Multiscale Entanglement Renormalization Ansatz Research Articles

Quantum bit threads of MERA tensor network in large c limit * * Supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11975116, 11665016, 11563006), and Jiangxi Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scientists (20192BCB23007)

The Ryu-Takayanagi (RT) formula plays a large role in the current theory of gauge-gravity duality and emergent geometry phenomena. The recent reinterpretation of this formula in terms of a set of “bit threads” is an interesting effort in understanding holography. In this study, we investigate a quantum generalization of the “bit threads” based on a tensor network, with particular focus on the multi-scale entanglement renormalization ansatz (MERA). We demonstrate that, in the large c limit, isometries of the MERA can be regarded as “sources” (or “sinks”) of the information flow, which extensively modifies the original picture of bit threads by introducing a new variable ρ: density of the isometries. In this modified picture of information flow, the isometries can be viewed as generators of the flow. The strong subadditivity and related properties of the entanglement entropy are also obtained in this new picture. The large c limit implies that classical gravity can emerge from the information flow.

A holographic duality from lifted tensor networks

Tensor networks provide an efficient classical representation of certain strongly correlated quantum many-body systems. We present a general lifting method to ascribe quantum states to the network structure itself that reveals important new physical features. To illustrate, we focus on the multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz (MERA) tensor network for 1D critical ground states on a lattice. The MERA representation of the said state can be lifted to a 2D quantum dual in a way that is suggestive of a lattice version of the holographic correspondence from string theory. The bulk 2D state has an efficient quantum circuit construction and exhibits several features of holography, including the appearance of horizon-like holographic screens, short-ranged correlations described via a strange correlator and bulk gauging of global on-site symmetries at the boundary. Notably, the lifting provides a way to calculate a quantum-corrected Ryu–Takayanagi formula, and map bulk operators to boundary operators and vice versa.

Quantum convolutional neural networks

We introduce and analyze a novel quantum machine learning model motivated by convolutional neural networks. Our quantum convolutional neural network (QCNN) makes use of only $O(\log(N))$ variational parameters for input sizes of $N$ qubits, allowing for its efficient training and implementation on realistic, near-term quantum devices. The QCNN architecture combines the multi-scale entanglement renormalization ansatz and quantum error correction. We explicitly illustrate its potential with two examples. First, QCNN is used to accurately recognize quantum states associated with 1D symmetry-protected topological phases. We numerically demonstrate that a QCNN trained on a small set of exactly solvable points can reproduce the phase diagram over the entire parameter regime and also provide an exact, analytical QCNN solution. As a second application, we utilize QCNNs to devise a quantum error correction scheme optimized for a given error model. We provide a generic framework to simultaneously optimize both encoding and decoding procedures and find that the resultant scheme significantly outperforms known quantum codes of comparable complexity. Finally, potential experimental realization and generalizations of QCNNs are discussed.

Machine learning by unitary tensor network of hierarchical tree structure

The resemblance between the methods used in quantum-many body physics and in machine learning has drawn considerable attention. In particular, tensor networks (TNs) and deep learning architectures bear striking similarities to the extent that TNs can be used for machine learning. Previous results used one-dimensional TNs in image recognition, showing limited scalability and flexibilities. In this work, we train two-dimensional hierarchical TNs to solve image recognition problems, using a training algorithm derived from the multi-scale entanglement renormalization ansatz. This approach introduces mathematical connections among quantum many-body physics, quantum information theory, and machine learning. While keeping the TN unitary in the training phase, TN states are defined, which encode classes of images into quantum many-body states. We study the quantum features of the TN states, including quantum entanglement and fidelity. We find these quantities could be properties that characterize the image classes, as well as the machine learning tasks.

Entanglement renormalization for chiral topological phases

We considered the question of applying the multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz (MERA) to describe chiral topological phases. We defined a functional for each layer in the MERA, which captures the correlation length. With some algebraic geometry tools, we rigorously proved its monotonicity with respect to adjacent layers, and the existence of a lower bound for chiral states, which shows a trade-off between the bond dimension and the correlation length. Using this theorem, we showed the number of orbitals per cell (which roughly corresponds to the bond dimension) should grow with the height. Conversely, if we restrict the bond dimensions to be constant, then there is an upper bound of the height. Specifically, we established a no-go theorem stating that we will not approach a renormalization fixed point in this case.

Continuous Tensor Network States for Quantum Fields

We introduce a new class of states for bosonic quantum fields which extend tensor network states to the continuum and generalize continuous matrix product states (cMPS) to spatial dimensions $d\geq 2$. By construction, they are Euclidean invariant, and are genuine continuum limits of discrete tensor network states. Admitting both a functional integral and an operator representation, they share the important properties of their discrete counterparts: expressiveness, invariance under gauge transformations, simple rescaling flow, and compact expressions for the $N$-point functions of local observables. While we discuss mostly the continuous tensor network states extending Projected Entangled Pair States (PEPS), we propose a generalization bearing similarities with the continuum Multi-scale Entanglement Renormalization Ansatz (cMERA).

Entanglement renormalization and symmetry fractionalization

It is well known that the matrix product state (MPS) description of a gapped ground state with a global on-site symmetry can exhibit "symmetry fractionalization". Namely, even though the symmetry acts as a linear representation on the physical degrees of freedom, the MPS matrices---which act on some virtual degrees of freedom---can transform under a projective representation. This was instrumental in classifying gapped symmetry protected phases that manifest in one dimensional quantum many-body systems. Here we consider the multi-scale entanglement renormalization ansatz (MERA) description of 1D ground states that have global on-site symmetries. We show that, in contrast to the MPS, the symmetry does not fractionalize in the MERA description if the ground state is gapped, assuming that the MERA preserves the symmetry at all length scales. However, it is still possible that the symmetry can fractionalize in the MERA if the ground state is critical, which may be relevant for characterizing critical symmetry protected phases. Our results also motivate the presumed use of symmetric tensors to implement global on-site symmetries in MERA algorithms.

Scale-Invariant Continuous Entanglement Renormalization of a Chern Insulator.

The multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz (MERA) postulates the existence of quantum circuits that renormalize entanglement in real space at different length scales. Chern insulators, however, cannot have scale-invariant discrete MERA circuits with a finite bond dimension. In this Letter, we show that the continuous MERA (cMERA), a modified version of MERA adapted for field theories, possesses a fixed point wave function with a nonzero Chern number. Additionally, it is well known that reversed MERA circuits can be used to prepare quantum states efficiently in time that scales logarithmically with the size of the system. However, state preparation via MERA typically requires the advent of a full-fledged universal quantum computer. In this Letter, we demonstrate that our cMERA circuit can potentially be realized in existing analog quantum computers, i.e., an ultracold atomic Fermi gas in an optical lattice with light-induced spin-orbit coupling.

Benchmarking treewidth as a practical component of tensor network simulations.

Tensor networks are powerful factorization techniques which reduce resource requirements for numerically simulating principal quantum many-body systems and algorithms. The computational complexity of a tensor network simulation depends on the tensor ranks and the order in which they are contracted. Unfortunately, computing optimal contraction sequences (orderings) in general is known to be a computationally difficult (NP-complete) task. In 2005, Markov and Shi showed that optimal contraction sequences correspond to optimal (minimum width) tree decompositions of a tensor network’s line graph, relating the contraction sequence problem to a rich literature in structural graph theory. While treewidth-based methods have largely been ignored in favor of dataset-specific algorithms in the prior tensor networks literature, we demonstrate their practical relevance for problems arising from two distinct methods used in quantum simulation: multi-scale entanglement renormalization ansatz (MERA) datasets and quantum circuits generated by the quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA). We exhibit multiple regimes where treewidth-based algorithms outperform domain-specific algorithms, while demonstrating that the optimal choice of algorithm has a complex dependence on the network density, expected contraction complexity, and user run time requirements. We further provide an open source software framework designed with an emphasis on accessibility and extendability, enabling replicable experimental evaluations and future exploration of competing methods by practitioners.

Toward a Definition of Complexity for Quantum Field Theory States.

We investigate notions of complexity of states in continuous many-body quantum systems. We focus on Gaussian states which include ground states of free quantum field theories and their approximations encountered in the context of the continuous version of the multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz. Our proposal for quantifying state complexity is based on the Fubini-Study metric. It leads to counting the number of applications of each gate (infinitesimal generator) in the transformation, subject to a state-dependent metric. We minimize the defined complexity with respect to momentum-preserving quadratic generators which form su(1,1) algebras. On the manifold of Gaussian states generated by these operations, the Fubini-Study metric factorizes into hyperbolic planes with minimal complexity circuits reducing to known geodesics. Despite working with quantum field theories far outside the regime where Einstein gravity duals exist, we find striking similarities between our results and those of holographic complexity proposals.

Tensor network state correspondence and holography

In recent years, tensor network states have emerged as a very useful conceptual and simulation framework to study quantum many-body systems at low energies. In this paper, we describe a particular way in which any given tensor network can be viewed as a representation of two different quantum many-body states. The two quantum many-body states are said to correspond to each other by means of the tensor network. We apply this "tensor network state correspondence"---a correspondence between quantum many-body states mediated by tensor networks as we describe---to the multi-scale entanglement renormalization ansatz (MERA) representation of ground states of one dimensional (1D) quantum many-body systems. Since the MERA is a 2D hyperbolic tensor network (the extra dimension is identified as the length scale of the 1D system), the two quantum many-body states obtained from the MERA, via tensor network state correspondence, are seen to live in the bulk and on the boundary of a discrete hyperbolic geometry. The bulk state so obtained from a MERA exhibits interesting features, some of which caricature known features of the holographic correspondence of String theory. We show how (i) the bulk state admits a description in terms of "holographic screens", (ii) the conformal field theory data associated with a critical ground state can be obtained from the corresponding bulk state, in particular, how pointlike boundary operators are identified with extended bulk operators. (iii) We also present numerical results to illustrate that bulk states, dual to ground states of several critical spin chains, have exponentially decaying correlations, and that the bulk correlation length generally decreases with increase in central charge for these spin chains.

De Sitter space as a tensor network: Cosmic no-hair, complementarity, and complexity

We investigate the proposed connection between de Sitter spacetime and the MERA (Multiscale Entanglement Renormalization Ansatz) tensor network, and ask what can be learned via such a construction. We show that the quantum state obeys a cosmic no-hair theorem: the reduced density operator describing a causal patch of the MERA asymptotes to a fixed point of a quantum channel, just as spacetimes with a positive cosmological constant asymptote to de Sitter. The MERA is potentially compatible with a weak form of complementarity (local physics only describes single patches at a time, but the overall Hilbert space is infinite-dimensional) or, with certain specific modifications to the tensor structure, a strong form (the entire theory describes only a single patch plus its horizon, in a finite-dimensional Hilbert space). We also suggest that de Sitter evolution has an interpretation in terms of circuit complexity, as has been conjectured for anti-de Sitter space.

Entanglement and correlations in the continuous multi-scale entanglement renormalization ansatz

We investigate the entanglement structure of the continuous multi-scale entanglement renormalization ansatz (cMERA) [Haegeman et al., Phys. Rev. Lett.110 (2013) 100402] for ground states of quantum field theories (QFTs). The cMERA, proposed as an extension to QFTs of the lattice MERA, is defined directly in the continuum but is nevertheless naturally equipped with a short-distance scale 1/Λ that acts as a UV regulator for quantum fluctuations. We consider the simplified setting of Gaussian cMERA for free QFTs, where explicit calculations can be performed. For relativistic free massless bosonic and fermionic QFTs in both 1+1 and 2+1 spacetime dimensions, we show that the cMERA state indeed displays no UV divergences in two-point correlation functions or entanglement entropy, in sharp contrast with the exact ground states.

Fast Quantum State Transfer and Entanglement Renormalization Using Long-Range Interactions.

In short-range interacting systems, the speed at which entanglement can be established between two separated points is limited by a constant Lieb-Robinson velocity. Long-range interacting systems are capable of faster entanglement generation, but the degree of the speedup possible is an open question. In this Letter, we present a protocol capable of transferring a quantum state across a distance L in d dimensions using long-range interactions with a strength bounded by 1/r^{α}. If α<d, the state transfer time is asymptotically independent of L; if α=d, the time scales logarithmically with the distance L; if d<α<d+1, the transfer occurs in a time proportional to L^{α-d}; and if α≥d+1, it occurs in a time proportional to L. We then use this protocol to upper bound the time required to create a state specified by a multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz (MERA) tensor network and show that if the linear size of the MERA state is L, then it can be created in a time that scales with L identically to the state transfer up to logarithmic corrections. This protocol realizes an exponential speedup in cases of α=d, which could be useful in creating large entangled states for dipole-dipole (1/r^{3}) interactions in three dimensions.

Entanglement renormalization for disordered systems

We propose a tensor network method for investigating strongly disordered systems that is based on an adaptation of entanglement renormalization [G. Vidal, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 220405 (2007)]. This method makes use of the strong disorder renormalization group to determine the order in which lattice sites are coarse-grained, which sets the overall structure of the corresponding tensor network ansatz, before optimization using variational energy minimization. Benchmark results from the disordered XXZ model demonstrates that this approach accurately captures ground state entanglement in disordered systems, even at long distances. This approach leads to a new class of efficiently contractible tensor network ansatz for 1D systems, which may be understood as a generalization of the multi-scale entanglement renormalization ansatz for disordered systems.

Towards a dS/MERA correspondence

Recent advances have suggested that spacetime itself emerges from the entanglement of the quantum degrees of freedom living on the boundary. In the case of the anti-de Sitter (AdS) spacetimes, a particular class of tensor networks has been shown to realize the same via Multi-Scale Entanglement Renormalization Ansatz (MERA). In this paper, we suggest a prescription for the dS/MERA correspondence and recover a discrete version of dS Penrose diagram by using the MERA on conformal theories identified with the future/past boundaries ([Formula: see text]) of the dS spacetime. In this case, as anticipated, time appears as the emergent direction. We comment on the possible interpretation that the dS cosmological horizon entropy involves entanglement with degrees of freedom across the cosmological horizon as well as the implications of our construction for cosmology.

Hyperinvariant Tensor Networks and Holography.

We propose a new class of tensor network state as a model for the AdS/CFT correspondence and holography. This class is demonstrated to retain key features of the multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz (MERA), in that they describe quantum states with algebraic correlation functions, have free variational parameters, and are efficiently contractible. Yet, unlike the MERA, they are built according to a uniform tiling of hyperbolic space, without inherent directionality or preferred locations in the holographic bulk, and thus circumvent key arguments made against the MERA as a model for AdS/CFT. Novel holographic features of this tensor network class are examined, such as an equivalence between the causal cones C(R) and the entanglement wedges E(R) of connected boundary regions R.

Anomalies and entanglement renormalization

We study 't Hooft anomalies of discrete groups in the framework of (1+1)-dimensional multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz states on the lattice. Using matrix product operators, general topological restrictions on conformal data are derived. An ansatz class allowing for optimization of MERA with an anomalous symmetry is introduced. We utilize this class to numerically study a family of Hamiltonians with a symmetric critical line. Conformal data is obtained for all irreducible projective representations of each anomalous symmetry twist, corresponding to definite topological sectors. It is numerically demonstrated that this line is a protected gapless phase. Finally, we implement a duality transformation between a pair of critical lines using our subclass of MERA.

Spacetime Symmetries and Conformal Data in the Continuous Multiscale Entanglement Renormalization Ansatz.

The generalization of the multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz (MERA) to continuous systems, or cMERA [Haegeman etal., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 100402 (2013)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.110.100402], is expected to become a powerful variational ansatz for the ground state of strongly interacting quantum field theories. In this Letter, we investigate, in the simpler context of Gaussian cMERA for free theories, the extent to which the cMERA state |Ψ^{Λ}⟩ with finite UV cutoff Λ can capture the spacetime symmetries of the ground state |Ψ⟩. For a free boson conformal field theory (CFT) in 1+1 dimensions, as a concrete example, we build a quasilocal unitary transformation V that maps |Ψ⟩ into |Ψ^{Λ}⟩ and show two main results. (i)Any spacetime symmetry of the ground state |Ψ⟩ is also mapped by V into a spacetime symmetry of the cMERA |Ψ^{Λ}⟩. However, while in the CFT, the stress-energy tensor T_{μν}(x) (in terms of which all the spacetime symmetry generators are expressed) is local, and the corresponding cMERA stress-energy tensor T_{μν}^{Λ}(x)=VT_{μν}(x)V^{†} is quasilocal. (ii)From the cMERA, we can extract quasilocal scaling operators O_{α}^{Λ}(x) characterized by the exact same scaling dimensions Δ_{α}, conformal spins s_{α}, operator product expansion coefficients C_{αβγ}, and central charge c as the original CFT. Finally, we argue that these results should also apply to interacting theories.

Holographic dynamics from multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz

The Multiscale Entanglement Renormalization Ansatz (MERA) is a tensor network based variational ansatz that is capable of capturing many of the key physical properties of strongly correlated ground states such as criticality and topological order. MERA also shares many deep relationships with the AdS/CFT (gauge-gravity) correspondence by realizing a UV complete holographic duality within the tensor networks framework. Motivated by this, we have re-purposed the MERA tensor network as an analysis tool to study the real-time evolution of the 1D transverse Ising model in its low energy excited state sector. We performed this analysis by allowing the ancilla qubits of the MERA tensor network to acquire quantum fluctuations, which yields a unitary transform between the physical (boundary) and ancilla qubit (bulk) Hilbert spaces. This then defines a reversible quantum circuit which is used as a `holographic transform' to study excited states and their real-time dynamics from the point of the bulk ancillae. In the gapped paramagnetic phase of the transverse field Ising model, we demonstrate the holographic duality between excited states induced by single spin-flips (Ising `magnons') acting on the ground state and single ancilla qubit spin-flips. The single ancillae qubit excitation is shown to be stable in the bulk under real-time evolution and hence defines a stable holographic quasiparticle which we have named the `hologron'. The `dictionary' between the bulk and boundary is determined and realizes many features of the holographic correspondence in a non-CFT limit of the boundary theory. As an added spin-off, this dictionary together with the extension to multi-hologron sectors gives us a systematic way to construct quantitatively accurate low energy effective Hamiltonians.