arXiv subjects

Nicolas Allegra

Publications and source records attributed to Nicolas Allegra.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Tensor network methods for quantum-inspired image processing and classical optics

Tensor network methods strike a middle ground between fully-fledged quantum computing and classical computing, as they take inspiration from quantum systems to significantly speed up certain classical operations. Their strength lies in their compressive power and the wide variety of efficient algorithms that operate within this compressed space. In this work, we focus on applying these methods to fundamental problems in image compression and processing and classical optics such as wave-front propagation and optical image formation, by using directly or indirectly parallels with quantum mechanics and computation. These quantum-inspired methods are expected to yield faster algorithms with applications ranging from astronomy and earth observation to microscopy and classical imaging more broadly.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Quantum consistent neural/tensor networks for photonic circuits with strongly/weakly entangled states

Modern quantum optical systems such as photonic quantum computers and quantum imaging devices require great precision in their designs and implementations in the hope to realistically exploit entanglement and reach a real quantum advantage. The theoretical and experimental explorations and validations of these systems are greatly dependent on the precision of our classical simulations. However, as Hilbert spaces increases, traditional computational methods used to design and optimize these systems encounter hard limitations due to the quantum curse of dimensionally. To address this challenge, we propose an approach based on neural and tensor networks to approximate the exact unitary evolution of closed entangled systems in a precise, efficient and quantum consistent manner. By training the networks with a reasonably small number of examples of quantum dynamics, we enable efficient parameter estimation in larger Hilbert spaces, offering an interesting solution for a great deal of quantum metrology problems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Phase transitions in distributed control systems with multiplicative noise

Contemporary technological challenges often involve many degrees of freedom in a distributed or networked setting. Three aspects are notable: the variables are usually associated with the nodes of a graph with limited communication resources, hindering centralized control; the communication is subjected to noise; and the number of variables can be very large. These three aspects make tools and techniques from statistical physics particularly suitable for the performance analysis of such networked systems in the limit of many variables (analogous to the thermodynamic limit in statistical physics). Perhaps not surprisingly, phase-transition like phenomena appear in these systems, where a sharp change in performance can be observed with a smooth parameter variation, with the change becoming discontinuous or singular in the limit of infinite system size. In this paper we analyze the so called network consensus problem, prototypical of the above considerations, that has been previously analyzed mostly in the context of additive noise. We show that qualitatively new phase-transition like phenomena appear for this problem in the presence of multiplicative noise. Depending on dimensions and on the presence or absence of a conservation law, the system performance shows a discontinuous change at a threshold value of the multiplicative noise strength. In the absence of the conservation law, and for graph spectral dimension less than two, the multiplicative noise threshold (the stability margin of the control problem) is zero. This is reminiscent of the absence of robust controllers for certain classes of centralized control problems. Although our study involves a toy model we believe that the qualitative features are generic, with implication for the robust stability of distributed control systems, as well as the effect of roundoff errors and communication noise on distributed algorithms.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2016

Inhomogeneous field theory inside the arctic circle

Motivated by quantum quenches in spin chains, a one-dimensional toy-model of fermionic particles evolving in imaginary-time from a domain-wall initial state is solved. The main interest of this toy-model is that it exhibits the arctic circle phenomenon, namely a spatial phase separation between a critically fluctuating region and a frozen region. Large-scale correlations inside the critical region are expressed in terms of correlators in a (euclidean) two-dimensional massless Dirac field theory. It is observed that this theory is inhomogenous: the metric is position-dependent, so it is in fact a Dirac field theory in curved space. The technique used to solve the toy-model is then extended to deal with the transfer matrices of other models: dimers on the honeycomb and square lattice, and the six-vertex model at the free fermion point ($Δ=0$). In all cases, explicit expressions are given for the long-range correlations in the critical region, as well as for the underlying Dirac action. Although the setup developed here is heavily based on fermionic observables, the results can be translated into the language of height configurations and of the gaussian free field, via bosonization. Correlations close to the phase boundary and the generic appearance of Airy processes in all these models are also briefly revisited in the appendix.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2015

Exact solution of the $2d$ dimer model: Corner free energy, correlation functions and combinatorics

In this work, some classical results of the pfaffian theory of the dimer model based on the work of Kasteleyn, Fisher and Temperley are introduced in a fermionic framework. Then we shall detail the bosonic formulation of the model {\it via} the so-called height mapping and the nature of boundary conditions is unravelled. The complete and detailed fermionic solution of the dimer model on the square lattice with an arbitrary number of monomers is presented, and finite size effect analysis is performed to study surface and corner effects, leading to the extrapolation of the central charge of the model. The solution allows for exact calculations of monomer and dimer correlation functions in the discrete level and the scaling behavior can be inferred in order to find the set of scaling dimensions and compare to the bosonic theory which predict particular features concerning corner behaviors. Finally, some combinatorial and numerical properties of partition functions with boundary monomers are discussed, proved and checked with enumeration algorithms.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2014

Grassmannian representation of the two-dimensional monomer-dimer model

We present an application of the Grassmann algebra to the problem of the monomer-dimer statistics on a two-dimensional square lattice. The exact partition function, or total number of possible configurations, of a system of dimers with a finite set of n monomers with fixed positions can be expressed via a quadratic fermionic theory. We give an answer in terms of a product of two pfaffians and the solution is closely related to the Kasteleyn result of the pure dimer problem. Correlation functions are in agreement with previous results, both for monomers on the boundary, where a simple exact expression is available in the discrete and continuous case, and in the bulk where the expression is evaluated numerically.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2014

Boundary crossover in non-equilibrium growth processes

The growth of stochastic interfaces in the vicinity of a boundary and the non-trivial crossover towards the behaviour deep in the bulk is analysed. The causal interactions of the interface with the boundary lead to a roughness larger near to the boundary than deep in the bulk. This is exemplified in the semi-infinite Edwards-Wilkinson model in one dimension, both from its exact solution and numerical simulations, as well as from simulations on the semi-infinite one-dimensional Kardar-Parisi-Zhang model. The non-stationary scaling of interface heights and widths is analyzed and a universal scaling form for the local height profile is proposed.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗