arXiv subjects

Justin H. Wilson

Publications and source records attributed to Justin H. Wilson.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Measurement and feedback-driven adaptive dynamics in the classical and quantum kicked top

In classical dynamical systems, stochastic feedback can stabilize otherwise unstable periodic orbits, giving rise to distinct controlled and uncontrolled phases as the rate of control application is varied. In this work, we apply these control protocols in classical, semiclassical, and quantum regimes to the kicked top, a paradigmatic model of quantum chaos. The quantum kicked top, modeled as the dynamics of a spin-S object, naturally interpolates between these regimes with the spin size S acting as an effective Planck constant. We show that the dynamics of the kicked top in classical, semiclassical, and fully quantum limits can all be controlled using stochastic feedback protocols. Comparing the full quantum dynamics to a truncated Wigner approximation that captures quantum noise but neglects interference beyond the Ehrenfest time, we find that low-moment observables are largely accounted for semiclassically, while the remaining discrepancy in higher moments is consistent with contributions from interference and possibly nonlinearities in rare trajectories that explore the compact phase space. We also find rapid purification in the numerics studied for all rates of control considered, suggesting that control quenches the top's ability to encode a qubit of quantum information even in the uncontrolled phase.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Post-selected Criticality in Measurement-induced Phase Transitions

Information-theoretic phase transitions, such as the measurement-induced phase transition (MIPT), characterize the robustness of quantum dynamics to local monitoring and are naturally formulated in terms of trajectories conditioned on typical measurement outcomes, which are naively accessible only through post-selection. Here we implement forced measurements to investigate how explicit post-selection alters the nature of the transition. We find that post-selection fundamentally alters the universality class by reweighting trajectories that are otherwise rare. In particular, we obtain a correlation-length exponent $\nu\approx 2.1$ larger than that of the standard MIPT and a negative effective central charge $c_\mathrm{eff}\approx -0.4$. We also compare the post-selected MIPT to the entanglement transition of Random Tensor Networks (RTN), and demonstrate that their universality class is the same. This setup further allows time-periodic, translationally-invariant circuits with post-selected weak measurements. In both models, we find that an onsite dimension of at least 3 (qutrits but not qubits) is necessary to induce a transition.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Twisted Trilayer Graphene, Quasiperiodic Superconductor

Twisted multilayer moir\'e materials are generically quasiperiodic on the moir\'e scale due to the interference of different misaligned moir\'e periodicities. Spatial inhomogeneities such as these can be detrimental to superconductivity; nonetheless, superconductivity has been observed in quasiperiodic twisted trilayer graphene (TTG). Here, we systematically study the superconducting properties of TTG. We reveal that an interplay between quasiperiodicity and topology drives TTG into a critical regime, enabling it to host superconductivity with rigid phase stiffness for a wide range of twist angles, rather than at a fine-tuned value. The criticality in the normal state is due to the Dirac fermions coupled by quasiperiodic tunneling simulating 3D topological superconductor surface states. This critical-metal regime is marked by multifractal wave functions across the spectrum and scale-invariant transport reminiscent of the integer quantum Hall plateau transition. We demonstrate this with large-scale wave function and Kubo conductivity calculations. These observations lead to a clear experimental implication: stronger interlayer coupling in TTG further stabilizes both the criticality and superconductivity, allowing superconductivity to be seen across a wider range of angles with experimentally accessible pressures.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Order from chaos with adaptive circuits on quantum hardware

Programmable quantum devices provide a platform to control the coherent dynamics of quantum wavefunctions. Here we experimentally realize adaptive monitored quantum circuits, which incorporate conditional feedback into non-unitary evolution, to control quantum chaotic dynamics using a combination of local mid-circuit measurements and resets. The experiments are performed with an IBM superconducting quantum processor using up to 100 qubits that samples a quantum version of the classically chaotic Bernoulli map. This map scrambles quantum information, while local measurements and feedback attempt to steer the dynamics toward a state that is a fixed point of the map. This competition drives a dynamical phase transition between quantum and classical dynamics that we observe experimentally and describe theoretically using noisy simulations, matrix product states, and mappings to statistical mechanics models. Estimates of the universal critical properties are obtained to high accuracy on the quantum computer thanks to the large number of qubits utilized in the calculation. By successfully applying up to nearly 5000 entangling gates and 5000 non-unitary mid-circuit operations on systems up to 100 qubits, this experiment serves as a signpost on the route towards fault tolerance.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Concomitant Entanglement and Control Criticality Driven by Collective Measurements

Adaptive quantum circuits-where a quantum many-body state is controlled using measurements and conditional unitary operations-are a powerful paradigm for state preparation and quantum error correction tasks. They can support two types of nonequilibrium quantum phase transitions: measurement-induced transitions between volume- and area-law-entangled steady states and control-induced transitions where the system falls into an absorbing state, or an orbit visiting several absorbing states. Within this context, nonlocal conditional operations can alter the critical properties of the two transitions and the topology of the phase diagram. Here, we consider the scenario where the measurements are nonlocal, to engineer efficient control onto dynamical trajectories. Motivated by Rydberg-atom arrays, we consider a locally constrained model with global sublattice magnetization measurements and local correction operations to steer the system's dynamics onto a many-body orbit. The model has a well-defined classical limit, which we leverage to aid our analysis of the control transition. As a function of the density of local correction operations, we find control and entanglement transitions with continuously varying critical exponents. For sufficiently high densities of local correction operations, we find that both transitions acquire a dynamical critical exponent $z<1$, reminiscent of criticality in long-range power-law interacting systems. At low correction densities, we find that the criticality reverts to a short-range nature with $z\gtrsim 1$. In the long-range regime, the control and entanglement transitions are indistinguishable to within the resolution of our numerics, while in the short-range regime we find evidence that the transitions become distinct. We conjecture that the long-range criticality mediated by collective measurements is essential in driving the two transitions together.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Universality of stochastic control of quantum chaos with measurement and feedback

We investigate universal features of measurement-and-feedback control of quantum chaotic dynamics by examining the quantum Arnold cat map, a paradigmatic model of quantum chaos. Inspired by probabilistic control of classical chaos, our protocol stochastically alternates between intrinsic instability and engineered control operations that steer trajectories toward a target point. Simulation of exact quantum dynamics and a semiclassical truncated Wigner approximation reveal universal properties of the cat map's control transition. To further characterize this universality, we introduce the inverted harmonic oscillator as an analytically tractable effective model of instability. By integrating numerical simulations, a semiclassical Fokker-Planck description, and a direct spectral analysis of the stochastic quantum channel, we identify quantum signatures absent in classical limits. The close agreement between quantum simulation, truncated Wigner approximation, and inverted oscillator analysis shows that universal features of the transition are set by uncertainty-limited quantum fluctuations and are insensitive to genuine quantum interference.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Bridging Classical and Quantum Information Scrambling with the Operator Entanglement Spectrum

Universal features of chaotic quantum dynamics underlie our understanding of thermalization in closed quantum systems and the complexity of quantum computations. Reversible automaton circuits, comprised of classical logic gates, have emerged as a tractable means to study such dynamics. Despite generating no entanglement in the computational basis, these circuits nevertheless capture many features expected from fully quantum evolutions. In this work, we demonstrate that the differences between automaton dynamics and fully quantum dynamics are revealed by the operator entanglement spectrum, much like the entanglement spectrum of a quantum state distinguishes between the dynamics of states under Clifford and Haar random circuits. While the operator entanglement spectrum under random unitary dynamics is governed by the eigenvalue statistics of random Gaussian matrices, we show evidence that under random automaton dynamics it is described by the statistics of Bernoulli random matrices, whose entries are random variables taking values $0$ or $1$. We study the crossover between automaton and generic unitary operator dynamics as the automaton circuit is doped with gates that introduce superpositions, namely Hadamard or $R_x = e^{-i\frac{\pi}{4}X}$ gates. We find that a constant number of superposition-generating gates is sufficient to drive the operator dynamics to the random-circuit universality class, similar to earlier results on Clifford circuits doped with $T$ gates. This establishes the operator entanglement spectrum as a useful tool for probing the chaoticity and universality class of quantum dynamics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Defect bound states in the continuum of bilayer electronic materials without symmetry protection

We analyze a class of bound defect states in the continuum electronic spectrum of bilayer materials, which emerge independent of symmetry protection or additional degrees of freedom. Taking graphene as a prototypical example, our comparative analysis of AA- and AB-stacked bilayer graphene demonstrates that these states originate from the intrinsic algebraic structure of the tight-binding Hamiltonian when trigonal warping is neglected rather than any underlying symmetry. Inclusion of trigonal warping and higher-order hoppings broaden the bound states into long-lived resonances. This discovery provides a pathway to previously unexplored approaches in defect and band-structure engineering. We conclude with a proposed protocol for observing these states in scanning tunneling microscopy experiments.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Critical Filaments and Superconductivity in Quasiperiodic Twisted Bilayer Graphene

Multilayer moiré materials can exhibit topological electronic features yet are inherently quasiperiodic -- leading to wave function interference whose Anderson-localizing tendency can be mitigated by topology. We consider a quasiperiodic variant of the chiral Bistritzer-MacDonald model for twisted bilayer graphene with two incommensurate moiré potentials that serves as a toy model for twisted trilayer. We observe "filaments" linking magic angles with enhanced density of states and fractal wave functions that evade localization; states away from the filaments mimic fractal surface states of dirty topological superconductors. We demonstrate that topological quasiperiodicity can broadly enhance superconductivity without magic-angle fine-tuning.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Charge and Entanglement Criticality in a U(1)-Symmetric Hybrid Circuit of Qubits

We study critical properties of the entanglement and charge-sharpening measurement-induced phase transitions in a non-unitary quantum circuit evolving with a U(1) conserved charge. Our numerical estimation of the critical properties of the entanglement transition at finite system sizes appears distinct from the generic non-conserving case and percolation. We provide two possible interpretations of this observation: (a) these two transitions occur at different measurement rates in the thermodynamic limit, but at finite system sizes their critical fans overlap and the critical exponents we probed here show a combination of both the criticality. Nonetheless, the multifractal properties of the entanglement transition remain distinct from the generic case without any symmetry, indicating a unique universality class due to the U(1) symmetry. (b) these two transitions occur at the same measurement rate at any length scale. Within this interpretation, our estimation of all the critical exponents are sharply different than the non-conserving case, again confirming the presence of a new universality class due U(1) symmetry. We compute entanglement critical exponents and correlation functions via various ancilla measures, use a transfer matrix for multifractality, and compute correlators associated with charge sharpening to explain these findings. Through these correlators, we also find evidence consistent with the charge-sharpening transition being of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless type (including the predicted ``jump'' in stiffness), which simultaneously argues for a broad critical fan for this transition. As a result, attempts to measure critical properties in this finite-size system will see anomalously large exponents predicted by our numerical analysis.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2024

Local and nonlocal stochastic control of quantum chaos: Measurement- and control-induced criticality

We theoretically study the topology of the phase diagram of a family of quantum models inspired by the classical Bernoulli map under stochastic control. The quantum models inherit a control-induced phase transition from the classical model and also manifest an entanglement phase transition intrinsic to the quantum setting. This measurement-induced phase transition has been shown in various settings to either coincide or split off from the control transition, but a systematic understanding of the necessary and sufficient conditions for the two transitions to coincide in this case has so far been lacking. In this work, we generalize the control map to allow for either local or global control action. While this does not affect the classical aspects of the control transition that is described by a random walk, it significantly influences the quantum dynamics, leading to the universality class of the measurement-induced transition being dependent on the locality of the control operation. In the presence of a global control map, the two transitions coincide and the control-induced phase transition dominates the measurement-induced phase transition. Contrarily, the two transitions split in the presence of the local control map or additional projective measurements and generically take on distinct universality classes. For local control, the measurement-induced phase transition recovers the Haar logarithmic conformal field theory universality class found in feedback-free models. However, for global control, a novel universality class with correlation length exponent $ν\approx 0.7$ emerges from the interplay of control and projective measurements. This work provides a more refined understanding of the relationship between the control- and measurement-induced phase transitions.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Absence of quantization in the circular photogalvanic effect in disordered chiral Weyl semimetals

The circularly polarized photogalvanic effect (CPGE) is studied in chiral Weyl semimetals with short-ranged quenched disorder. Without disorder, the topological properties of chiral Weyl semimetals lead to the quantization of the CPGE, which is a second-order optical response. Using a combination of diagrammatic perturbation theory in the continuum and exact numerical calculations via the kernel polynomial method on a lattice model we show that disorder perturbatively destabilizes the quantization of the CPGE.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Statistical Mechanics of Stochastic Quantum Control: $d$-adic Rényi Circuits

The dynamics of quantum information in many-body systems with large onsite Hilbert space dimension admits an enlightening description in terms of effective statistical mechanics models. Motivated by this fact, we reveal a connection between three separate models: the classically chaotic $d$-adic Rényi map with stochastic control, a quantum analog of this map for qudits, and a Potts model on a random graph. The classical model and its quantum analog share a transition between chaotic and controlled phases, driven by a randomly applied control map that attempts to order the system. In the quantum model, the control map necessitates measurements that concurrently drive a phase transition in the entanglement content of the late-time steady state. To explore the interplay of the control and entanglement transitions, we derive an effective Potts model from the quantum model and use it to probe information-theoretic quantities that witness both transitions. The entanglement transition is found to be in the bond-percolation universality class, consistent with other measurement-induced phase transitions, while the control transition is governed by a classical random walk. These two phase transitions merge as a function of model parameters, consistent with behavior observed in previous small-size numerical studies of the quantum model.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Connecting the avoided quantum critical point to the magic-angle transition in three-dimensional Weyl semimetals

We theoretically study the interplay of short-ranged random and quasiperiodic static potentials on the low-energy properties of three-dimensional Weyl semimetals. This setting allows us to investigate the connection between the semimetal to diffusive metal "magic-angle" phase transition due to quasiperiodicity and the rare-region induced crossover at an avoided quantum critical point (AQCP) due to disorder. We show that in the presence of both random and quasiperiodic potentials the AQCP becomes lines of crossovers, which terminate at magic-angle critical points in the quasiperiodic, disorder-free limit. We analyze the magic-angle transition by approaching it along these lines of avoided transitions, which unveils a rich miniband structure and several AQCPs. These effects can be witnessed in cold-atomic experiments through potential engineering on semimetallic band structures.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2023

Direct topological insulator transitions in three dimensions are destabilized by non-perturbative effects of disorder

We reconsider the phase diagram of a three-dimensional $\mathbb{Z}_2$ topological insulator in the presence of short-ranged potential disorder with the insight that non-perturbative rare states destabilize the noninteracting Dirac semimetal critical point separating different topological phases. Based on our numerical data on the density of states, conductivity, and wavefunctions, we argue that the putative Dirac semimetal line is destabilized into a diffusive metal phase of finite extent due to non-perturbative effects of rare regions. We discuss the implications of these results for past and current experiments on doped topological insulators.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2023

Separate measurement- and feedback-driven entanglement transitions in the stochastic control of chaos

We study measurement-induced entanglement and control phase transitions in a quantum analog of the Bernoulli map subjected to a classically-inspired control protocol. When entangling gates are restricted to the Clifford group, separate entanglement ($p_\mathrm{ent}$) and control ($p_\mathrm{ctrl}$) transitions emerge, revealing two distinct universality classes. The control transition has critical exponents $ν$ and $z$ consistent with the classical map (a random walk) while the entanglement transition is revealed to have similar exponents as the measurement-induced phase transition in Clifford hybrid dynamics. This is distinct from the case of generic entangling gates in the same model, where $p_\mathrm{ent} = p_\mathrm{ctrl}$ and universality is controlled by the random walk.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2023

Entanglement in an expanding toroidal Bose-Einstein condensate

Recent experiments have employed rapidly expanding toroidal Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) to mimic the inflationary expansion in the early universe. One expected signature of the expansion in such experiments is spontaneous particle creation (of phonons) which is observable in density-density correlations. We study entanglement of these particles, which are known to result in a two-mode squeezed state. Using techniques for Gaussian states of continuous variable systems, we quantify the entanglement generated in this system, including effects such as decoherence and the use of an initially squeezed state, which can suppress and enhance entanglement, respectively. We also describe a protocol to experimentally measure the correlations entering the covariance matrix, allowing an experimental quantification of the entanglement properties of the inflationary BEC.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2022

Magic angles and correlations in twisted nodal superconductors

Motivated by recent advances in the fabrication of twisted bilayers of 2D materials, we consider the low-energy properties of a twisted pair of two-dimensional nodal superconductors. We study both the cases of singlet and triplet superconductors. It is demonstrated that the Bogoliubov-de Gennes (BdG) quasiparticle dispersion undergoes dramatic reconstruction due to the twist. In particular, the velocity of the neutral massless Dirac excitations near the gap nodes is strongly renormalized by the interlayer hopping and vanishes at a ``magic angle'' where in the limit of a circular Fermi surface a quadratic band touching is formed. In addition, it is shown that the BdG disperion can be tuned with an interlayer displacement field, magnetic field, and current, which can suppress the velocity renormalization, create finite BdG Fermi surfaces, or open a gap, respectively. Finally, interactions between quasiparticles are shown to lead to the emergence of a correlated superconducting state breaking time-reversal symmetry in the vicinity of the magic angle. Estimates of the magic angle in a variety of nodal superconductors are presented, ranging from the cuprates to the organic and heavy fermion superconductors, all of which are shown to be promising for the experimental realization of our proposal.

cond-mat.supr-con↗