arXiv subjects

Rafael Chaves

Publications and source records attributed to Rafael Chaves.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A Representation-Theoretic Framework for Characterizing Barren Plateaus

The scalability of variational quantum algorithms is fundamentally limited by the barren plateau effect, where the cost-function variance vanishes with system size, rendering optimization impractical. Recent Lie-algebraic approaches for deep parameterized have enabled a unified analytical understanding of this challenge but require either the initial state or the measurement observable to belong to the dynamical Lie algebra generated by the circuit. Here, we introduce a representation-theoretic framework under $2$-design hypothesis showing that variational quantum landscapes admit a natural decomposition into irreducible representation channels. This yields exact expressions and analytical bounds for the cost-function variance applicable to arbitrary initial states and observables, with previous Lie-algebraic results emerging as a special case. We illustrate the framework by analyzing the energy landscape of the one-dimensional ANNNI model for several circuit architectures, revealing trainability regimes inaccessible to existing methods. Our results establish a general representation-theoretic framework for analyzing variational quantum landscapes, substantially extending the analytical theory of barren plateaus.

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arXiv2026

Randomness Certification and Trade-offs in the Prepare-and-Broadcast Scenario

We investigate the prepare-and-broadcast scenario, a multipartite extension of dimension-constrained prepare-and-measure experiments in which a quantum system is distributed to multiple receivers. We derive fundamental trade-offs between prepare-and-measure witnesses, Bell nonlocality, and quantum random access code performance. We further develop a semi-device-independent randomness certification framework based on prepare-and-broadcast witnesses, showing that the maximal quantum violation certifies two bits of joint randomness, exceeding the limit achievable from the CHSH inequality while remaining robust to noise. Finally, we show that the prepare-and-broadcast scenario naturally accommodates stronger adversarial models in which the eavesdropper retains a quantum system correlated with the measurement device, providing a natural framework for semi-device-independent randomness certification against quantum side information.

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arXiv2026

Quantum State Discrimination With Stabilizer Circuits

The task of quantum state discrimination provides an operational characterization of distinguishability and plays a central role in quantum information science. Since the achievable success probability in quantum state discrimination depends both on the states being discriminated and on the allowed measurements, it is natural to study discrimination under physically motivated measurement constraints. Here, we investigate minimum-error quantum state discrimination under measurements implementable by both fixed and adaptive stabilizer circuits. Given arbitrary stabilizer-state ancillas, we show that fixed stabilizer circuits provide no additional discrimination power, whereas adaptive circuits do. Then, focusing on single-qubit systems, we derive analytical expressions for the success probability across both circuit classes when supplied with arbitrary (non-stabilizer) ancillas, showing that the performance gap between fixed and adaptive circuits persists. We further consider discrimination with non-stabilizerness incorporated directly into the measurement operators. Here, the optimization is formulated as a semidefinite program, and analytical bounds interpolating between the stabilizer and Helstrom limits for qubits are derived. Finally, we illustrate applications in quantum random access codes and bounds on unitary synthesis fidelity with a finite number of magic states.

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arXiv2026

The Prepare and Broadcast Scenario

We introduce the dimension-restricted prepare and broadcast (PAB) scenario, which generalizes standard prepare-and-measure frameworks. Here, the system prepared by a sender undergoes a broadcasting transformation before being locally measured by multiple receivers. We develop a hierarchy of classical, quantum, and nonsignalling models describing this scenario, characterize their corresponding correlation sets, and derive new families of Bell-like inequalities together with linear and semidefinite programming methods for their certification. First, assuming shared randomness, we prove that the hierarchy collapses into a single set whenever we consider only one measurement per party. Then, considering multiple possible measurements, we show that PAB scenarios allow the activation of nonclassicality, revealing genuinely nonclassical features in resources that admit classical descriptions in standard prepare-and-measure or Bell settings.

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arXiv2026

Network Nonlocality with Separable Measurements

Quantum correlations in networks with independent sources have revealed novel forms of nonclassical behavior. While entanglement in the sources is a necessary ingredient, the role played by entanglement in the measurements remains largely unexplored. In particular, all existing demonstrations of full network nonlocality, certifying the nonclassicality of every source in the network, have relied on entangled measurements performed at a central node with no inputs. In this work, we construct an explicit strategy that does not rely on entangled measurements, yet still achieves full network nonlocality. Our approach is based on separable measurements augmented with bidirectional classical feedforward. We further show that this same class of measurements can give rise to another recently proposed form of network nonlocality, the minimal network nonclassicality, which ensures that the observed correlations cannot be attributed to any fixed subset of nonclassical sources within the network. Finally, building on a recently developed certification framework, we quantify the amount of device-independent randomness that can be extracted from full network nonlocal correlations under different measurement strategies. Beyond their foundational significance, our results also offer a practically attractive route toward experimental implementations of network nonlocality, as they remove the need for entangled measurements.

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arXiv2026

Every Little Thing Heat Does Is Magic

How can one certify that an unknown quantum state possesses magic without resorting to full state tomography? We address this question by introducing two thermodynamic witnesses that rely solely on energy and heat measurements. First, we define the stabilizer ground-state energy as the lowest energy achievable by any stabilizer state, and the stabilizer gap as the separation between this value and the true ground-state energy. Any state whose energy lies below the stabilizer ground-state energy is therefore necessarily nonstabilizer. This leads to a direct witness of magic using only average-energy measurements. To overcome the limitations when direct energy measurements are inconclusive, we further develop a nonlinear witness based on heat exchange with a thermal ancilla. Specifically, we derive fundamental bounds on heat that are satisfied by all stabilizer states; therefore, their violation certifies the presence of magic. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach through several examples, ranging from few-body systems where heat exchange reveals nonstabilizerness even when energy measurements alone fail, to the transverse-field Ising chain, where the stabilizer gap becomes maximal at the quantum critical point.

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arXiv2026

Using spatiotemporal Born rule for testing macroscopic realism: some applications to the pseudo-density matrices and nonclassical temporal correlations

We show that, given an evolving quantum system and the quasiprobability distribution generated by the spatiotemporal generalization of the Born rule in pseudo density-matrices (PDMs), this distribution deviates from the sequential measurements probability distribution, given by the L\"uders von-Neumann distribution, if and only if the non-signaling in time (NSIT) is violated; equivalently, if and only if the macroscopic realism (MR) is violated. Furthermore, we propose a definition of temporal entanglement according to the structure of the PDMs that is analogous to the definition of spatial entanglement in density matrices, showing that temporal entanglement is necessary for the violation of temporal Bell inequalities and the violation of MR. We employ our results to study the relationship between the negativity of the PDM, temporal entanglement, violation of temporal Bell inequalities, and MR.

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arXiv2026

Robust Bell Nonlocality from Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill States

Bell tests based on homodyne detection are strongly constrained in continuous-variable systems. Can Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) encoding turn homodyne detection into a practical tool for revealing Bell nonlocality? We consider a physically motivated model in which each party performs homodyne detection and digitizes the continuous outcome via a fixed periodic binning, corresponding to logical Pauli measurements. Within this framework, we derive a bipartite no-go: CHSH cannot be violated for Bell-pair states. Moving beyond two parties, we show that finitely squeezed GKP-encoded GHZ and W states nevertheless exhibit strong multipartite nonlocality, violating multipartite Bell inequalities with homodyne-only readout. We quantify the required squeezing thresholds and robustness to loss, providing a route toward homodyne-based Bell tests in continuous-variable systems.

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arXiv2026

Latent splitting as a causal probe

Generalizations of Bell's framework to causal networks have yielded new foundational insights and applications, including the use of interventions to enhance the detection of nonclassicality in scenarios with communication. Such interventions, however, become uninformative when all observable variables are space-like separated. To address this limitation, we introduce the latent splitting procedure, a generalization of interventions to quantum networks in which controlled manipulations are applied to latent quantum systems. We show that latent splitting enables the detection of nonclassicality by combining observational and interventional data even when conventional interventions fail. Focusing on the triangle network, we derive new analytical witnesses that robustly certify nonclassicality, including nonlinear inequalities for minimal binary-variable scenarios and extensions of the nonclassical region of previously proposed experiments.

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arXiv2025

Detection Efficiency Bounds in (Semi-)Device-Independent Scenarios

This article provides a comprehensive review of the critical role of detection efficiency in demonstrating non-classicality across various device-independent and semi-device-independent scenarios. The central focus is the detection loophole, a challenge in which imperfect detectors can allow classical hidden variable models to mimic quantum correlations, thus masking genuine non-classicality. As a review, the article revisits the paradigmatic Bell scenario, detailing the efficiency requirements for the CHSH inequality, such as the 2/3 threshold for symmetric efficiencies, and traces the historical trajectory toward the first loophole-free tests. The analysis extends to other causal structures to explore how efficiency requirements are affected in different contexts. These include the instrumental scenario, which for binary variables has recently been shown to follow the same inefficiency bounds as the bipartite dichotomic Bell scenario; the prepare-and-measure scenario, where inefficiencies impact the certification of a quantum system's dimension and create security breaches in protocols such as Quantum Key Distribution (QKD); and the bilocality scenario, which exemplifies how employing multiple independent sources can significantly relax the required efficiencies to certify non-classical correlations.

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arXiv2025

Trading athermality for nonstabiliserness

Quantum advantage arises from quantum states that cannot be efficiently simulated on a classical computer. Such states are characterised by a property known as nonstabiliserness. In this work, we investigate whether nonstabiliserness can be generated by placing an initially stabiliser state in contact with a heat bath. Under minimal thermodynamic assumptions, we derive a necessary and sufficient condition for when this is possible. This yields an analytic characterisation of all nonstabiliser qubit states reachable through such thermal processes, together with explicit bounds on their nonstabiliserness. This, in turn, allows us to identify optimal regimes for generating this resource, including the Hamiltonians that maximise nonstabiliserness and the critical temperatures at which it emerges. Beyond the qubit case, we establish a general trade-off between the nonstabiliserness attainable under thermal operations and the initial nonequilibrium free energy of the system.

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arXiv2025

Semi-device-independent randomness certification on discretized continuous-variable platforms

Randomness is fundamental for secure communication and information processing. While continuous-variable optical systems offer an attractive platform for this task, certifying genuine quantum randomness in such setups remains challenging. We present a semi-device-independent scheme for randomness certification tailored to continuous-variable implementations, where the dimension assumption is operationally implemented by restricting state preparations to the two-level Fock subspace. Using standard homodyne and displacement-based measurements, we show that simple optical setups can achieve dimension-witness violations that certify positive min-entropy, even in the presence of realistic losses and misaligned reference frames. These results demonstrate that practical and scalable quantum randomness generation is achievable with minimal experimental complexity on continuous-variable platforms.

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arXiv2025

Entanglement distribution in quantum networks via swapping of partially entangled pure states

The entanglement swapping protocol (ESP) is a fundamental primitive for distributing quantum correlations across distant nodes in a quantum network. Recent studies have demonstrated that even when the involved qubit pairs are only partially entangled, it is still possible to concentrate and transmit entanglement via Bell-basis measurements. In this work, we extend these ideas to quantum networks with various topologies--including linear, star, and hybrid configurations--by analysing the application of the ESP to initially partially entangled pure states. We investigate how entanglement evolves under such protocols by considering the transformations of the initial states and evaluating the success probabilities for generating maximally entangled states at the output. Our results offer new insights into the dynamics of the entanglement distribution in quantum networks.

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arXiv2025

Efficient detection of localization transitions using predictability

Identifying phase transition points is a fundamental challenge in condensed matter physics, particularly for transitions driven by quantum interference effects, such as Anderson and many-body localization. Recent studies have demonstrated that quantum coherence provides an effective means of detecting localization transitions, offering a practical alternative to full quantum state tomography and related approaches. Building on this idea, we investigate localization transitions through complementarity relations that connect local predictability, local coherence, and entanglement in bipartite pure states. Our results show that predictability serves as a robust and efficient marker for localization transitions. Crucially, its experimental determination requires exponentially fewer measurements than coherence or entanglement, making it a powerful tool for probing quantum phase transitions.

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arXiv2025

A variational quantum algorithm for entanglement quantification

Quantum entanglement is a foundational resource in quantum information science, underpinning applications across physics. However, detecting and quantifying entanglement remains a significant challenge. In this article, we introduce a variational quantum algorithm inspired by Uhlmann's theorem to quantify the Bures entanglement of general quantum states, a method that naturally extends to other quantum resources, including genuine multipartite entanglement, quantum discord, quantum coherence, and total correlations, while also enabling reconstruction of the closest free states. The algorithm requires a polynomial number of ancillary qubits and circuit depth relative to the system size, dimensionality, and free state cardinality, making it scalable for practical implementations. Thus, it provides a versatile framework for quantifying quantum resources, demonstrated here through several applications.

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arXiv2025

Prepare-and-Magic: Semi-Device Independent Magic Certification in the Prepare-and-Measure Scenario

Non-stabilizerness is an essential resource for quantum computational advantage, as stabilizer states admit efficient classical simulation. We develop a semi-device-independent framework for certifying non-stabilizer states in prepare-and-measure (PAM) scenarios, relying only on assumptions about the system's dimension. Within this framework, we introduce prepare-and-measure witnesses that can distinguish stabilizer from non-stabilizer states, and we provide analytical proofs that threshold violations of these witnesses certify non-stabilizerness. In the simplest setting: three preparations, two measurements, and qubit systems, surpassing a specific threshold guarantees that at least one prepared state lies outside the stabilizer polytope, while a stronger violation can certify at least two. We extend this approach by linking it to quantum random access codes, also generalizing our results to qutrit systems and introducing a necessary condition for certifying non-stabilizerness based on state overlaps (Gram matrices). These results offer a set of semi-device-independent tools for practically and systematically verifying non-stabilizer states using prepare-and-measure inequalities.

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arXiv2025

A trace distance-based geometric analysis of the stabilizer polytope for few-qubit systems

Non-stabilizerness is a fundamental resource for quantum computational advantage, differentiating classically simulable circuits from those capable of universal quantum computation. Recently, non-stabilizerness has been shown to be relevant for a few qubit systems. In this work, we investigate the geometry of the stabilizer polytope in few-qubit quantum systems, using the trace distance to the stabilizer set to quantify non-stabilizerness. By randomly sampling quantum states, we analyze the distribution of non-stabilizerness for both pure and mixed states and compare the trace distance with other non-stabilizerness measures, as well as entanglement. Additionally, we give an analytical expression for the introduced quantifier, classify Bell-like inequalities corresponding to the facets of the stabilizer polytope, and establish a general concentration result connecting non-stabilizerness and entanglement via Fannes' inequality. Our findings provide new insights into the geometric structure of non-stabilizerness and its role in small-scale quantum systems, offering a deeper understanding of the interplay between quantum resources

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arXiv2025

Witnessing Magic with Bell inequalities

Non-stabilizerness, or magic, is a fundamental resource for quantum computation, enabling quantum algorithms to surpass classical capabilities. Despite its importance, characterizing magic remains challenging due to the intricate geometry of stabilizer polytopes and the difficulty of simulating non-stabilizer states. In this work, we reveal an unexpected connection between magic and Bell inequalities. Although maximally entangled stabilizer states can violate Bell inequalities and magic is deeply tied to the algebraic structure of observables, we show that tailored Bell inequalities can act as witnesses of magic. This result bridges two key quantum resources, uncovering a novel relationship between the device-independent framework and resource-theoretic properties of quantum computation.

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