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Romain Vasseur

Publications and source records attributed to Romain Vasseur.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
arXiv2023

Full Counting Statistics of Charge in Chaotic Many-body Quantum Systems

We investigate the full counting statistics of charge transport in $U(1)$-symmetric random unitary circuits. We consider an initial mixed state prepared with a chemical potential imbalance between the left and right halves of the system, and study the fluctuations of the charge transferred across the central bond in typical circuits. Using an effective replica statistical mechanics model and a mapping onto an emergent classical stochastic process valid at large onsite Hilbert space dimension, we show that charge transfer fluctuations approach those of the symmetric exclusion process at long times, with subleading $t^{-1/2}$ quantum corrections. We discuss our results in the context of fluctuating hydrodynamics and macroscopic fluctuation theory of classical non-equilibrium systems, and check our predictions against direct matrix-product state calculations.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2023

Generalized hydrodynamics: a perspective

Conventional hydrodynamics describes systems with few long-lived excitations. In one dimension, however, many experimentally relevant systems feature a large number of long-lived excitations even at high temperature, because they are proximate to integrable limits. Such models cannot be treated using conventional hydrodynamics. The framework of generalized hydrodynamics (GHD) was recently developed to treat the dynamics of one-dimensional models: it combines ideas from integrability, hydrodynamics, and kinetic theory to come up with a quantitative theory of transport. GHD has successfully settled several longstanding questions about one-dimensional transport; it has also been leveraged to study dynamical questions beyond the transport of conserved quantities, and to systems that are not integrable. In this article we introduce the main ideas and predictions of GHD, survey some of the most recent theoretical extensions and experimental tests of the GHD framework, and discuss some open questions in transport that the GHD perspective might elucidate.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2023

Observing quantum measurement collapse as a learnability phase transition

The mechanism by which an effective macroscopic description of quantum measurement in terms of discrete, probabilistic collapse events emerges from the reversible microscopic dynamics remains an enduring open question. Emerging quantum computers offer a promising platform to explore how measurement processes evolve across a range of system sizes while retaining coherence. Here, we report the experimental observation of evidence for an observable-sharpening measurement-induced phase transition in a chain of trapped ions in Quantinuum H1-1 system model quantum processor. This transition manifests as a sharp, concomitant change in both the quantum uncertainty of an observable and the amount of information an observer can (in principle) learn from the measurement record, upon increasing the strength of measurements. We leverage insights from statistical mechanical models and machine learning to design efficiently-computable algorithms to observe this transition (without non-scalable post-selection on measurement outcomes) and to mitigate the effects on errors in noisy hardware.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2023

Critical phase and spin sharpening in SU(2)-symmetric monitored quantum circuits

Monitored quantum circuits exhibit entanglement transitions at certain measurement rates. Such a transition separates phases characterized by how much information an observer can learn from the measurement outcomes. We study SU(2)-symmetric monitored quantum circuits, using exact numerics and a mapping onto an effective statistical-mechanics model. Due to the symmetry's non-Abelian nature, measuring qubit pairs allows for nontrivial entanglement scaling even in the measurement-only limit. We find a transition between a volume-law entangled phase and a critical phase whose diffusive purification dynamics emerge from the non-Abelian symmetry. Additionally, we numerically identify a "spin-sharpening transition." On one side is a phase in which the measurements can efficiently identify the system's total spin quantum number; on the other side is a phase in which measurements cannot.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2023

Non-linear fluctuating hydrodynamics for KPZ scaling in isotropic spin chains

Finite temperature spin transport in integrable isotropic spin chains is known to be superdiffusive, with dynamical spin correlations that are conjectured to fall into the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class. However, integrable spin chains have time-reversal and parity symmetries that are absent from the KPZ/stochastic Burgers equation, which force higher-order spin fluctuations to deviate from standard KPZ predictions. We put forward a non-linear fluctuating hydrodynamic theory consisting of two coupled stochastic modes: the local spin magnetization and its effective velocity. Our theory fully explains the emergence of anomalous spin dynamics in isotropic chains: it predicts KPZ scaling for the spin structure factor but with a symmetric, quasi-Gaussian, distribution of spin fluctuations. We substantiate our results using matrix-product states calculations.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗
arXiv2023

Random insights into the complexity of two-dimensional tensor network calculations

Projected entangled pair states (PEPS) offer memory-efficient representations of some quantum many-body states that obey an entanglement area law, and are the basis for classical simulations of ground states in two-dimensional (2d) condensed matter systems. However, rigorous results show that exactly computing observables from a 2d PEPS state is generically a computationally hard problem. Yet approximation schemes for computing properties of 2d PEPS are regularly used, and empirically seen to succeed, for a large subclass of (not too entangled) condensed matter ground states. Adopting the philosophy of random matrix theory, in this work we analyze the complexity of approximately contracting a 2d random PEPS by exploiting an analytic mapping to an effective replicated statistical mechanics model that permits a controlled analysis at large bond dimension. Through this statistical-mechanics lens, we argue that: i) although approximately sampling wave-function amplitudes of random PEPS faces a computational-complexity phase transition above a critical bond dimension, ii) one can generically efficiently estimate the norm and correlation functions for any finite bond dimension. These results are supported numerically for various bond-dimension regimes. It is an important open question whether the above results for random PEPS apply more generally also to PEPS representing physically relevant ground states

quant-ph↗
arXiv2023

Emergence of fluctuating hydrodynamics in chaotic quantum systems

A fundamental principle of chaotic quantum dynamics is that local subsystems eventually approach a thermal equilibrium state. Large subsystems thermalize slower: their approach to equilibrium is limited by the hydrodynamic build-up of large-scale fluctuations. For classical out-of-equilibrium systems, the framework of macroscopic fluctuation theory (MFT) was recently developed to model the hydrodynamics of fluctuations. We perform large-scale quantum simulations that monitor the full counting statistics of particle-number fluctuations in hard-core boson ladders, contrasting systems with ballistic and chaotic dynamics. We find excellent agreement between our results and MFT predictions, which allows us to accurately extract diffusion constants from fluctuation growth. Our results suggest that large-scale fluctuations of isolated quantum systems display emergent hydrodynamic behavior, expanding the applicability of MFT to the quantum regime.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗
arXiv2023

Integrability breaking from backscattering

We analyze the onset of diffusive hydrodynamics in the one-dimensional hard-rod gas subject to stochastic backscattering. While this perturbation breaks integrability and leads to a crossover from ballistic to diffusive transport, it preserves infinitely many conserved quantities corresponding to even moments of the velocity distribution of the gas. In the limit of small noise, we derive the exact expressions for the diffusion and structure factor matrices, and show that they generically have off-diagonal components in the presence of interactions. We find that the particle density structure factor is non-Gaussian and singular near the origin, with a return probability showing logarithmic deviations from diffusion.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2023

Tunable superdiffusion in integrable spin chains using correlated initial states

Although integrable spin chains only host ballistically propagating particles they can still feature diffusive spin transport. This diffusive spin transport originates from quasiparticle charge fluctuations inherited from the initial state's magnetization Gaussian fluctuations. We show that ensembles of initial states with quasi-long range correlations lead to superdiffusive spin transport with a tunable dynamical exponent. We substantiate our prediction with numerical simulations and explain how deviations arise from finite time and finite size effects.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2023

Triviality of quantum trajectories close to a directed percolation transition

We study quantum circuits consisting of unitary gates, projective measurements, and control operations that steer the system towards a pure absorbing state. Two types of phase transition occur as the rate of these control operations is increased: a measurement-induced entanglement transition, and a directed percolation transition into the absorbing state (taken here to be a product state). In this work we show analytically that these transitions are generically distinct, with the quantum trajectories becoming disentangled before the absorbing state transition is reached, and we analyze their critical properties. We introduce a simple class of models where the measurements in each quantum trajectory define an Effective Tensor Network (ETN) -- a subgraph of the initial spacetime graph where nontrivial time evolution takes place. By analyzing the entanglement properties of the ETN, we show that the entanglement and absorbing-state transitions coincide only in the limit of infinite local Hilbert-space dimension. Focusing on a Clifford model which allows numerical simulations for large system sizes, we verify our predictions and study the finite-size crossover between the two transitions at large local Hilbert space dimension. We give evidence that the entanglement transition is governed by the same fixed point as in hybrid circuits without feedback.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2023

Quantum turnstiles for robust measurement of full counting statistics

We present a scalable protocol for measuring full counting statistics (FCS) in experiments or tensor-network simulations. In this method, an ancilla in the middle of the system acts as a turnstile, with its phase keeping track of the time-integrated particle flux. Unlike quantum gas microscopy, the turnstile protocol faithfully captures FCS starting from number-indefinite initial states or in the presence of noisy dynamics. In addition, by mapping the FCS onto a single-body observable, it allows for stable numerical calculations of FCS using approximate tensor-network methods. We demonstrate the wide-ranging utility of this approach by computing the FCS of the transferred magnetization in a Floquet Heisenberg spin chain, as studied in a recent experiment with superconducting qubits, as well as the FCS of charge transfer in random circuits.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2023

Superdiffusion from nonabelian symmetries in nearly integrable systems

The Heisenberg spin chain is a canonical integrable model. As such, it features stable ballistically propagating quasiparticles, but spin transport is sub-ballistic at any nonzero temperature: an initially localized spin fluctuation spreads in time $t$ to a width $t^{2/3}$. This exponent, as well as the functional form of the dynamical spin correlation function, suggest that spin transport is in the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class. However, the full counting statistics of magnetization is manifestly incompatible with KPZ scaling. A simple two-mode hydrodynamic description, derivable from microscopic principles, captures both the KPZ scaling of the correlation function and the coarse features of the full counting statistics, but remains to be numerically validated. These results generalize to any integrable spin chain invariant under a continuous nonabelian symmetry, and are surprisingly robust against moderately strong integrability-breaking perturbations that respect the nonabelian symmetry.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2023

Distinct universality classes of diffusive transport from full counting statistics

The hydrodynamic transport of local conserved densities furnishes an effective coarse-grained description of the dynamics of a many-body quantum system. However, the full quantum dynamics contains much more structure beyond the simplified hydrodynamic description. Here we show that systems with the same hydrodynamics can nevertheless belong to distinct dynamical universality classes, as revealed by new classes of experimental observables accessible in synthetic quantum systems, which can, for instance, measure simultaneous site-resolved snapshots of all of the particles in a system. Specifically, we study the full counting statistics of spin transport, whose first moment is related to linear-response transport, but the higher moments go beyond. We present an analytic theory of the full counting statistics of spin transport in various integrable and non-integrable anisotropic one-dimensional spin models, including the XXZ spin chain. We find that spin transport, while diffusive on average, is governed by a distinct non-Gaussian dynamical universality class in the models considered. We consider a setup in which the left and right half of the chain are initially created at different magnetization densities, and consider the probability distribution of the magnetization transferred between the two half-chains. We derive a closed-form expression for the probability distribution of the magnetization transfer, in terms of random walks on the half-line. We show that this distribution strongly violates the large-deviation form expected for diffusive chaotic systems, and explain the physical origin of this violation. We discuss the crossovers that occur as the initial state is brought closer to global equilibrium. Our predictions can directly be tested in experiments using quantum gas microscopes or superconducting qubit arrays.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2023

Divergent nonlinear response from quasiparticle interactions

We demonstrate that nonlinear response functions in many-body systems carry a sharp signature of interactions between gapped low-energy quasiparticles. Such interactions are challenging to deduce from linear response measurements. The signature takes the form of a divergent-in-time contribution to the response -- linear in time in the case when quasiparticles propagate ballistically -- that is absent for free bosonic excitations. We give an intuitive semiclassical picture of this singular behaviour, validated against exact results from a form-factor expansion of the Ising chain and tDMRG simulations in a non-integrable model -- the spin-1 AKLT chain. We comment on extensions of these results to more general settings, finite temperature, and higher dimensions.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2022

Hydrodynamic relaxation of spin helices

Motivated by recent cold atom experiments, we study the relaxation of spin helices in quantum XXZ spin chains. The experimentally observed relaxation of spin helices follows scaling laws that are qualitatively different from linear-response transport. We construct a theory of the relaxation of helices, combining generalized hydrodynamics (GHD) with diffusive corrections and the local density approximation. Although helices are far from local equilibrium (so GHD need not apply a priori), our theory reproduces the experimentally observed relaxational dynamics of helices. In particular, our theory explains the existence of temporal regimes with apparent anomalous diffusion, as well as the asymmetry between positive and negative anisotropy regimes.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗
arXiv2022

Entanglement and charge-sharpening transitions in U(1) symmetric monitored quantum circuits

Monitored quantum circuits can exhibit an entanglement transition as a function of the rate of measurements, stemming from the competition between scrambling unitary dynamics and disentangling projective measurements. We study how entanglement dynamics in non-unitary quantum circuits can be enriched in the presence of charge conservation, using a combination of exact numerics and a mapping onto a statistical mechanics model of constrained hard-core random walkers. We uncover a charge-sharpening transition that separates different scrambling phases with volume-law scaling of entanglement, distinguished by whether measurements can efficiently reveal the total charge of the system. We find that while Rényi entropies grow sub-ballistically as $\sqrt{t}$ in the absence of measurement, for even an infinitesimal rate of measurements, all average Rényi entropies grow ballistically with time $\sim t$. We study numerically the critical behavior of the charge-sharpening and entanglement transitions in U(1) circuits, and show that they exhibit emergent Lorentz invariance and can also be diagnosed using scalable local ancilla probes. Our statistical mechanical mapping technique readily generalizes to arbitrary Abelian groups, and offers a general framework for studying dissipatively-stabilized symmetry-breaking and topological orders.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗
arXiv2022

Anomalous transport from hot quasiparticles in interacting spin chains

Many experimentally relevant quantum spin chains are approximately integrable, and support long-lived quasiparticle excitations. A canonical example of integrable model of quantum magnetism is the XXZ spin chain, for which energy spreads ballistically, but, surprisingly, high-temperature spin transport can be diffusive or superdiffusive. We review the transport properties of this model using an intuitive quasiparticle picture that relies on the recently introduced framework of generalized hydrodynamics. We discuss how anomalous linear response properties emerge from hierarchies of quasiparticles both in integrable and near-integrable limits, with an emphasis on the role of hydrodynamic fluctuations. We also comment on recent developments including non-linear response, full-counting statistics and far-from-equilibrium transport. We provide an overview of recent numerical and experimental results on transport in XXZ spin chains.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2022

Transitions in the learnability of global charges from local measurements

We consider monitored quantum systems with a global conserved charge, and ask how efficiently an observer ("eavesdropper") can learn the global charge of such systems from local projective measurements. We find phase transitions as a function of the measurement rate, depending on how much information about the quantum dynamics the eavesdropper has access to. For random unitary circuits with U(1) symmetry, we present an optimal classical classifier to reconstruct the global charge from local measurement outcomes only. We demonstrate the existence of phase transitions in the performance of this classifier in the thermodynamic limit. We also study numerically improved classifiers by including some knowledge about the unitary gates pattern.

quant-ph↗