Publications of Luca Tagliacozzo

The Lattice Gauge Theory Hilbert space is divided into gauge-invariant sectors selected by the background charges. Such a projector can be directly embedded in a tensor network ansatz for gauge-invariant states as originally discussed in [Phys. Rev. B 83, 115127 (2011)] and in [Phys. Rev. X 4, 041024 (2014)] in the context of PEPS. The original ansatz is based on sparse tensors, though parts of them are not explicitly symmetric, and thus their actual implementation in numerical simulations has been hindered by the complexity of developing ad hoc libraries. Here we provide a new PEPS tensor network formulation of gauge-invariant theories purely based on symmetric elementary tensors. The new formulation can be implemented in numerical simulation using available state-of-the-art tensor network libraries but also holds interest from a purely theoretical perspective since it requires embedding the original gauge theory with gauge symmetry G into an enlarged globally symmetric theory with symmetry GxG. By revisiting the original ansatz in the modern landscape of i) duality transformations between gauge and spin systems, ii) finite depth quantum circuits followed by measurements that allow generating topologically ordered states, and iii) Clifford enhanced tensor networks, we show that such a new formulation provides a novel duality transformation between lattice gauge theories and specific sectors of globally invariant systems.

We set up an effective field theory formulation for the renormalization flow of matrix product states (MPS) with finite bond dimension, focusing on systems exhibiting finite-entanglement scaling close to a conformally invariant critical fixed point. We show that the finite MPS bond dimension $\chi$ is equivalent to introducing a perturbation by a relevant operator to the fixed-point Hamiltonian. The fingerprint of this mechanism is encoded in the $\chi$-independent universal transfer matrix’s gap ratios, which are distinct from those predicted by the unperturbed Conformal Field Theory. This phenomenon defines a renormalization group self-congruent point, where the relevant coupling constant ceases to flow due to a balance of two effects; When increasing $\chi$, the infrared scale, set by the correlation length $\xi(\chi)$, increases, while the strength of the perturbation at the lattice scale decreases. The presence of a self-congruent point does not alter the validity of the finite-entanglement scaling hypothesis, since the self-congruent point is located at a finite distance from the critical fixed point, well inside the scaling regime of the CFT. We corroborate this framework with numerical evidences from the exact solution of the Ising model and density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) simulations of an effective lattice model.

The complexity of simulating the out-of-equilibrium evolution of local operators in the Heisenberg picture is governed by the operator entanglement, which grows linearly in time for generic non-integrable systems, leading to an exponential increase in computational resources. A promising approach to simplify this challenge involves discarding parts of the operator and focusing on a subspace formed by “light” Pauli strings – strings with few Pauli matrices – as proposed by Rakovszki et al. [PRB 105, 075131 (2022)]. In this work, we investigate whether this strategy can be applied to quenches starting from homogeneous product states. For ergodic dynamics, these initial states grant access to a wide range of equilibration temperatures. By concentrating on the desired matrix elements and retaining only the portion of the operator that contains Pauli strings parallel to the initial state, we uncover a complex scenario. In some cases, the light Pauli strings suffice to describe the dynamics, enabling efficient simulation with current algorithms. However, in other cases, heavier strings become necessary, pushing computational demands beyond our current capabilities. We analyze this behavior using a newly introduced measure of complexity, the Operator Weight Entropy, which we compute for different operators across most points on the Bloch sphere.

We introduce a novel experimental approach to probe many-body quantum systems by developing a protocol to measure generalized temporal entropies. We demonstrate that the recently proposed generalized temporal entropies [Phys. Rev. Research 6, 033021] are equivalent to observing the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of a replicated system induced by a double quench protocol using local operators as probes. This equivalence, confirmed through state-of-the-art tensor network simulations for one-dimensional systems, validates the feasibility of measuring generalized temporal entropies experimentally. Our results reveal that the dynamics governed by the transverse field Ising model integrable Hamiltonian differ qualitatively from those driven by the same model with an additional parallel field, breaking integrability. They thus suggest that generalized temporal entropies can serve as a tool for identifying different dynamical classes. This work represents the first practical application of generalized temporal entropy characterization in one-dimensional many-body quantum systems and offers a new pathway for experimentally detecting integrability. We conclude by outlining the experimental requirements for implementing this protocol with state of the art quantum simulators.

This research focuses on solving time-dependent partial differential equations (PDEs), in particular the time-dependent Schr\”odinger equation, using matrix product states (MPS). We propose an extension of Hermite Distributed Approximating Functionals (HDAF) to MPS, a highly accurate pseudospectral method for approximating functions of derivatives. Integrating HDAF into an MPS finite precision algebra, we test four types of quantum-inspired algorithms for time evolution: explicit Runge-Kutta methods, Crank-Nicolson method, explicitly restarted Arnoli iteration and split-step. The benchmark problem is the expansion of a particle in a quantum quench, characterized by a rapid increase in space requirements, where HDAF surpasses traditional finite difference methods in accuracy with a comparable cost. Moreover, the efficient HDAF approximation to the free propagator avoids the need for Fourier transforms in split-step methods, significantly enhancing their performance with an improved balance in cost and accuracy. Both approaches exhibit similar error scaling and run times compared to FFT vector methods; however, MPS offer an exponential advantage in memory, overcoming vector limitations to enable larger discretizations and expansions. Finally, the MPS HDAF split-step method successfully reproduces the physical behavior of a particle expansion in a double-well potential, demonstrating viability for actual research scenarios.

We investigate a quasi-two-dimensional system consisting of two species of alkali atoms confined in a specific optical lattice potential [Phys. Rev. A 95, 053608 (2017)]. In the low-energy regime, this system is governed by a unique $\mathbb{Z}_N$ gauge theory, where field theory arguments have suggested that it may exhibit two exotic gapless deconfined phases, namely a dipolar liquid phase and a Bose liquid phase, along with two gapped (confined and deconfined) phases. We address these predictions numerically by using large-scale density matrix renormalization group simulations. Our findings provide conclusive evidence for the existence of a gapless Bose liquid phase for $N \geq 7$. We demonstrate that this gapless phase shares the same critical properties as one-dimensional critical phases, resembling weakly coupled chains of Luttinger liquids. In the range of geometries and $N$ considered, the gapless dipolar phase predicted theoretically is still elusive and its characterization will probably require a full two-dimensional treatment.

This work explores the representation of univariate and multivariate functions as matrix product states (MPS), also known as quantized tensor-trains (QTT). It proposes an algorithm that employs iterative Chebyshev expansions and Clenshaw evaluations to represent analytic and highly differentiable functions as MPS Chebyshev interpolants. It demonstrates rapid convergence for highly-differentiable functions, aligning with theoretical predictions, and generalizes efficiently to multidimensional scenarios. The performance of the algorithm is compared with that of tensor cross-interpolation (TCI) and multiscale interpolative constructions through a comprehensive comparative study. When function evaluation is inexpensive or when the function is not analytical, TCI is generally more efficient for function loading. However, the proposed method shows competitive performance, outperforming TCI in certain multivariate scenarios. Moreover, it shows advantageous scaling rates and generalizes to a wider range of tasks by providing a framework for function composition in MPS, which is useful for non-linear problems and many-body statistical physics.

We show how the Loschmidt echo of a product state after a quench to a conformal invariant critical point and its leading finite time corrections can be predicted by using conformal field theories (CFT). We check such predictions with tensor networks, finding excellent agreement. As a result, we can use the Loschmidt echo to extract the universal information of the underlying CFT including the central charge, the operator content, and its generalized temporal entropies. We are also able to predict and confirm an emerging dual-unitarity of the evolution at late times, since the spatial transfer matrix operator that evolves the system in space becomes unitary in such limit. Our results on the growth of temporal entropies also imply that, using state-of-the art tensor networks algorithms, such calculations only require resources that increase polynomially with the duration of the quench, thus providing an example of numerically efficiently solvable out-of-equilibrium scenario.

In this manuscript, we explore the intersection of QML and TN in the context of the one-dimensional ANNNI model with a transverse field. The study aims to concretely connect QML and TN by combining them in various stages of algorithm construction, focusing on phase diagram reconstruction for the ANNNI model, with supervised and unsupervised techniques. The model’s significance lies in its representation of quantum fluctuations and frustrated exchange interactions, making it a paradigm for studying magnetic ordering, frustration, and the presence of a floating phase. It concludes with discussions of the results, including insights from increased system sizes and considerations for future work, such as addressing limitations in QCNN and exploring more realistic implementations of QC.

This work discusses the solution of partial differential equations (PDEs) using matrix product states (MPS). The study focuses on the search for the lowest eigenstates of a Hamiltonian equation, for which five algorithms are introduced: imaginary-time evolution, steepest gradient descent, an improved gradient descent, an implicitly restarted Arnoldi method, and density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) optimization. The first four methods are engineered using a framework of limited-precision linear algebra, where operations between MPS and matrix product operators (MPOs) are implemented with finite resources. All methods are benchmarked using the PDE for a quantum harmonic oscillator in up to two dimensions, over a regular grid with up to $2^{28}$ points. Our study reveals that all MPS-based techniques outperform exact diagonalization techniques based on vectors, with respect to memory usage. Imaginary-time algorithms are shown to underperform any type of gradient descent, both in terms of calibration needs and costs. Finally, Arnoldi like methods and DMRG asymptotically outperform all other methods, including exact diagonalization, as problem size increases, with an exponential advantage in memory and time usage.

In this paper we construct the continuous Matrix Product State (MPS) representation of the vacuum of the field theory corresponding to the continuous limit of an Ising model. We do this by exploiting the observation made by Hastings and Mahajan in [Phys. Rev. A \textbf{91}, 032306 (2015)] that the Euclidean time evolution generates a continuous MPS along the time direction. We exploit this fact, together with the emerging Lorentz invariance at the critical point in order to identify the matrix product representation of the quantum field theory (QFT) vacuum with the continuous MPS in the time direction (tMPS). We explicitly construct the tMPS and check these statements by comparing the physical properties of the tMPS with those of the standard ground MPS. We furthermore identify the QFT that the tMPS encodes with the field theory emerging from taking the continuous limit of a weakly perturbed Ising model by a parallel field first analyzed by Zamolodchikov.

We study the computational complexity of simulating the time-dependent expectation value of a local operator in a one-dimensional quantum system by using temporal matrix product states. We argue that such cost is intimately related to that of encoding temporal transition matrices and their partial traces. In particular, we show that we can upper-bound the rank of these reduced transition matrices by the one of the Heisenberg evolution of local operators, thus making connection between two apparently different quantities, the temporal entanglement and the local operator entanglement. As a result, whenever the local operator entanglement grows slower than linearly in time, we show that computing time-dependent expectation values of local operators using temporal matrix product states is likely advantageous with respect to computing the same quantities using standard matrix product states techniques.

Photonic quantum metrology harnesses quantum states of light, such as NOON or Twin-Fock states, to measure unknown parameters beyond classical precision limits. Current protocols suffer from two severe limitations that preclude their scalability: the exponential decrease in fidelities (or probabilities) when generating states with large photon numbers due to gate errors, and the increased sensitivity of such states to noise. Here, we develop a deterministic protocol combining quantum optical non-linearities and variational quantum algorithms that provides a substantial improvement on both fronts. First, we show how the variational protocol can generate metrologically-relevant states with a small number of operations which does not significantly depend on photon-number, resulting in exponential improvements in fidelities when gate errors are considered. Second, we show that such states offer a better robustness to noise compared to other states in the literature. Since our protocol harnesses interactions already appearing in state-of-the-art setups, such as cavity QED, we expect that it will lead to more scalable photonic quantum metrology in the near future.

In the out-of-equilibrium evolution induced by a quench, fast degrees of freedom generate long-range entanglement that is hard to encode with standard tensor networks. However, local observables only sense such long-range correlations through their contribution to the reduced local state as a mixture. We present a tensor network method that identifies such long-range entanglement and efficiently transforms it into mixture, much easier to represent. In this way, we obtain an effective description of the time-evolved state as a density matrix that captures the long-time behavior of local operators with finite computational resources.

The presence of gauge symmetry in 1+1D is known to be redundant, since it does not imply the existence of dynamical gauge bosons. As a consequence, in the continuum, the Abelian-Higgs model, the theory of bosonic matter interacting with photons, just possesses a single phase, as the higher dimensional Higgs and Coulomb phases are connected via non-perturbative effects. However, recent research published in [Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 090601 (2022)] has revealed an unexpected phase transition when the system is discretized on the lattice. This transition is described by a conformal field theory with a central charge of $c=3/2$. In this paper, we aim to characterize the two components of this $c=3/2$ theory — namely the free Majorana fermionic and bosonic parts — through equilibrium and out-of-equilibrium spectral analyses.

Waveguide QED simulators are analogue quantum simulators made by quantum emitters interacting with one-dimensional photonic band-gap materials. One of their remarkable features is that they can be used to engineer tunable-range emitter interactions. Here, we demonstrate how these interactions can be a resource to develop more efficient variational quantum algorithms for certain problems. In particular, we illustrate their power in creating wavefunction ans\”atze that capture accurately the ground state of quantum critical spin models (XXZ and Ising) with less gates and optimization parameters than other variational ans\”atze based on nearest-neighbor or infinite-range entangling gates. Finally, we study the potential advantages of these waveguide ans\”atze in the presence of noise. Overall, these results evidence the potential of using the interaction range as a variational parameter and place waveguide QED simulators as a promising platform for variational quantum algorithms.

This document is meant to be a practical introduction to the analytical and numerical manipulation of Fermionic Gaussian systems. Starting from the basics, we move to relevant modern results and techniques, presenting numerical examples and studying relevant Hamiltonians, such as the transverse field Ising Hamiltonian, in detail. We finish introducing novel algorithms connecting Fermionic Guassian states with matrix product states techniques. All the numerical examples make use of the free Julia package F_utilities.

Conformal Field Theories (CFTs) have been used extensively to understand the physics of critical lattice models at equilibrium. However, the applicability of CFT calculations to the behavior of the lattice systems in the out-of-equilibrium setting is not entirely understood. In this work, we compare the CFT results of the evolution of the entanglement spectrum after a quantum quench with numerical calculations of the entanglement spectrum of the three-state Potts model using matrix product state simulations. Our results lead us to conjecture that CFT does not describe the entanglement spectrum of the three-state Potts model at long times, contrary to what happens in the Ising model. We thus numerically simulate the out-of-equilibrium behaviour of the Potts model according to the CFT protocol – i.e. by taking a particular product state and “cooling” it, then quenching to the critical point and find that, in this case, the entanglement spectrum is indeed described by the CFT at long times.

We determine the phase diagram of the Abelian-Higgs model in one spatial dimension and time (1+1D) on a lattice. We identify a line of first order phase transitions separating the Higgs region from the confined one. This line terminates in a quantum critical point above which the two regions are connected by a smooth crossover. We analyze the critical point and find compelling evidences for its description as the product of two non-interacting systems, a massless free fermion and a massless free boson. However, we find also some surprizing results that cannot be explained by our simple picture, suggesting this newly discovered critical point to be an unusual one.

The central idea of this review is to consider quantum field theory models relevant for particle physics and replace the fermionic matter in these models by a bosonic one. This is mostly motivated by the fact that bosons are more “accessible” and easier to manipulate for experimentalists, but this “substitution” also leads to new physics and novel phenomena. It allows us to gain new information about among other things confinement and the dynamics of the deconfinement transition. We will thus consider bosons in dynamical lattices corresponding to the bosonic Schwinger or Z$_2$ Bose-Hubbard models. Another central idea of this review concerns atomic simulators of paradigmatic models of particle physics theory such as the Creutz-Hubbard ladder, or Gross-Neveu-Wilson and Wilson-Hubbard models. Finally, we will briefly describe our efforts to design experimentally friendly simulators of these and other models relevant for particle physics.

Whether long-range interactions allow for a form of causality in non-relativistic quantum models remains an open question with far-reaching implications for the propagation of information and thermalization processes. Here, we study the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of the one-dimensional transverse Ising model with algebraic long-range exchange coupling. Using a state of the art tensor-network approach, complemented by analytic calculations and considering various observables, we show that a weak form of causality emerges, characterized by non-universal dynamical exponents. While the local spin and spin correlation causal edges are sub-ballistic, the causal region has a rich internal structure, which, depending on the observable, displays ballistic or super-ballistic features. In contrast, the causal region of entanglement entropy is featureless and its edge is always ballistic, irrespective of the interaction range. Our results shed light on the propagation of information in long-range interacting lattice models and pave the way to future experiments, which are discussed.

We consider a mixture of ultracold bosonic atoms on a one-dimensional lattice described by the XXZ-Bose-Hubbard model, where the tunneling of one species depends on the spin state of a second deeply trapped species. We show how the inclusion of antiferromagnetic interactions among the spin degrees of freedom generates a Devil’s staircase of symmetry-protected topological phases for a wide parameter regime via a bosonic analog of the Peierls mechanism in electron-phonon systems. These topological Peierls insulators are examples of symmetry-breaking topological phases, where long-range order due to spontaneous symmetry breaking coexists with topological properties such as fractionalized edge states. Moreover, we identify a region of supersolid phases that do not require long-range interactions. They appear instead due to a Peierls incommensurability mechanism, where competing orders modify the underlying crystalline structure of Peierls insulators, becoming superfluid. Our work show the possibilities that ultracold atomic systems offer to investigate strongly-correlated topological phenomena beyond those found in natural materials.

Topologically-ordered phases of matter, although stable against local perturbations, are usually restricted to relatively small regions in phase diagrams. Their preparation requires thus a precise fine tunning of the system’s parameters, a very challenging task in most experimental setups. In this work, we investigate a model of spinless fermions interacting with dynamical $\mathbb{Z}_2$ gauge fields on a cross-linked ladder, and show evidence of topological order throughout the full parameter space. In particular, we show how a magnetic flux is spontaneously generated through the ladder due to an Aharonov-Bohm instability, giving rise to topological order even in the absence of a plaquette term. Moreover, the latter coexists here with a symmetry-protected topological phase in the matter sector, that displays fractionalised gauge-matter edge states, and intertwines with it by a flux-threading phenomenon. Finally, we unveil the robustness of these features through a gauge frustration mechanism, akin to geometric frustration in spin liquids, allowing topological order to survive to arbitrarily large quantum fluctuations. In particular, we show how, at finite chemical potential, topological solitons are created in the gauge field configuration, which bound to fermions forming $\mathbb{Z}_2$ deconfined quasi-particles. The simplicity of the model makes it an ideal candidate where 2D gauge theory phenomena, as well as exotic topological effects, can be investigated using cold-atom quantum simulators.

Lattice gauge theories, which originated from particle physics in the context of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), provide an important intellectual stimulus to further develop quantum information technologies. While one long-term goal is the reliable quantum simulation of currently intractable aspects of QCD itself, lattice gauge theories also play an important role in condensed matter physics and in quantum information science. In this way, lattice gauge theories provide both motivation and a framework for interdisciplinary research towards the development of special purpose digital and analog quantum simulators, and ultimately of scalable universal quantum computers. In this manuscript, recent results and new tools from a quantum science approach to study lattice gauge theories are reviewed. Two new complementary approaches are discussed: first, tensor network methods are presented – a classical simulation approach – applied to the study of lattice gauge theories together with some results on Abelian and non-Abelian lattice gauge theories. Then, recent proposals for the implementation of lattice gauge theory quantum simulators in different quantum hardware are reported, e.g., trapped ions, Rydberg atoms, and superconducting circuits. Finally, the first proof-of-principle trapped ions experimental quantum simulations of the Schwinger model are reviewed.

We consider the time evolution of the gaps of the entanglement spectrum for a block of consecutive sites in finite transverse field Ising chains after sudden quenches of the magnetic field. We provide numerical evidence that, whenever we quench at or across the quantum critical point, the time evolution of the ratios of these gaps allows to obtain universal information. They encode the low-lying gaps of the conformal spectrum of the Ising boundary conformal field theory describing the spatial bipartition within the imaginary time path integral approach to global quenches at the quantum critical point.

We benchmark the accuracy of a variational quantum eigensolver based on a finite-depth quantum circuit encoding ground state of local Hamiltonians. We show that in gapped phases, the accuracy improves exponentially with the depth of the circuit. When trying to encode the ground state of conformally invariant Hamiltonians, we observe two regimes. A finite-depth regime, where the accuracy improves slowly with the number of layers, and a finite-size regime where it improves again exponentially. The cross-over between the two regimes happens at a critical number of layers whose value increases linearly with the size of the system. We discuss the implication of these observations in the context of comparing different variational ansatz and their effectiveness in describing critical ground states.

We excite the vacuum of a relativistic theory of bosons coupled to a $U(1)$ gauge field in 1+1 dimensions (bosonic Schwinger model) out of equilibrium by creating a spatially separated particle-antiparticle pair connected by a string of electric field. During the evolution, we observe a strong confinement of bosons witnessed by the bending of their light cone, reminiscent of what has been observed for the Ising model [Nat. Phys. 13, 246 (2017)]. As a consequence, for the time scales we are able to simulate, the system evades thermalization and generates exotic asymptotic states. These states are made of two disjoint regions, an external deconfined region that seems to thermalize, and an inner core that reveals an area-law saturation of the entanglement entropy.

Tensor network (TN), a young mathematical tool of high vitality and great potential, has been undergoing extremely rapid developments in the last two decades, gaining tremendous success in condensed matter physics, atomic physics, quantum information science, statistical physics, and so on. In this lecture notes, we focus on the contraction algorithms of TN as well as some of the applications to the simulations of quantum many-body systems. Starting from basic concepts and definitions, we first explain the relations between TN and physical problems, including the TN representations of classical partition functions, quantum many-body states (by matrix product state, tree TN, and projected entangled pair state), time evolution simulations, etc. These problems, which are challenging to solve, can be transformed to TN contraction problems. We present then several paradigm algorithms based on the ideas of the numerical renormalization group and/or boundary states, including density matrix renormalization group, time-evolving block decimation, coarse-graining/corner tensor renormalization group, and several distinguished variational algorithms. Finally, we revisit the TN approaches from the perspective of multi-linear algebra (also known as tensor algebra or tensor decompositions) and quantum simulation. Despite the apparent differences in the ideas and strategies of different TN algorithms, we aim at revealing the underlying relations and resemblances in order to present a systematic picture to understand the TN contraction approaches.

We study the non-equilibrium dynamics of a 1D Bose-Hubbard model in a gradient potential and a superlattice, beginning from a deep Mott insulator regime with an average filling of one particle per site. Studying a quench that is near resonance to tunnelling of the particles over two lattice sites, we show how a spin model emerges consisting of two coupled Ising chains that are coupled by interaction terms in a staggered geometry. We compare and contrast the behavior in this case with that in a previously studied case where the resonant tunnelling was over a single site. Using optimized tensor network techniques to calculate finite temperature behavior of the model, as well as finite size scaling for the ground state, we conclude that the universality class of the phase transition for the coupled chains is that of a tricritical Ising point. We also investigate the out-of-equilibrium dynamics after the quench in the vicinity of the resonance and compare dynamics with recent experiments realized without the superlattice geometry. This model is directly realizable in current experiments, and reflects a new general way to realize spin models with ultracold atoms in optical lattices.

We show that atoms in tilted optical superlattices provide a platform for exploring coupled spin chains of forms that are not present in other systems. In particular, using a period-2 superlattice in 1D, we show that coupled Ising spin chains with XZ and ZZ spin coupling terms can be engineered. We use optimized tensor network techniques to explore the criticality and non-equilibrium dynamics in these models, finding a tricritical Ising point in regimes that are accessible in current experiments. These setups are ideal for studying low-entropy physics, as initial entropy is “frozen-out” in realizing the spin models, and provide an example of the complex critical behaviour that can arise from interaction-projected models.

We propose and analyze a mechanism for rectification of spin transport through a small junction between two spin baths or leads. For interacting baths we show that transport is conditioned on the spacial asymmetry of the quantum junction mediating the transport, and attribute this behavior to a gapped spectral structure of the lead-system-lead configuration. For non-interacting leads a minimal quantum model that allows for spin rectification requires an interface of only two interacting two-level systems. We obtain approximate results with a weak-coupling Born-master-equation in excellent agreement with matrix-product-state calculations that are extrapolated in time by mimicking absorbing boundary conditions. These results should be observable in controlled spin systems realized with cold atoms, trapped ions, or in electrons in quantum dot arrays.

The fact that the computational cost of simulating a many-body quantum system on a computer increases with the amount of entanglement has been considered as the major bottleneck for simulating its out-of-equilibrium dynamics. Some aspects of the dynamics are, nevertheless, robust under appropriately devised approximations. Here we present a possible algorithm that allows to systematically approximate the equilibration value of local operators after a quantum quench. At the core of our proposal there is the idea to transform entanglement between distant parts of the system into mixture, and at the same time preserving the local reduced density matrices of the system. We benchmark the resulting algorithm by studying quenches of quadratic Fermionic Hamiltonians.

We show how to accurately study 2D quantum critical phenomena using infinite projected entangled-pair states (iPEPS). We identify the presence of a finite correlation length in the optimal iPEPS approximation to Lorentz-invariant critical states which we use to perform a finite correlation-length scaling (FCLS) analysis to determine critical exponents. This is analogous to the one-dimensional (1D) finite entanglement scaling with infinite matrix product states. We provide arguments why this approach is also valid in 2D by identifying a class of states that despite obeying the area law of entanglement seems hard to describe with iPEPS. We apply these ideas to interacting spinless fermions on a honeycomb lattice and obtain critical exponents which are in agreement with Quantum Monte Carlo results. Furthermore, we introduce a new scheme to locate the critical point without the need of computing higher order moments of the order parameter. Finally, we also show how to obtain an improved estimate of the order parameter in gapless systems, with the 2D Heisenberg model as an example.

We study the spreading of information in a wide class of quantum systems, with variable-range interactions. We show that, after a quench, it generally features a double structure, whose scaling laws are related to a set of universal microscopic exponents that we determine. When the system supports excitations with a finite maximum velocity, the spreading shows a twofold ballistic behavior. While the correlation edge spreads with a velocity equal to twice the maximum group velocity, the dominant correlation maxima propagate with a different velocity that we derive. When the maximum group velocity diverges, as realizable with long-range interactions, the correlation edge features a slower-than-ballistic motion. The motion of the maxima is, instead, either faster-than-ballistic, for gapless systems, or ballistic, for gapped systems. The phenomenology that we unveil here provides a unified framework, which encompasses existing experimental observations with ultracold atoms and ions. It also paves the way to simple extensions of those experiments to observe the structures we describe in their full generality.

Fundamental forces of Nature are described by field theories, also known as gauge theories, based on a local gauge invariance. The simplest of them is quantum electrodynamics (QED), which is an example of an Abelian gauge theory. Such theories describe the dynamics of massless photons and their coupling to matter. However, in two spatial dimension (2D) they are known to exhibit gapped phases at low temperature. In the realm of quantum spin systems, it remains a subject of considerable debate if their low energy physics can be described by emergent gauge degrees of freedom. Here we present a class of simple two-dimensional models that admit a low energy description in terms of an Abelian gauge theory. We find rich phase diagrams for these models comprising exotic deconfined phases and gapless phases – a rare example for 2D Abelian gauge theories. The counter-intuitive presence of gapless phases in 2D results from the emergence of additional symmetry in the models. Moreover, we propose schemes to realize our model with current experiments using ultracold bosonic atoms in optical lattices.

We introduce a theoretical scheme for the analog quantum simulation of long-range XYZ models using current trapped-ion technology. In order to achieve fully-tunable Heisenberg-type interactions, our proposal requires a state-dependent dipole force along a single vibrational axis, together with a combination of standard resonant and detuned carrier drivings. We discuss how this quantum simulator could explore the effect of long-range interactions on the phase diagram by combining an adiabatic protocol with the quasi-periodic drivings and test the validity of our scheme numerically. At the isotropic Heisenberg point, we show that the long-range Hamiltonian can be mapped onto a non-linear sigma model with a topological term that is responsible for its low-energy properties, and we benchmark our predictions with Matrix-Product-State numerical simulations.

Entanglement plays a central role in our understanding of quantum many body physics, and is fundamental in characterising quantum phases and quantum phase transitions. Developing protocols to detect and quantify entanglement of many-particle quantum states is thus a key challenge for present experiments. Here, we show that the quantum Fisher information, representing a witness for genuinely multipartite entanglement, becomes measurable for thermal ensembles via the dynamic susceptibility, i.e., with resources readily available in present cold atomic gas and condensed-matter experiments. This moreover establishes a fundamental connection between multipartite entanglement and many-body correlations contained in response functions, with profound implications close to quantum phase transitions. There, the quantum Fisher information becomes universal, allowing us to identify strongly entangled phase transitions with a divergent multipartiteness of entanglement. We illustrate our framework using paradigmatic quantum Ising models, and point out potential signatures in optical-lattice experiments.

We study the attractive Bose-Hubbard model with a tunable, on-site three-body constraint. It is shown that the critical behavior of the system undergoing a phase transition from pair-superfluid to superfluid at unit filling depends on the value of the three-body repulsion. In particular, we calculate critical exponents and the central charge governing the quantum phase transition.

In-plane anisotropic ground states are ubiquitous in correlated solids such as pnictides, cuprates and manganites. They can arise from doping Mott insulators and compete with phases such as superconductivity, however their origins are debated. Strong coupling between lattice, charge, orbital and spin degrees of freedom results in simultaneous ordering of multiple parameters, masking the mechanism that drives the transition. We demonstrate that the anisotropic orbital domains in a manganite can be oriented by the polarization of a pulsed THz light field. Through the application of the Hubbard model, we show that domain control can be achieved either through field assisted hopping of charges or a field-induced modification of bond angles. Both routes enhance the local Coulomb repulsions which drive domain reorientation and the dominant mechanism is dictated by the equilibrium Mn-O-Mn bond angle. Our results highlight the key role played by the Coulomb interaction in driving orbital order in manganites and demonstrate how THz can be utilized in new ways to understand and manipulate anisotropic phases in a broad range of correlated materials.

In traditional thermodynamics, temperature is a local quantity: a subsystem of a large thermal system is in a thermal state at the same temperature as the original system. For strongly interacting systems, however, the locality of temperature breaks down. We study the possibility of associating an effective thermal state to subsystems of infinite chains of interacting spin particles of arbitrary finite dimension. We study the effect of correlations and criticality in the definition of this effective thermal state and discuss the possible implications for the classical simulation of thermal quantum systems.

In this paper we apply the formalism of translation invariant (continuous) matrix product states in the thermodynamic limit to $(1+1)$ dimensional critical models. Finite bond dimension bounds the entanglement entropy and introduces an effective finite correlation length, so that the state is perturbed away from criticality. The assumption that the scaling hypothesis holds for this kind of perturbation is known in the literature as finite entanglement scaling. We provide further evidence for the validity of finite entanglement scaling and based on this formulate a scaling algorithm to estimate the central charge and critical exponents of the conformally invariant field theories describing the critical models under investigation. The algorithm is applied to three exemplary models; the cMPS version to the non-relativistic Lieb-Liniger model and the relativistic massless boson, and MPS version to the one-dimensional quantum Ising model at the critical point. Another new aspect to our approach is that we directly use the (c)MPS induced correlation length rather than the bond dimension as scaling parameter. This choice is motivated by several theoretical arguments as well as by the remarkable accuracy of our results.

We discuss how to formulate lattice gauge theories in the Tensor Network language. In this way we obtain both a consistent truncation scheme of the Kogut-Susskind lattice gauge theories and a Tensor Network variational ansatz for gauge invariant states that can be used in actual numerical computation. Our construction is also applied to the simplest realization of the quantum link models/gauge magnets and provides a clear way to understand their microscopic relation with Kogut-Susskind lattice gauge theories. We also introduce a new set of gauge invariant operators that modify continuously Rokshar-Kivelson wave functions and can be used to extend the phase diagram of known models. As an example we characterize the transition between the deconfined phase of the $Z_2$ lattice gauge theory and the Rokshar-Kivelson point of the U(1) gauge magnet in 2D in terms of entanglement entropy. The topological entropy serves as an order parameter for the transition but not the Schmidt gap.

We study a quench protocol that conserves the entanglement spectrum of a bipartition of a quantum system. As an example we consider the splitting of a critical Ising chain in two chains, and compare it with the well known case of joining of two chains. We show that both the out of equilibrium time evolution of global properties and the equilibrium regime after the quench of local properties are different in the two scenarios. Since the two quenches only differ in the presence/absence of the conservation of the entanglement spectrum, our results suggest that this conservation plays a fundamental role in both the out-of-equilibrium dynamics and the subsequent equilibration mechanism. We discuss the relevance of our results in the context of quantum simulators.

We study the dynamics of the entanglement spectrum, that is the time evolution of the eigenvalues of the reduced density matrices after a bipartition of a one-dimensional spin chain. Starting from the ground state of an initial Hamiltonian, the state of the system is evolved in time with a new Hamiltonian. We consider both instantaneous and quasi adiabatic quenches of the system Hamiltonian across a quantum phase transition. We analyse the Ising model that can be exactly solved and the XXZ for which we employ the time-dependent density matrix renormalisation group algorithm. Our results show once more a connection between the Schmidt gap, i.e. the difference of the two largest eigenvalues of the reduced density matrix and order parameters, in this case the spontaneous magnetisation.

We study the R\’enyi entropies of N disjoint intervals in the conformal field theories given by the free compactified boson and the Ising model. They are computed as the 2N point function of twist fields, by employing the partition function of the model on a particular class of Riemann surfaces. The results are written in terms of Riemann theta functions. The prediction for the free boson in the decompactification regime is checked against exact results for the harmonic chain. For the Ising model, matrix product states computations agree with the conformal field theory result once the finite size corrections have been taken into account.

The non-equilibrium response of a quantum many-body system defines its fundamental transport properties and how initially localized quantum information spreads. However, for long-range-interacting quantum systems little is known. We address this issue by analyzing a local quantum quench in the long-range Ising model in a transverse field, where interactions decay as a variable power-law with distance $\propto r^{-\alpha}$, $\alpha>0$. Using complementary numerical and analytical techniques, we identify three dynamical regimes: short-range-like with an emerging light cone for $\alpha>2$; weakly long-range for $1<\alpha<2$ without a clear light cone but with a finite propagation speed of almost all excitations; and fully non-local for $\alpha<1$ with instantaneous transmission of correlations. This last regime breaks generalized Lieb–Robinson bounds and thus locality. Numerical calculation of the entanglement spectrum demonstrates that the usual picture of propagating quasi-particles remains valid, allowing an intuitive interpretation of our findings via divergences of quasi-particle velocities. Our results may be tested in state-of-the-art trapped-ion experiments.

Many phenomena occurring in strongly correlated quantum systems still await conclusive explanations. The absence of isolated free quarks in nature is an example. It is attributed to quark confinement, whose origin is not yet understood. The phase diagram for nuclear matter at general temperatures and densities, studied in heavy-ion collisions, is not settled. Finally, we have no definitive theory of high-temperature superconductivity. Though we have theories that could underlie such physics, we lack the tools to determine the experimental consequences of these theories. Quantum simulators may provide such tools. Here we show how to engineer quantum simulators of non-Abelian lattice gauge theories. The systems we consider have several applications: they can be used to mimic quark confinement or to study dimer and valence-bond states (which may be relevant for high-temperature superconductors).

We study the scaling of the traces of the integer powers of the partially transposed reduced density matrix and of the entanglement negativity for two spin blocks as function of their length and separation in the critical Ising chain. For two adjacent blocks, we show that tensor network calculations agree with universal conformal field theory (CFT) predictions. In the case of two disjoint blocks the CFT predictions are recovered only after taking into account the finite size corrections induced by the finite length of the blocks.

We consider the Ising model in a transverse field with long-range antiferromagnetic interactions that decay as a power law with their distance. We study both the phase diagram and the entanglement properties as a function of the exponent of the interaction. The phase diagram can be used as a guide for future experiments with trapped ions. We find two gapped phases, one dominated by the transverse field, exhibiting quasi long range order, and one dominated by the long range interaction, with long range N\’eel ordered ground states. We determine the location of the quantum critical points separating those two phases. We determine their critical exponents and central-charges. In the phase with quasi long range order the ground states exhibit exotic corrections to the area law for the entanglement entropy coexisting with gapped entanglement spectra.

We discuss a general framework for the realization of a family of abelian lattice gauge theories, i.e., link models or gauge magnets, in optical lattices. We analyze the properties of these models that make them suitable to quantum simulations. Within this class, we study in detail the phases of a U(1)-invariant lattice gauge theory in 2+1 dimensions originally proposed by Orland. By using exact diagonalization, we extract the low-energy states for small lattices, up to 4×4. We confirm that the model has two phases, with the confined entangled one characterized by strings wrapping around the whole lattice. We explain how to study larger lattices by using either tensor network techniques or digital quantum simulations with Rydberg atoms loaded in optical lattices where we discuss in detail a protocol for the preparation of the ground state. We also comment on the relation between standard compact U(1) LGT and the model considered.

We investigate the use of matrix product states (MPS) to approximate ground states of critical quantum spin chains with periodic boundary conditions (PBC). We identify two regimes in the (N,D) parameter plane, where N is the size of the spin chain and D is the dimension of the MPS matrices. In the first regime MPS can be used to perform finite size scaling (FSS). In the complementary regime the MPS simulations show instead the clear signature of finite entanglement scaling (FES). In the thermodynamic limit (or large N limit), only MPS in the FSS regime maintain a finite overlap with the exact ground state. This observation has implications on how to correctly perform FSS with MPS, as well as on the performance of recent MPS algorithms for systems with PBC. It also gives clear evidence that critical models can actually be simulated very well with MPS by using the right scaling relations; in the appendix, we give an alternative derivation of the result of Pollmann et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 255701 (2009)] relating the bond dimension of the MPS to an effective correlation length.

Various fundamental phenomena of strongly-correlated quantum systems such as high-$T_c$ superconductivity, the fractional quantum-Hall effect, and quark confinement are still awaiting a universally accepted explanation. The main obstacle is the computational complexity of solving even the most simplified theoretical models that are designed to capture the relevant quantum correlations of the many-body system of interest. In his seminal 1982 paper [Int. J. Theor. Phys. 21, 467], Richard Feynman suggested that such models might be solved by “simulation” with a new type of computer whose constituent parts are effectively governed by a desired quantum many-body dynamics. Measurements on this engineered machine, now known as a “quantum simulator,” would reveal some unknown or difficult to compute properties of a model of interest. We argue that a useful quantum simulator must satisfy four conditions: relevance, controllability, reliability, and efficiency. We review the current state of the art of digital and analog quantum simulators. Whereas so far the majority of the focus, both theoretically and experimentally, has been on controllability of relevant models, we emphasize here the need for a careful analysis of reliability and efficiency in the presence of imperfections. We discuss how disorder and noise can impact these conditions, and illustrate our concerns with novel numerical simulations of a paradigmatic example: a disordered quantum spin chain governed by the Ising model in a transverse magnetic field. We find that disorder can decrease the reliability of an analog quantum simulator of this model, although large errors in local observables are introduced only for strong levels of disorder. We conclude that the answer to the question “Can we trust quantum simulators?” is… to some extent.

We study the extended Bose–Hubbard model describing an ultracold gas of dipolar molecules in an optical lattice, taking into account all on-site and nearest-neighbor interactions, including occupation-dependent tunneling and pair tunneling terms. Using exact diagonalization and the multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz, we show that these terms can destroy insulating phases and lead to novel quantum phases. These considerable changes of the phase diagram have to be taken into account in upcoming experiments with dipolar molecules.

We study the scaling of the Renyi entanglement entropy of two disjoint blocks of critical lattice models described by conformal field theories with central charge c=1. We provide the analytic conformal field theory result for the second order Renyi entropy for a free boson compactified on an orbifold describing the scaling limit of the Ashkin-Teller (AT) model on the self-dual line. We have checked this prediction in cluster Monte Carlo simulations of the classical two dimensional AT model. We have also performed extensive numerical simulations of the anisotropic Heisenberg quantum spin-chain with tree-tensor network techniques that allowed to obtain the reduced density matrices of disjoint blocks of the spin-chain and to check the correctness of the predictions for Renyi and entanglement entropies from conformal field theory. In order to match these predictions, we have extrapolated the numerical results by properly taking into account the corrections induced by the finite length of the blocks to the leading scaling behavior.

A lattice gauge theory is described by a redundantly large vector space that is subject to local constraints, and can be regarded as the low energy limit of an extended lattice model with a local symmetry. We propose a numerical coarse-graining scheme to produce low energy, effective descriptions of lattice models with a local symmetry, such that the local symmetry is exactly preserved during coarse-graining. Our approach results in a variational ansatz for the ground state(s) and low energy excitations of such models and, by extension, of lattice gauge theories. This ansatz incorporates the local symmetry in its structure, and exploits it to obtain a significant reduction of computational costs. We test the approach in the context of the toric code with a magnetic field, equivalent to Z2 lattice gauge theory, for lattices with up to 16 x 16 sites (16^2 x 2 = 512 spins) on a torus. We reproduce the well-known ground state phase diagram of the model, consisting of a deconfined and spin polarized phases separated by a continuous quantum phase transition, and obtain accurate estimates of energy gaps, ground state fidelities, Wilson loops, and several other quantities.

We extend the formalism of entanglement renormalization to the study of boundary critical phenomena. The multi-scale entanglement renormalization ansatz (MERA), in its scale invariant version, offers a very compact approximation to quantum critical ground states. Here we show that, by adding a boundary to the scale invariant MERA, an accurate approximation to the critical ground state of an infinite chain with a boundary is obtained, from which one can extract boundary scaling operators and their scaling dimensions. Our construction, valid for arbitrary critical systems, produces an effective chain with explicit separation of energy scales that relates to Wilson’s RG formulation of the Kondo problem. We test the approach by studying the quantum critical Ising model with free and fixed boundary conditions.

We study the scaling of the Renyi and entanglement entropy of two disjoint blocks of critical Ising models, as function of their sizes and separations. We present analytic results based on conformal field theory that are quantitatively checked in numerical simulations of both the quantum spin chain and the classical two dimensional Ising model. Theoretical results match the ones obtained from numerical simulations only after taking properly into account the corrections induced by the finite length of the blocks to their leading scaling behavior.

The entanglement entropy of a subsystem $A$ of a quantum system is expressed, in the replica method, through analytic continuation with respect to n of the trace of the n-th power of the reduced density matrix $\tr\rho_A^n$. We study the analytic properties of this quantity as a function of n in some quantum critical Ising-like models in 1+1 and 2+1 dimensions. Although we find no true singularities for n>0, there is a threshold value of n close to 2 which separates two very different `phases’. The region with larger n is characterized by rapidly convergent Taylor expansions and is very smooth. The region with smaller n has a very rich and varied structure in the complex n plane and is characterized by Taylor coefficients which instead of being monotone decreasing, have a maximum growing with the size of the subsystem. Finite truncations of the Taylor expansion in this region lead to increasingly poor approximations of $\tr\rho_A^n$. The computation of the entanglement entropy from the knowledge of $\tr\rho^n_A$ for positive integer n becomes extremely difficult particularly in spatial dimensions larger than one, where one cannot use conformal field theory as a guidance in the extrapolations to n=1.

This work explores the use of a tree tensor network ansatz to simulate the ground state of a local Hamiltonian on a two-dimensional lattice. By exploiting the entropic area law, the tree tensor network ansatz seems to produce quasi-exact results in systems with sizes well beyond the reach of exact diagonalisation techniques. We describe an algorithm to approximate the ground state of a local Hamiltonian on a L times L lattice with the topology of a torus. Accurate results are obtained for L={4,6,8}, whereas approximate results are obtained for larger lattices. As an application of the approach, we analyse the scaling of the ground state entanglement entropy at the quantum critical point of the model. We confirm the presence of a positive additive constant to the area law for half a torus. We also find a logarithmic additive correction to the entropic area law for a square block. The single copy entanglement for half a torus reveals similar corrections to the area law with a further term proportional to 1/L.

The power of matrix product states to describe infinite-size translational-invariant critical spin chains is investigated. At criticality, the accuracy with which they describe ground state properties of a system is limited by the size $\chi$ of the matrices that form the approximation. This limitation is quantified in terms of the scaling of the half-chain entanglement entropy. In the case of the quantum Ising model, we find $S \sim {1/6}\log \chi$ with high precision. This result can be understood as the emergence of an effective finite correlation length $\xi_\chi$ ruling of all the scaling properties in the system. We produce five extra pieces of evidence for this finite-$\chi$ scaling, namely, the scaling of the correlation length, the scaling of magnetization, the shift of the critical point, and the scaling of the entanglement entropy for a finite block of spins. All our computations are consistent with a scaling relation of the form $\xi_\chi\sim \chi^{\kappa}$, with $\kappa=2$ for the Ising model. In the case of the Heisenberg model, we find similar results with the value $\kappa\sim 1.37$. We also show how finite-$\chi$ scaling allow to extract critical exponents. These results are obtained using the infinite time evolved block decimation algorithm which works in the thermodynamical limit and are verified to agree with density matrix renormalization group results.

We address, within the dual superconductivity model for color confinement, the question whether the Yang-Mills vacuum behaves as a superconductor of type I or type II. In order to do that we compare, for the theory with gauge group SU(2), the determination of the field penetration depth $\lambda$ with that of the superconductor correlation length $\xi$. The latter is obtained by measuring the temporal correlator of a disorder parameter developed by the Pisa group to detect dual superconductivity. The comparison places the vacuum close to the border between type I and type II and marginally on the type II side. We also check our results against the study of directly measurable effects such as the interaction between two parallel flux tubes, obtaining consistent indications for a weak repulsive behaviour. Future strategies to improve our investigation are discussed.

In the framework of various statistical models as well as of mechanisms for color confinement, disorder parameters can be developed which are generally expressed as ratios of partition functions and whose numerical determination is usually challenging. We develop an efficient method for their computation and apply it to the study of dual superconductivity in 4d compact U(1) gauge theory.

We study the two-point correlator of a modified Confined-Coulomb transition order parameter in four dimensional compact U(1) lattice gauge theory with Wilson action. Its long distance behavior in the confined phase turns out to be governed by a single particle decay. The mass of this particle is computed and found to be in agreement with previous calculations of the 0^{++} gaugeball mass. Remarkably, our order parameter allows to extract a good signal to noise ratio for masses with low statistics. The results we present provide a numerical check of a theorem about the structure of the Hilbert space describing the confined phase of four dimensional compact U(1) lattice gauge theories.

It was conjectured some time ago that an effective description of the Coulomb-confinement transition in compact U(1) lattice gauge field theory could be described by scalar QED obtained by soft breaking of the N=2 Seiberg-Witten model down to N=0 in the strong coupling region where monopoles are light. In two previous works this idea was presented at a qualitative level. In this work we analyze in detail the conjecture and obtain encouraging quantitative agreement with the numerical determination of the monopole mass and the dual photon mass in the vicinity of the Coulomb to confining phase transition.

Simulations in compact U(1) lattice gauge theory in 4D show now beyond any reasonable doubts that the phase transition separating the Coulomb from the confined phase is of first order, albeit a very weak one. This settles the issue from the numerical side. On the analytical side, it was suggested some time ago, based on the qualitative analogy between the phase diagram of such a model and the one of scalar QED obtained by soft breaking the N=2 Seiberg-Witten model down to N=0, that the phase transition should be of second order. In this work we take a fresh look at this issue and show that a proper implementation of the Seiberg-Witten model below the supersymmetry breaking scale requires considering some new radiative corrections. Through the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism this turns the second order transition into a weakly first order one, in agreement with the numerical results. We comment on several other aspects of this continuum model.