arXiv subjects

Marco Knipfer

Publications and source records attributed to Marco Knipfer.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Efficient Hamiltonian Truncation: Fast Matrix Construction and Quantum Krylov Diagonalization

Hamiltonian truncation offers a nonperturbative route to quantum field theory, yet its accuracy is limited by the rapid expansion of the truncated Hilbert space, which drives up computational cost. We tackle this bottleneck with a hybrid strategy that pairs classical and quantum algorithms: 1) we develop an efficient basis-generation scheme built on integer partitions; 2) we speed up the construction of the sparse Hamiltonian matrix using symmetry-aware algorithms; and 3) we explore quantum Krylov diagonalization as a route to the low-lying spectrum. Benchmarking against the free massive scalar and $\phi^4$ theories in two spacetime dimensions, we achieve substantial gains in the computational efficiency of Hamiltonian truncation and chart a path toward future quantum implementations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Spatial and energetic correlations of ultrashort two electron pulses

When two electrons are emitted from a metallic needle tip into a nanometric volume on femtosecond timescales, strong Coulomb correlations arise. While longitudinal correlations, manifested as energy shifts, have been observed both from bare tips and in electron microscopes, transverse correlations remain hardly explored. Here, we present the first complete experimental characterization of such 3D correlations from needle tips. We find that electron pairs of small transversal spatial separation exhibit a pronounced energy gap of 3.3 eV width, while electrons of small longitudinal energy separation show strong transverse repulsion, increasing their average mutual divergence angle by a substantial 34.5%. The measurements are in excellent agreement with semiclassical point-particle simulations. These reveal that the maximal energy-gap magnitude is primarily determined by the laser pulse duration, whereas the maximal spatial separation is governed by the tip radius. The latter can be exploited in a remarkably simple method to generate strongly sub-Poissonian electron beams: A mere aperture, notably present in most electron-optical setups anyway, can act as an electron number sensitive filter. In combination with energy filtering we find an unprecedented suppression of multi-electron pulses reaching g(2) = 0.02 when keeping 3% of the electron beam. These results provide a foundation for future studies of electron entanglement, correlated electron microscopy, and the design of ultrafast electron-optical instruments.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2026

Analytical Landscape of Maximal Magic for Two-Qutrit States and Beyond

Achieving a genuine quantum advantage relies on two distinct non-classical resources that restrict efficient classical simulation: entanglement and magic (nonstabilizerness). We investigate the interplay between these resources by characterizing the Pareto frontiers of extreme magic at fixed entanglement for systems of two qutrits ($d=3$) and two ququints ($d=5$). Unlike the case of two qubits, the Schmidt spectrum for two qutrits features two independent entanglement parameters, resulting in two-dimensional Pareto surfaces. For the lower frontier, we recast the minimal magic as a compact function of concurrence and negativity, with a maximal value of $\ln 2$. For the upper frontier, we determine the maximal stabilizer R\'enyi entropy to be $M_2 = \ln(81/17) \approx 1.561$, which tightens the previous theoretical bound of $\ln 5\approx 1.609$ and improves on earlier numerical estimates. The maximum magic is achieved at eighteen distinct maxima categorized into three families of six permutation-equivalent spectra. We provide analytical expressions for the maximal magic in the neighborhood of each maximum and for the corresponding maximally magical states which turn out to be Weyl-Heisenberg-covariant fiducial states for mutually unbiased bases. Finally, numerical analysis of two ququints ($d=5$) reveals six permutation-inequivalent maxima with a peak magic value of $M_2 = \ln(625/49) \approx 2.546$. Based on these findings, we conjecture that the maximal magic for a bipartite system of two qudits with prime dimension $d$ is given by $\ln [ d^4 / (2d^2 - 1) ]$, which reproduces the previously known value for qubits, as well as the values derived here for qutrits and ququints.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

The Pareto Frontiers of Magic and Entanglement: The Case of Two Qubits

Magic and entanglement are two measures that are widely used to characterize quantum resources. We study the interplay between magic and entanglement in two-qubit systems, focusing on the two extremes: maximal magic and minimal magic for a given level of entanglement. We quantify magic by the R\'{e}nyi entropy of order 2, $M_2$, and entanglement by the concurrence $\Delta$. We find that the Pareto frontier of maximal magic $M_2^{(max)}(\Delta)$ is composed of three separate segments, while the boundary of minimal magic $M_2^{(min)}(\Delta)$ is a single continuous line. We derive simple analytical formulas for all these four cases, and explicitly parametrize all distinct quantum states of maximal or minimal magic at a given level of entanglement.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

AI Agents for Variational Quantum Circuit Design

Variational quantum circuits (VQCs) constitute a central building block of near-term quantum machine learning (QML), yet the principled design of expressive and trainable architectures remains a major open challenge. The VQC design space grows combinatorially with the number of qubits, layers, entanglement structures, and gate parameterizations, rendering manual circuit construction inefficient and often suboptimal. We introduce an autonomous agent-based framework for VQC architecture search that integrates high-level reasoning with a quantum simulation environment. The agent proposes candidate circuit architectures, evaluates them through fully automated training and validation pipelines, and iteratively improves its design strategy via performance-driven feedback. Empirically, we show that the agent autonomously evolves circuit architectures from simple initial ans\"atze toward increasingly expressive designs, progressively trying to improve task performance. This demonstrates that agentic AI can effectively navigate and refine the VQC design landscape with minimal human intervention, providing a scalable methodology for automated quantum model development in the Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) regime.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Anisotropic time evolution of sound modes in Bjorken expanding holographic plasma

The speed of sound is a key parameter for characterizing equilibrium states. However, sound waves change their properties when propagating through rapidly evolving anisotropic media, such as the quark-gluon plasma created in heavy-ion collisions. This paper uses $\mathcal{N}=4$ Super-Yang-Mills theory to numerically study the time evolution of the speed and attenuation of sound modes along with the relaxation time in a plasma undergoing Bjorken expansion from various initial states in a quasi-static approximation. The longitudinal Bjorken expansion breaks the isotropy, resulting in two distinct sound speeds that range from just below the conformal value to the speed of light. An anisotropic hydrodynamic description is constructed and its applicability is discussed. Implications for the analysis of heavy ion data are considered.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2023

Early time dynamics far from equilibrium via holography

We investigate the early time dynamics of heavy ion collisions studying the time evolution of the energy-momentum tensor as well as energy-momentum correlations within a uniformly thermalizing holographic QGP. From these quantities, we suggest a far-from equilibrium definition of shear viscosity, which is a crucial property of QCD matter as it significantly determines the generation of elliptic flow already at early times. During an exemplary initial heating phase of the holographic QGP the shear viscosity of entropy density ratio decreases down to 60%, followed by an overshoot to 110% of the near-equilibrium value, $η/s=1/(4π)$. Implications for the QCD QGP are discussed. Subsequently, we consider a holographic QGP which is Bjorken-expanding. Its energy-momentum tensor components have a known hydrodynamic attractor to which all time evolutions collapse independent of the initial conditions. Based on this, we propose a definition for a far from equilibrium speed of sound, and analytically compute its hydrodynamic attractor. Subjecting this Bjorken-expanding plasma to an external magnetic field and an axial chemical potential, we study the chiral magnetic effect far from equilibrium.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2023

Deep Learning-Based Spatiotemporal Multi-Event Reconstruction for Delay Line Detectors

Accurate observation of two or more particles within a very narrow time window has always been a challenge in modern physics. It creates the possibility of correlation experiments, such as the ground-breaking Hanbury Brown-Twiss experiment, leading to new physical insights. For low-energy electrons, one possibility is to use a microchannel plate with subsequent delay lines for the readout of the incident particle hits, a setup called a Delay Line Detector. The spatial and temporal coordinates of more than one particle can be fully reconstructed outside a region called the dead radius. For interesting events, where two electrons are close in space and time, the determination of the individual positions of the electrons requires elaborate peak finding algorithms. While classical methods work well with single particle hits, they fail to identify and reconstruct events caused by multiple nearby particles. To address this challenge, we present a new spatiotemporal machine learning model to identify and reconstruct the position and time of such multi-hit particle signals. This model achieves a much better resolution for nearby particle hits compared to the classical approach, removing some of the artifacts and reducing the dead radius by half. We show that machine learning models can be effective in improving the spatiotemporal performance of delay line detectors.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2022

Hydrodynamic attractors for the speed of sound in holographic Bjorken flow

The time evolution of the averaged energy momentum tensor as well as its variation with energy density are calculated in a far-from-equilibrium state of $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM theory undergoing a Bjorken expansion. The calculation is carried out holographically where we consider a collection of trajectories of the energy density in the space of solutions by small changes to the initial conditions of the bulk spacetime. We argue that the proper interpretation of the variation of the diagonal energy momentum tensor components with respect to the energy density is that of a far-from-equilibrium speed of sound. We demonstrate remarkable agreement with a corresponding hydrodynamic prediction. We find by Borel resummation that the holographic system has one attractor for this speed of sound longitudinal, and another transverse to the direction of Bjorken expansion. Attractor times for various initial flow conditions show that reaching an attractor does not imply or require local thermal equilibrium. In the cases studied, reaching an attractor implies hydrodynamization (quantities evolve approximately according to hydrodynamics), justifying the name \emph{hydrodynamic attractor }

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Generalized Uncertainty Principle and Black Holes in Higher Dimensional Self-Complete Gravity

In this paper we consider generalized uncertainty principle (GUP) effects in higher dimensional black hole spacetimes via a nonlocal gravity approach. We study three possible modifications of momentum space measure emerging from GUP, including the original Kempf-Mangano-Mann (KMM) proposal. By following the KMM model we derive a family of black hole spacetimes. The case of five spacetime dimensions is a special one. We found an exact black hole solution with a Barriola-Vilenkin monopole at the origin. This object turns out to be the end point of the black hole evaporation. Interestingly for smaller masses, we found a "naked monopole" rather than a generic naked singularity. We also show that the Carr-Lake-Casadio-Scardigli proposal leads to mild modifications of spacetime metrics with respect to the Schwarzschild-Tangherlini solution. Finally, by demanding the same degree of convergence in the ultraviolet regime for any spacetime dimension, we derive a family of black hole solutions that fulfill the gravity self-completeness paradigm. The evaporation of such black holes is characterized by a fluctuating luminosity, which we dub a lighthouse effect.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2017

Generalized uncertainty principle and extra dimensions

The generalized uncertainty principle (GUP) is a modification of standard quantum mechanics due to Planck scale effects. The GUP has recently been used to improve the short distance behaviour of classical black hole spacetimes by invoking nonlocal modifications of the gravity action. We present the problem of extending such a GUP scenario to higher dimensional spacetimes and we critically review the existing literature on the topic.

hep-th↗