arXiv subjects

Stephen W. Yan

Publications and source records attributed to Stephen W. Yan.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Yang-Lee Criticality as a Dissipative Dynamical Phase Transition: Quantum Simulation of non-Hermitian Physics without Post-selection

We show that the $d+0$-dimensional Yang-Lee theory describing classical Ising spins in an imaginary magnetic field can be realized, without post-selection, within a $(d-1)+1$ open quantum system whose dynamics consist of local unitaries and engineered dissipation. Competition between the coherent unitary and dissipative dynamics drives a transition wherein the time-dependence of a particular class of linear observables changes from damped oscillatory "underdamped" to purely exponential "overdamped" decay. Our construction relies on an extensive number of weak-symmetries of the Lindbladian fixed by the choice of observable but is otherwise exact. Consequently, we show that the dynamics are described by the non-Hermitian generator of the Yang-Lee transfer matrix, leading to an effective Yang-Lee theory defined on the spacetime history of the open system. By locally modifying the dynamics, we directly measure spin correlation functions of the Yang-Lee theory as well as a related "Loschmidt Echo" correlator which we detail. We explicitly show that the required dissipation channels can be obtained through local $2$-qubit gates and discuss potential realization on near-term quantum simulator devices. Finally, we generalize our construction to embed arbitrary non-Hermitian Hamiltonians within an open quantum system under Lindbladian time-evolution without post-selection, drawing connections between unconditional open quantum dynamics, exceptional point physics, and non-unitary statistical mechanics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Non-linear Sigma Model for the Surface Code with Coherent Errors

The surface code is a promising platform for a quantum memory, but its threshold under coherent errors remains incompletely understood. We study maximum-likelihood decoding of the square-lattice surface code in the presence of single-qubit unitary rotations that create electric anyon excitations. We microscopically derive a non-linear sigma model with target space $\mathrm{SO}(2n)/\mathrm{U}(n)$ as the effective long-distance theory of this decoding problem, with distinct replica limits: $n\to1$ for optimal decoding, which assumes knowledge of the coherent rotation angle, and $n\to0$ for suboptimal decoding with imperfect angle information. This exposes a sharp distinction between the two decoders. The suboptimal decoder supports a "thermal-metal" phase, a non-decodable regime that is qualitatively distinct from the conventional non-decodable phase of the surface code under incoherent Pauli errors. By contrast, the metal phase cannot arise in optimal decoding, since the metallic fixed-point becomes unstable in the $n\to 1$ replica limit. We argue that optimal decoding may be possible up to the maximally-coherent rotation angle. Within the sigma model description, we show that the decoding fidelity is related to twist defects of the order-parameter field, yielding quantitative predictions for its system-size dependence near the metallic fixed point for both decoders. We examine our analytic predictions for the decoding fidelity as well as other physical observables with extensive numerical simulations. We discuss how the symmetries and the target space for the sigma model rely on the lattice of the surface code, and how a stable thermal metal phase can arise in optimal decoding when the syndromes reside on a non-bipartite lattice.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2024

Dissipative Dynamical Phase Transition as a Complex Ising Model

We investigate a quantum dynamical phase transition induced by the competition between local unitary evolution and dissipation in a qubit chain with a strong, on-site $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry. While the steady-state of this evolution is always maximally-mixed, we show that the dynamical behavior of certain non-local observables on the approach to this steady-state is dictated by a quantum Ising model with a $\textit{complex}$ transverse-field (cTFIM). We investigate these observables analytically, uncovering a dynamical phase transition as the relative rate of unitary evolution and dissipation is tuned. We show that the weak-dissipation limit corresponds to a cTFIM with a large magnitude of the imaginary transverse-field, for which the many-body "ground-state" (with smallest real eigenvalue) is gapless, exhibiting quasi-long-range correlations of the local magnetization with a continuously-varying exponent. Correspondingly, the dynamics of the non-local observables show oscillatory behavior with an amplitude decaying exponentially in time. The strong-dissipation limit corresponds to a gapped ferromagnetic phase of the cTFIM, and non-local observables show exponential decay on the approach to equilibrium. This transition in (1+1)-dimensions has a peculiar, "two-sided" nature appearing as either first- or second-order depending on the phase from which the transition is approached, an analytic result which is corroborated by numerical studies. In higher dimensions, we present a field-theoretic understanding of the first-order nature of this transition, when approaching from the ferromagnetic phase of the cTFIM, though the nature of the phase with large imaginary transverse-field remains to be understood.

quant-ph↗