Quantum Systems In Thermal Equilibrium Research Articles

Preparing quantum statistical ensembles using mid-circuit measurements

We explore the relationship between entropy and quantum measurements and present a variational algorithm for preparing statistical ensembles on quantum computers using mid-circuit measurements. This algorithm optimizes both the entropy and variational parameters describing the state to obtain the minimum free energy of quantum systems in thermal equilibrium with some external heat bath. We demonstrate our algorithm on IBM-Q Lagos.

Improved local truncation schemes for the higher-order tensor renormalization group method

The higher-order tensor renormalization group is a tensor-network method providing estimates for the partition function and thermodynamical observables of classical and quantum systems in thermal equilibrium. At every step of the iterative blocking procedure, the coarse-grid tensor is truncated to keep the tensor dimension under control. For a consistent tensor blocking procedure, it is crucial that the forward and backward tensor modes are projected on the same lower-dimensional subspaces. In this paper we present two methods, the SuperQ and the iterative SuperQ method, to construct tensor truncations that reduce or even minimize the local approximation errors, while satisfying this constraint.

Quantum algorithms from fluctuation theorems: Thermal-state preparation

Fluctuation theorems provide a correspondence between properties of quantum systems in thermal equilibrium and a work distribution arising in a non-equilibrium process that connects two quantum systems with HamiltoniansH0andH1=H0+V. Building upon these theorems, we present a quantum algorithm to prepare a purification of the thermal state ofH1at inverse temperatureβ≥0starting from a purification of the thermal state ofH0. The complexity of the quantum algorithm, given by the number of uses of certain unitaries, isO~(eβ(ΔA−wl)/2), whereΔAis the free-energy difference betweenH1andH0,andwlis a work cutoff that depends on the properties of the work distribution and the approximation errorϵ>0. If the non-equilibrium process is trivial, this complexity is exponential inβ‖V‖, where‖V‖is the spectral norm ofV. This represents a significant improvement of prior quantum algorithms that have complexity exponential inβ‖H1‖in the regime where‖V‖≪‖H1‖. The dependence of the complexity inϵvaries according to the structure of the quantum systems. It can be exponential in1/ϵin general, but we show it to be sublinear in1/ϵifH0andH1commute, or polynomial in1/ϵifH0andH1are local spin systems. The possibility of applying a unitary that drives the system out of equilibrium allows one to increase the value ofwland improve the complexity even further. To this end, we analyze the complexity for preparing the thermal state of the transverse field Ising model using different non-equilibrium unitary processes and see significant complexity improvements.

Classical field theory limit of many-body quantum Gibbs states in 2D and 3D

We provide a rigorous derivation of nonlinear Gibbs measures in two and three space dimensions, starting from many-body quantum systems in thermal equilibrium. More precisely, we prove that the grand-canonical Gibbs state of a large bosonic quantum system converges to the Gibbs measure of a nonlinear Schrodinger-type classical field theory, in terms of partition functions and reduced density matrices. The Gibbs measure thus describes the behavior of the infinite Bose gas at criticality, that is, close to the phase transition to a Bose–Einstein condensate. The Gibbs measure is concentrated on singular distributions and has to be appropriately renormalized, while the quantum system is well defined without any renormalization. By tuning a single real parameter (the chemical potential), we obtain a counter-term for the diverging repulsive interactions which provides the desired Wick renormalization of the limit classical theory. The proof relies on a new estimate on the entropy relative to quasi-free states and a novel method to control quantum variances.

The third law of thermodynamics in open quantum systems

We consider open quantum systems consisting of a finite system of independent fermions with arbitrary Hamiltonian coupled to one or more equilibrium fermion reservoirs (which need not be in equilibrium with each other). A strong form of the third law of thermodynamics, S(T) → 0 as T → 0, is proven for fully open quantum systems in thermal equilibrium with their environment, defined as systems where all states are broadened due to environmental coupling. For generic open quantum systems, it is shown that S(T) → g ln 2 as T → 0, where g is the number of localized states lying exactly at the chemical potential of the reservoir. For driven open quantum systems in a nonequilibrium steady state, it is shown that the local entropy Sx;T→0 as T(x) → 0, except for cases of measure zero arising due to localized states, where T(x) is the temperature measured by a local thermometer.

Out-of-time-order fluctuation-dissipation theorem

We prove a generalized fluctuation-dissipation theorem for a certain class of out-of-time-ordered correlators (OTOCs) with a modified statistical average, which we call bipartite OTOCs, for general quantum systems in thermal equilibrium. The difference between the bipartite and physical OTOCs defined by the usual statistical average is quantified by a measure of quantum fluctuations known as the Wigner-Yanase skew information. Within this difference, the theorem describes a universal relation between chaotic behavior in quantum systems and a nonlinear-response function that involves a time-reversed process. We show that the theorem can be generalized to higher-order n-partite OTOCs as well as in the form of generalized covariance.

Quantum entanglement at high temperatures? Bosonic systems in nonequilibrium steady state

This is the second of a series of three papers examining how viable it is for entanglement to be sustained at high temperatures for quantum systems in thermal equilibrium (Case A), in nonequilibrium (Case B) and in nonequilibrium steady state conditions (Case C). The system we analyze here consists of two coupled quantum harmonic oscillators each interacting with its own bath described by a scalar field, set at temperatures $T_1 > T_2$. For \textit{constant bilinear inter-oscillator coupling} studied here (Case C1) owing to the Gaussian nature, the problem can be solved exactly at arbitrary temperatures even for strong coupling. We find that the valid entanglement criterion in general is not a function of the bath temperature difference, in contrast to thermal transport in the same NESS setting [1]. Thus lowering the temperature of one of the thermal baths does not necessarily help to safeguard the entanglement between the oscillators. Indeed, quantum entanglement will disappear if any one of the thermal baths has a temperature higher than the critical temperature $T_c$. With the Langevin equations derived we give a full display of how entanglement dynamics in this system depends on $T_{1}$, $T_{2}$ , the inter-oscillator coupling and the system-bath coupling strengths. For weak oscillator-bath coupling the critical temperature $T_c$ is about the order of the inverse oscillator frequency, but for strong oscillator-bath coupling it will depend on the bath cutoff frequency. We conclude that in most realistic circumstances, for bosonic systems in NESS with constant bilinear coupling, `hot entanglement' is largely a fiction. In Paper III we will examine the case (C2) of \textit{time-dependent driven coupling } which contains the parametric pumping type described in [2] wherein entanglement was first shown to sustain at high temperatures.

Extracting spectral properties from Keldysh Green functions

We investigate the possibility to assist the numerically ill-posed calculation of spectral properties of interacting quantum systems in thermal equilibrium by extending the imaginary-time simulation to a finite Schwinger-Keldysh contour. The effect of this extension is tested within the standard maximum entropy approach to analytic continuation. We find that the inclusion of real-time data improves the resolution of structures at high energy, while the imaginary-time data are needed to correctly reproduce low-frequency features such as quasiparticle peaks. As a nonequilibrium application, we consider the calculation of time-dependent spectral functions from retarded Green function data on a finite time interval, and compare the maximum entropy approach to direct Fourier transformation and a method based on Padé approximants.

Fluctuation-dissipation relations and critical quenches in the transverse field Ising chain

Dynamic correlation and response functions of classical and quantum systems in thermal equilibrium are connected by fluctuation-dissipation theorems, which allow an alternative definition of their (unique) temperature. Motivated by this fundamental property, we revisit the issue of thermalization of closed many-body quantum systems long after a sudden quench, focussing on the non-equilibrium dynamics of the Ising chain in a critical transverse field. We show the emergence of distinct observable-dependent effective temperatures, which rule out Gibbs thermalization in a strict sense but might still have a thermodynamic meaning.

Random Hamiltonian in thermal equilibrium

A framework for the investigation of disordered quantum systems in thermal equilibrium is proposed. The approach is based on a dynamical model—which consists of a combination of a double-bracket gradient flow and a uniform Brownian fluctuation—that 'equilibrates' the Hamiltonian into a canonical distribution. The resulting equilibrium state is used to calculate quenched and annealed averages of quantum observables.

Statistical mean-field theory of finite quantum systems: canonical ensemble formulation

We develop a statistical mean-field theory of finite quantum systems in thermal equilibrium. Our formulation employs the canonical ensemble of statistical mechanics, and it enables us to analytically determine the occupation number distributions of interacting particles obeying Bose–Einstein or Fermi–Dirac statistics. We have also developed a numerical procedure that enables us to obtain a universal scaled occupation number distribution that, for a given total number of interacting particles in a finite system, makes it possible to determine the occupation number distribution for any temperature. The developed mean-field theory is applicable to a wide range of atomic, nuclear and condensed matter systems for which finite-size effects can play an important role. In particular, the present approach makes it possible to formulate a finite temperature mean-field theory for a specific ion in a dense plasma.

Fundamental aspects of quantum Brownian motion

With this work we elaborate on the physics of quantum noise in thermal equilibrium and in stationary nonequilibrium. Starting out from the celebrated quantum fluctuation-dissipation theorem we discuss some important consequences that must hold for open, dissipative quantum systems in thermal equilibrium. The issue of quantum dissipation is exemplified with the fundamental problem of a damped harmonic quantum oscillator. The role of quantum fluctuations is discussed in the context of both, the nonlinear generalized quantum Langevin equation and the path integral approach. We discuss the consequences of the time-reversal symmetry for an open dissipative quantum dynamics and, furthermore, point to a series of subtleties and possible pitfalls. The path integral methodology is applied to the decay of metastable states assisted by quantum Brownian noise.

Problem of equilibration and the computation of correlation functions on a quantum computer

We address the question of how a quantum computer can be used to simulate experiments on quantum systems in thermal equilibrium. We present two approaches for the preparation of the equilibrium state on a quantum computer. For both approaches, we show that the output state of the algorithm, after long enough time, is the desired equilibrium. We present a numerical analysis of one of these approaches for small systems. We show how equilibrium (time)-correlation functions can be efficiently estimated on a quantum computer, given a preparation of the equilibrium state. The quantum algorithms that we present are hard to simulate on a classical computer. This indicates that they could provide an exponential speedup over what can be achieved with a classical device.