with the spectral gap, it also implies a modified logarithmic Sobolev inequality with rate $\Omega(\log^{-4}(n))$.
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Quantum Physics
Quantum Complexity of Solving Linear Equations on Higher-Order Networks
Higher-order networks (HONs) represent interactions among groups of objects, supporting the study of collective behaviour that pairwise models can miss. In simplicial models of these networks, Hodge Laplacian linear systems provide a common mathematical framework for analysis, for example, for solving statistical ranking problems and investigating long-term stability in coupled oscillator systems. The large number of variables associated with edges, triangles, and higher-dimensional simplices can make these systems costly to solve. Recent quantum algorithms address this bottleneck. However, comparisons with particular classical algorithms do not decision output whether solving these linear system problems establishes a quantum complexity foundation for provable quantum advantage. We prove that preparing a quantum state encoding the normalized minimum-norm solution of Hodge Laplacian linear systems is $\mathsf{BQP}$-hard under the specified sparse oracle model and parameter promises. Our sequence of reductions maps an arbitrary polynomial-time bounded-error quantum computation to such linear systems. Each reduction allows efficient recovery of the normalized minimum-norm solution of the preceding linear system. Together with an efficient quantum algorithm for the associated decision problem from the approximate solution state, we show that this problem is $\mathsf{BQP}$-complete. These results provide a worst-case complexity foundation for evaluating quantum advantage in HON analysis and show that the $\mathsf{BQP}$-hardness of the quantum linear system problem (QLSP) persists even when the matrices are restricted to Hodge Laplacians.
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Quantum Physics
Certified Randomness Generation against Quantum Adversaries via Energy Constraints
For quantum random number generators (QRNGs), strong security guarantees can be obtained under various assumptions. The most well-known assumptions are the non-signalling assumption (needed for device-independent (DI) QRNG) and post-quantum computational assumptions (needed for computationally bounded single-prover QRNG protocols). In this work, we study a third model: a simple prepare-and-measure QRNG whose security relies on physically motivated energy constraints. This physically motivated set-up allows for easier implementations of QRNGs and can supply better rates. So far, previous works that studied the energy-constrained model either assumed that the adversary is classical in their security proof or supplied relatively weak bounds on the certified randomness, by bounding the conditional min-entropy. In this work, we prove a new, essentially tight, lower bound on the single-round von Neumann entropy against adversaries holding both classical and quantum side-information. Our work reveals that working with the von Neumann entropy, rather than the min-entropy, in the quantum case can lead to a major improvement, nearly matching the classical bound in many cases. We further study the robustness of our entropy bound. Since the single-round von Neumann entropy is the main quantity of interest when characterizing the key rate of QRNGs, our bound establishes the main ingredient for rigorous security proofs against general quantum attacks in this framework.
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Quantum Physics
An efficient Hamiltonian-based quantum algorithm for characters of the symmetric group
Consider a quantum state vector proportional to any given column of the character table of the symmetric group ($S_n$), corresponding to a superposition over the irreps weighted by the character values. It was recently argued that sampling from this state is classically hard under reasonable complexity-theoretic assumptions, while there exists an efficient quantum algorithm for preparing this character state using the quantum Fourier transform (QFT) over $S_n$ [arXiv:2501.12579]. We give an alternative, simpler algorithm to prepare this character state with a sequence of Hamiltonian evolutions, as well as an efficient implementation with reconfigurable qubits that uses only nearest-neighbor gates in 1D. The gate complexity, accounting for Hamiltonian simulation errors, depends on the choice of the column: For fixed target state error, the estimated sufficient total gate count ranges from as few as $O(n)$ gates for the $n$-cycle column, to $\widetilde O(n^{1.75})$ gates near the conjecturally classically hard parameter regime, to provably $\widetilde O(n^{2.5})$ gates in the worst case. In contrast, the QFT subroutine in the prior approach uses $\widetilde O(n^3)$ gates. Our gate count estimates come from leading-order state-dependent Trotter error analysis, and the proven worst-case bound relies on a QSVT-based Hamiltonian simulation method; numerical benchmarks of the Trotter-based protocol suggest that the estimates are conservative. Furthermore, we generalize our protocol to give an explicit algorithm for the quantum character transform (QCT) over $S_n$ using $\widetilde O(n^{2.5})$ gates and $O(n)$ qubits. An application to entanglement entropy of symmetric orbifold conformal field theories is also discussed.
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Quantum Physics
Momentum-Space Path Integral Approach to Non-Hermitian Symmetry Breaking
A quantum-classical correspondence for non-Hermitian symmetry breaking has recently been established using coordinate-space path integrals, providing a semiclassical understanding of spectral transitions at the level of individual eigenstates. Here we develop its dual formulation in momentum space by constructing the corresponding trace formula and quantization condition. We show that the real or complex nature of individual eigenvalues is determined by the symmetry properties of the associated semiclassical orbits, as in the coordinate-space path-integral approach. Moreover, we demonstrate that the topology of semiclassical orbits determines the natural formulation of the quantization condition: the coordinate- and momentum-space formulations are equivalent for contractible periodic orbits in phase space, whereas for noncontractible orbits, the quantization condition along the winding direction remains valid, but its dual form must be corrected by a boundary term. In particular, real-space-winding and Brillouin-zone-winding orbits naturally select coordinate- and momentum-space quantization, respectively. As a nontrivial application, we investigate the boundary-induced spectral transition of Bloch oscillations in a finite non-Hermitian lattice, where Bloch-oscillation orbits winding across the Brillouin zone preserve the relevant symmetry and yield real energy levels, whereas boundary-reflected orbits form symmetry-related pairs and give rise to complex-conjugate eigenvalues. Our work completes the quantum-classical correspondence framework for non-Hermitian symmetry breaking, extending its applicability to a broader class of non-Hermitian problems.
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Quantum Physics
Universal Improvement of Channel Fidelity via Entanglement Assistance
Communication using quantum channels generally requires encoding and decoding on many identical uses of a quantum channel. In practical settings, decoherence may severely limit our ability to do so, potentially rendering each channel use nonidentical. Given $n$ nonidentical channels, we present an entanglement-assisted encoding and decoding strategy that yields a channel with higher worst-case fidelity than all of the $n$ given channels. The strategy is universal, in the sense that the improvement holds regardless of what channels are given, as long as they satisfy mild assumptions on their initial entanglement fidelities. Our protocol is optimal when the given channels are depolarizing channels, and is essentially the unique one that is universal. This idea can also be extended to classical channels, where shared randomness between the sender and the receiver allows universal enhancement of the probability of correct transmission. We then consider general quantum resource theories, providing a necessary condition and a sufficient condition for the possibility of such universal improvement of quantum resources.
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Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from physics.optics
Constraints on the Origin of Universal $1/f^2$ Photon-Count Spectra at Baseband
A series of 11.6-d-duration photon-counting experiments, employing a broad variety of light sources with different statistical properties and optical spectra, were carried out over a 1.5-yr period. All of the photon-count spectra at baseband followed a common $1/f^2$ form over the frequency range $1 \times 10^{-6} \leqslant f \leqslant 5 \times 10^{-4}$ Hz, corresponding to a timescale range $33$ min $ \leqslant T_f \leqslant 11.6$ d, where $T_f \equiv 1/f$. The lower and upper timescale limits were established by the photodetector noise floor and the duration of the individual experiments, respectively. Unlike ordinary Brownian motion, all of the measured photon-count sample paths exhibited irregular long-timescale fluctuations, with durations ranging from hours to days. It has been established that the photon-count spectra cannot plausibly be ascribed to fluctuations of the current, voltage, or temperature of the source or the detector, nor to technical sources of noise associated with the optical system or local environment. Although the physical origin of the photon-count fluctuations remains unresolved, several heterodox hypotheses are set forth. From a statistical point-of-view, the photon counts appear to follow a doubly stochastic Poisson process with a slowly varying random intensity. Analogous experiments that rely on ionizing radiation and direct-conversion solid-state radiation detectors are proposed.
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Quantum Physics
Transformer-Based Time-Series Inference of Lindblad Dynamics in Open Quantum Systems
The Lindblad master equation is the standard framework for describing the non-unitary evolution of open quantum systems, where environmental interactions induce dissipation and decoherence. When both the system Hamiltonian and the dissipation rates are partially unknown or explicitly time-dependent, traditional analytical inversion and system-identification techniques become intractable. Recent works have demonstrated that Transformer-based models can infer unknown dissipation rates from observable time series, yet these approaches typically rely on hand-crafted statistical features under idealized and highly restricted conditions. Here we advance the paradigm by introducing a raw time-series Transformer that directly ingests the full trajectories of Pauli expectation values $\langle\sigma _x(t)\rangle$, $\langle\sigma _y(t)\rangle$, and $\langle\sigma_z(t)\rangle$, thereby fully exploiting the self-attention mechanism for temporal modeling. The architecture is further extended to jointly learn unknown Hamiltonian parameters, handle multiple dissipation channels, and operate robustly under realistic measurement noise. Across all tested scenarios the model achieves consistently high reconstruction accuracy while eliminating manual feature engineering. This provides a scalable, robust, and versatile framework for quantum environment sensing in realistic open quantum systems.
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Sunday 4 October
Quantum Physics · Cross-listed from cond-mat.stat-mech
A numerical and efficient model for thermo-field electron emission calculations
As electron sources are reduced in size, fabricated in new materials, or pushed for performance, the analytical formulations for thermo-field electron emission, namely Fowler-Nordheim and Murphy-Good equations and their JWKB-based extensions, are increasingly applied out of the range of conditions for which they were derived. We present GETELEC-3, an open-source code that replaces them with a direct numerical solution of the one-dimensional time-independent Schrödinger equation (1D-TISE). Several methods to solve the 1D-TISE have been implemented to test for speed, robustness, and solution's uncertainty. The Noumerov algorithm is found to be quickest, with the solution uncertainty below 1%, and together with an optimised kernel that advances all electron energies in parallel, the cost of calculating the current density is reduced to a few milliseconds - comparable to the JWKB evaluation. To further boost the calculation speed, especially in complicated barriers, a neural network has been trained on the residual of the logarithm of the semiclassical reference and it reproduces the current density better than 0.4% at a fraction of the computational cost. The code is developed for metals and semiconductors, accepts arbitrary potentials and density of states, and comes with a user-friendly interface and compiled executable to democratise rigorous electron emission calculations and data analysis.
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Quantum Physics
Exact Unitary Synthesis: Simultaneously Optimal in Size and Depth-Ancilla Tradeoff
Unitary synthesis underlies universal quantum computation by translating unitary transformations into circuits of elementary gates. We show that for any budget $m\geq 0$ of ancilla, every $n$-qubit unitary can be exactly implemented using a quantum circuit consisting of $O(4^n)$ CNOT and single-qubit gates in $O(n+4^n/(n+m))$ layers attaining the asymptotically optimal depth–ancilla tradeoff while simultaneously achieving optimal circuit size. The key idea is to encode computational basis states as wavefunctions sharing a Gaussian envelope, converting unitary action on amplitudes into coordinate transformations that admit shallow circuit implementations. The continuous encoding is then discretized, with approximation errors removed by exact residual correction. The depth-ancilla tradeoff follows by recursively applying the quantum Shannon decomposition, synthesizing its smaller unitary factors, and reusing ancillary qubits.