arXiv subjects

Sara Murciano

Publications and source records attributed to Sara Murciano.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Theory of Measurement-Altered Criticality

Local measurements can alter long-range correlations in gapless quantum matter. We propose a theory of weakly-monitored Tomonaga-Luttinger liquids, a broad class of quantum critical states in one dimension. In order to address the intrinsic randomness of the measurement record, we develop a replica instanton calculation to study Born-averaged observables. We find that when measurements are relevant, average correlators of density and phase fluctuations decay at long distances as universal power laws with logarithmic corrections, a feature we argue is peculiar to measurement-induced randomness. We characterize the full multifractal spectrum of moments of correlations functions, revealing broad, strongly non-gaussian fluctuations across the ensemble of post-measurement states. We support these analytic results with matrix-product-state calculations, and provide a general picture of measurement-altered criticality for ground states described by 1+1d conformal field theories. Our results establish that physical measurements alter critical quantum states in a manner that lies beyond both forced measurements and conventional critical scaling.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2026

Quantum sensing with critical systems: impact of symmetry, imperfections, and decoherence

Entangled many-body states enable high-precision quantum sensing beyond the standard quantum limit. We develop interferometric sensing protocols based on quantum critical wavefunctions and compare their performance with Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) and spin-squeezed states. Building on the idea of symmetries as a metrological resource, we introduce a symmetry-based algorithm to identify optimal measurement strategies. We illustrate this algorithm both for magnetic systems with internal symmetries and Rydberg-atom arrays with spatial symmetries. We study the robustness of criticality for quantum sensing under non-unitary deformations, symmetry-preserving and symmetry-breaking decoherence, and qubit loss -- identifying regimes where critical systems outperform GHZ states and showing that non-unitary deformation can even enhance sensing precision. Combined with recent results on log-depth preparation of critical wavefunctions, interferometric sensing in this setting appears increasingly promising.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Higher-order Symmetric Quantum Mpemba Effect in Fragmented Systems

A quantum system can restore a broken symmetry faster the more strongly it initially breaks it, an anomaly known as the quantum Mpemba effect. Whether this effect survives once conservation laws fragment the Hilbert space into exponentially many disconnected Krylov sectors has remained open. We address this question for circuits and Hamiltonians with simultaneous charge and dipole conservation, the paradigmatic setting for strong Hilbert-space fragmentation. Combining a replica tensor-network formulation for charge and dipole-conserving gates, which reaches the annealed Rényi-2 entanglement asymmetry up to $L=128$, with Hamiltonian simulations and an exactly solvable dissipative model, we uncover a higher-order symmetric quantum Mpemba effect: the charge and dipole asymmetries each display Mpemba-like crossings on parametrically distinct timescales. Resolving the state into frozen and active Krylov sectors reveals the mechanism: frozen fragments retain a finite asymmetry that obstructs full restoration, while active fragments host the relaxation responsible for the crossings. Fragmentation thus does not preclude the quantum Mpemba effect but reshapes it into frozen memory and active-fragment relaxation, providing a framework for the Mpemba phenomenology of higher-moment symmetries.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Long-range deformations in Gaussian States

Imaginary-time evolution by a local Hamiltonian cannot induce a phase transition in one dimension, but longer-range interactions may subvert such constraints. Starting from the ground state of the Kitaev Majorana chain, we modify the wave function by an imaginary-time evolution generated by a quadratic Hamiltonian with power-law couplings that enhance pairing correlations, typically of the form $1/r^α$, where $r$ is the distance between two sites. As the state remains Gaussian, entanglement and correlation functions can be computed analytically. We find that the decay exponent $α$ controls three distinct infrared regimes: for $α>1$, the deformation produces only smooth crossovers at finite deformation strength, while the topological regime is reached only asymptotically as the deformation strength tends to infinity. At $α=1$, the deformation induces an immediate flow to the topological phase: an infinitesimal deformation strength drives the system to a topological regime, and in a particular case, an emergent Kramers-Wannier symmetry enforces Ising-like scaling at long distances. For $α<1$, the deformed state shows the same critical-like behavior for all non-zero deformation strength. We observe that even with arbitrarily long-range interactions, these models do not display a sharp phase transition at non-zero deformation strength.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2026

Quantum Fisher Information under decoherence with explicit wavefunctions

We present a method to estimate the quantum Fisher information (QFI) of many-body quantum states in the presence of decoherence, where its direct evaluation requires the full spectral resolution of the density matrix. We show that, for many-body wave functions known analytically in the occupation-number basis, systematic lower bounds to the QFI can be mapped onto expectation values over a classical probability distribution defined by the wave function amplitudes. This mapping enables efficient estimation via Markov-chain Monte Carlo sampling, with a computational cost that scales as a `slow' exponential ($e^{b L}$ with $b \lesssim 0.6$) and remains manageable for system sizes well beyond exact diagonalization. We specify this framework to Jastrow-Gutzwiller wave functions. We characterize their metrological content by identifying the observables that maximize the QFI and the corresponding scaling with $L$. Then, we analyze the QFI under three physically motivated noise channels: local dephasing, local amplitude damping, and global depolarizing. We compare polynomial and Krylov-based lower bounds across these channels, relating their behavior to the effective rank of the noisy density matrix and to the structure of the operator generating the parameter encoding. The framework extends naturally to other analytically known wave functions and to a broader class of information-theoretic quantities beyond the QFI.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Non-Gaussianity of random quantum states

We study the fermionic non-Gaussianity in typical quantum states, focusing on Haar random states of qubits with or without a global $U(1)$ symmetry. Using the Weingarten calculus, we derive analytical predictions for the non-Gaussianity, defined as the relative entropy between the reduced density matrix and its Gaussianized counterpart. We identify two regimes controlled by the ratio between the subsystem and the system size, $\ell/L$. For $\ell/L < 1/2$, the non-Gaussianity vanishes in the absence of symmetries, because typical reduced density matrices are exponentially close to the maximally mixed state. In the presence of a global $U(1)$ symmetry, instead, it remains small but finite. By contrast, in the regime $\ell/L > 1/2$, the non-Gaussianity becomes extensive. These results establish the typical scaling of fermionic non-Gaussianity in random states and analyze how this is modified by the presence of global symmetries.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2026

Enhancing entanglement asymmetry in fragmented quantum systems

Entanglement asymmetry provides a quantitative measure of symmetry breaking in many-body quantum states. Focusing on inhomogeneous $U(1)$ charges, such as dipole and multipole moments, we show that the typical asymmetry is bounded by a universal fraction of its maximal value. Multipole charges naturally arise in systems with Hilbert-space fragmentation, where the dynamics splits into exponentially many disconnected sectors. Using the commutant algebra formalism, we generalize entanglement asymmetry to account for fragmentation. While the asymmetry grows logarithmically for conventional symmetries, it can scale extensively in fragmented systems and distinguish classical from quantum fragmentation. We derive general upper bounds for the asymmetry and identify states that saturate them. To study the typical behavior of the asymmetry, we consider the ensemble of random matrix product states. By identifying the bond dimension with an effective time parameter, we qualitatively reproduce recent results on asymmetry dynamics in random quantum circuits, suggesting a universal behavior for the asymmetry of $U(1)$ charges in local ergodic systems.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2026

An asymmetry lower bound on fermionic non-Gaussianity

Fermionic Gaussian states are a fundamental tool in many-body physics, faithfully representing non-interacting quantum systems and allowing for efficient numerical simulations. Given a many-body wave function, it is therefore interesting to ask how much it differs from that of a Gaussian state, as quantified by the notion of non-Gaussianity. In this work, we relate measures of non-Gaussianity with the Shannon entropy of the particle-number distribution, coinciding with the particle-number asymmetry for pure states. We derive a lower bound on the relative entropy of non-Gaussianity in terms of the exponential of the Shannon entropy, and study numerically its tightness for large system sizes. Our bound is non-trivial for large values of the asymmetry and relies on the concentration of the particle-number distribution of (mixed) fermionic Gaussian states. Since the Shannon entropy of the particle-number distribution is often efficient to compute or experimentally measure, our results can be viewed as a practical way to lower bound non-Gaussianity, highlighting a non-trivial interplay with particle-number asymmetry.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Universal properties of the many-body Lanczos algorithm at finite size

We study the universal properties of the Lanczos algorithm applied to finite-size many-body quantum systems. Focusing on autocorrelation functions of local operators and on their infinite-time behaviour at finite size, we conjecture that in the large $n$ limit, the ratios between consecutive Lanczos coefficients should have specific scalings with the size of the lattice that we make precise and that depend on the hydrodynamic tail of the autocorrelation function. The scaling associated with strong or approximate zero-modes is also discussed. We support our conjecture with a numerical study of different models.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Quantum logic control and entanglement in hybrid atom-molecule arrays

Polar molecules, with their rich internal structure, offer immense potential for fundamental physics, quantum technology, and controlled chemistry. However, their utilization is currently limited because of slow and imperfect state detection and weak dipolar interaction, limiting fast and large-scale entanglement generation. We propose and analyze a scheme for quantum logic control and measurement-based state preparation in a hybrid platform of polar molecules and neutral atoms. The method leverages fast, high-fidelity atom-molecule gates and high-fidelity atomic ancilla measurements to overcome the common challenges in molecule-only platforms, while preserving their diverse structural advantages. The proposed atom-molecule controlled-phase gate is based on resonant dipole-dipole exchange between a molecular rotational transition and an atomic Rydberg transition, rendering it three orders of magnitude faster than any direct molecule-molecule entangling gate. We further study several applications of our scheme including the preparation of molecular GHZ states for quantum enhanced precision measurements, the preparation of exotic molecular qudit states with topological order, and measurement-altered criticality. Our scheme is applicable to any polar molecule. It expands the paradigm of quantum logic control and paves the way to large-scale molecular entangled states. More generally, it highlights a concrete hybrid quantum system in which each qubit is utilized in an optimal way and where the measurement-based approach can yield a significant advantage in near-term devices.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Experimental observation of conformal field theory spectra

Conformal field theories (CFTs) feature prominently in high-energy physics, statistical mechanics, and condensed matter. For example, CFTs govern emergent universal properties of systems tuned to quantum phase transitions, including their entanglement, correlations, and low-energy excitation spectra. Much of the rich structure predicted by CFTs nevertheless remains unobserved in experiment. Here we directly observe the energy excitation spectra of emergent CFTs at quantum phase transitions -- recovering universal energy ratios characteristic of the underlying field theories. Specifically, we develop and implement a modulation technique to resolve a Rydberg chain's finite-size spectra, variably tuned to quantum phase transitions described by either Ising or tricritical Ising CFTs. We also employ local control to distinguish parities of excitations under reflection and, in the tricritical Ising chain, to induce transitions between distinct CFT spectra associated with changing boundary conditions. By utilizing a variant of the modulation technique, we furthermore study the dynamical structure factor of the critical system, which is closely related to the correlation of an underlying Ising conformal field. Our work not only probes the emergence of CFT features in a quantum simulator, but also provides a technique for diagnosing a priori unknown universality classes in future experiments.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Entanglement asymmetry in gauge theories: chiral anomaly in the finite temperature massless Schwinger model

The entanglement asymmetry has emerged in recent years as a practical quantity to study phases of matter. We present the first study of entanglement asymmetry in gauge theories by considering the chiral anomaly of the analytically solvable massless Schwinger model at both zero and finite temperatures. At zero temperature, we find the asymmetry exhibits logarithmic growth with system size. At finite temperature, we show that it is parametrically more sensitive to chiral symmetry-breaking than the corresponding local order parameter: while the chiral condensate decays exponentially, the asymmetry decreases only logarithmically. This establishes the entanglement asymmetry as a promising tool to probe (finite-temperature) phase transitions in gauge theories.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Observable-projected ensembles

Measurements in many-body quantum systems can generate non-trivial phenomena, such as preparation of long-range entangled states, dynamical phase transitions, or measurement-altered criticality. Here, we introduce a new measurement scheme that produces an ensemble of mixed states in a subsystem, obtained by measuring a local Hermitian observable on part of its complement. We refer to this as the observable-projected ensemble. Unlike standard projected ensembles-where pure states are generated by projective measurements on the complement-our approach involves projective partial measurements of specific observables. This setup has two main advantages: theoretically, it is amenable to analytical computations, especially within conformal field theories. Experimentally, it requires only a linear number of measurements, rather than an exponential one, to probe the properties of the ensemble. As a first step in exploring the observable-projected ensemble, we investigate its entanglement properties in conformal field theory and perform a detailed analysis of the free compact boson.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Measurement-induced symmetry restoration and quantum Mpemba effect

Monitoring a quantum system can profoundly alter its dynamical properties, leading to nontrivial emergent phenomena. In this work, we demonstrate that dynamical measurements strongly influence the evolution of symmetry in many-body quantum systems. Specifically, we demonstrate that monitored systems governed by non-Hermitian dynamics exhibit a quantum Mpemba effect, where systems with stronger initial asymmetry relax faster to a symmetric state. Crucially, this phenomenon is purely measurement-induced: in the absence of measurements, we find states where the corresponding unitary evolution does not display any Mpemba effect. Furthermore, we uncover a novel measurement-induced symmetry restoration mechanism: below a critical measurement rate, the symmetry remains broken, but beyond a threshold, it is fully restored in the thermodynamic limit--along with the emergence of the quantum Mpemba effect.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Entanglement asymmetry dynamics in random quantum circuits

We study the dynamics of entanglement asymmetry in random unitary circuits (RUCs). Focusing on a local $U(1)$ charge, we consider symmetric initial states evolved by both local one-dimensional circuits and geometrically non-local RUCs made of two-qudit gates. We compute the entanglement asymmetry of subsystems of arbitrary size, analyzing the relaxation time scales. We show that the entanglement asymmetry of the whole system approaches its stationary value in a time independent of the system size for both local and non-local circuits. For subsystems, we find qualitative differences depending on their size. When the subsystem is larger than half of the full system, the equilibration time scales are again independent of the system size for both local and non-local circuits and the entanglement asymmetry grows monotonically in time. Conversely, when the subsystems are smaller than half of the full system, we show that the entanglement asymmetry is non-monotonic in time and that it equilibrates in a time proportional to the quantum-information scrambling time, providing a physical intuition. As a consequence, the subsystem-equilibration time depends on the locality of interactions, scaling linearly and logarithmically in the system size, respectively, for local and non-local RUCs. Our work confirms the entanglement asymmetry as a versatile and computable probe of symmetry in many-body physics and yields a phenomenological overview of entanglement-asymmetry evolution in typical non-integrable dynamics.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2025

Practical roadmap to measurement-altered criticality in Rydberg arrays

Weak measurements have been predicted to dramatically alter universal properties of quantum critical wavefunctions, though experimental validation remains an open problem. Here we devise a practical scheme for realizing measurement-altered criticality in a chain of Rydberg atoms tuned to Ising and tricritical Ising phase transitions. In particular, we show that projectively measuring a periodic subset of atoms alters quantum critical correlations in distinct ways that one can control via the choice of measured sites and the measurement outcomes. While our protocol relies on post-selection, the measurement outcomes yielding the most dramatic consequences occur with surprisingly large probabilities: O(10%) with chains featuring O(100) sites. Characterizing the proposed post-measurement states requires only an adjustment in the post-process averaging of outcomes used to characterize unmeasured critical states, resulting in minimal additional experimental overhead for demonstrating measurement-altered criticality.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

On symmetry-resolved generalized entropies

Symmetry-resolved entanglement, capturing the refined structure of quantum entanglement in systems with global symmetries, has attracted a lot of attention recently. In this manuscript, introducing the notion of symmetry-resolved generalized entropies, we aim to develop a computational framework suitable for the study of excited state symmetry-resolved entanglement as well as the dynamical evolution of symmetry-resolved entanglement in symmetry-preserving out-of-equilibrium settings. We illustrate our framework using the example of (1+1)-d free massless compact boson theory, and benchmark our results using lattice computation in the XX chain. As a byproduct, our computational framework also provides access to the probability distribution of the symmetry charge contained within a subsystem and the corresponding full counting statistics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

The quantum Mpemba effect in free-fermionic mixed states

Recently, a novel probe to study symmetry breaking, known as entanglement asymmetry, has emerged and has been utilized to explore how symmetry is dynamically restored following quantum quenches. Interestingly, it has been shown that, in certain scenarios, greater initial symmetry breaking leads to faster restoration, akin to a quantum Mpemba effect. This study focuses on investigating the effect of mixed initial states and non-unitary dynamics on symmetry restoration. The mixedness of a state can arise from different sources. We consider dephasing or dissipative processes affecting initial pure states or unitary dynamics of initially thermal states. In the former case, the stationary state after the quench is independent of the initial configuration, resembling the phenomenology of the classical Mpemba effect. Investigating the XY spin chain model, through a combination of analytical calculations and numerical simulations, we identify the conditions for the occurrence of the quantum Mpemba effect. It turns out that this phenomenon still occurs in the presence of dissipation or at finite temperature, even though it will be eventually suppressed as the state becomes more mixed.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗