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arXiv:1504.01531 · Physical Review Letters

Simulating Bosonic Baths with Error Bars

Mischa P. Woods, M. Cramer, Martin Bodo Plenio

Published Sep 22, 2015• 58 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We derive rigorous truncation-error bounds for the spin-boson model and its generalizations to arbitrary quantum systems interacting with bosonic baths. For the numerical simulation of such baths, the truncation of both the number of modes and the local Hilbert-space dimensions is necessary. We derive superexponential Lieb-Robinson-type bounds on the error when restricting the bath to finitely many modes and show how the error introduced by truncating the local Hilbert spaces may be efficiently monitored numerically. In this way we give error bounds for approximating the infinite system by a finite-dimensional one. As a consequence, numerical simulations such as the time-evolving density with orthogonal polynomials algorithm (TEDOPA) now allow for the fully certified treatment of the system-environment interaction.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.115.130401

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We derive rigorous truncation-error bounds for the spin-boson model and its generalizations to arbitrary quantum systems interacting with bosonic baths. For the numerical simulation of such baths, the truncation of both the number of modes and the local Hilbert-space dimensions is necessary. We derive superexponential Lieb-Robinson-type bounds on the error when restricting the bath to finitely many modes and show how the error introduced by truncating the local Hilbert spaces may be efficiently monitored numerically. In this way we give error bounds for approximating the infinite system by a finite-dimensional one. As a consequence, numerical simulations such as the time-evolving density with orthogonal polynomials algorithm (TEDOPA) now allow for the fully certified treatment of the system-environment interaction.
Spin-boson (SB) model plays a central role in studies of dissipative quantum dynamics, both due its conceptual importance and relevance to a number of physical systems. Here we provide rigorous bounds of the computational complexity of the SB model for the physically relevant case of a zero temperature Ohmic bath. We start with the description of the bosonic bath via its Feynman-Vernon influence functional (IF), which is a tensor on the space of spin's trajectories. By expanding the kernel of the IF functional via a sum of decaying exponentials, we obtain an analytical approximation of the continuous bath by a finite number of damped bosonic modes. We bound the error induced by restricting bosonic Hilbert spaces to a finite-dimensional subspace with small boson numbers, which yields an analytical form of a matrix-product state (MPS) representation of the IF. We show that the MPS bond dimension DDD scales polynomially in the error on physical observables εεε, as well as in the evolution time TTT, D∝T4/ε2D\propto T^4/ε^2D∝T4/ε2. This bound indicates that the spin-boson model can be efficiently simulated using polynomial in time computational resources.
The spin-boson (SB) model plays a central role in studies of dissipative quantum dynamics, due to bothits conceptual importance and relevance to a number of physical systems. Here, we provide rigorous bounds of the computational complexity of the SB model for the physically relevant case of a zero temperature ohmic bath. We start with the description of the bosonic bath via its Feynman-Vernon influence functional (IF), which is a tensor on the space of the trajectory of an impurity spin. By expanding the kernel of the IF via a sum of decaying exponentials, we obtain an analytical approximation of the continuous bath by a finite number of damped bosonic modes. We bound the error induced by restricting bosonic Hilbert spaces to a finite-dimensional subspace with small boson numbers, which yields an analytical form of a matrix-product state (MPS) representation of the IF. We show that the MPS bond dimension D scales polynomially in the error on physical observables as well as in the evolution time T, $D\ensuremath{\propto}{T}^{4}/{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}^{2}$. This bound indicates that the SB model can be efficiently simulated using a polynomial in time-computational resources.
Quantum many-body systems involving bosonic modes or gauge fields have infinite-dimensional local Hilbert spaces which must be truncated to perform simulations of real-time dynamics on classical or quantum computers. To analyze the truncation error, we develop methods for bounding the rate of growth of local quantum numbers such as the occupation number of a mode at a lattice site, or the electric field at a lattice link. Our approach applies to various models of bosons interacting with spins or fermions, and also to both abelian and non-abelian gauge theories. We show that if states in these models are truncated by imposing an upper limit Λ on each local quantum number, and if the initial state has low local quantum numbers, then an error at most ϵ can be achieved by choosing Λ to scale polylogarithmically with ϵ−1 , an exponential improvement over previous bounds based on energy conservation. For the Hubbard-Holstein model, we numerically compute a bound on Λ that achieves accuracy ϵ , obtaining significantly improved estimates in various parameter regimes. We also establish a criterion for truncating the Hamiltonian with a provable guarantee on the accuracy of time evolution. Building on that result, we formulate quantum algorithms for dynamical simulation of lattice gauge theories and of models with bosonic modes; the gate complexity depends almost linearly on spacetime volume in the former case, and almost quadratically on time in the latter case. We establish a lower bound showing that there are systems involving bosons for which this quadratic scaling with time cannot be improved. By applying our result on the truncation error in time evolution, we also prove that spectrally isolated energy eigenstates can be approximated with accuracy ϵ by truncating local quantum numbers at Λ=polylog(ϵ−1) .
Bosonic devices promise applications in simulation, sensing and quantum error correction, but infinite-dimensional local Hilbert spaces obstruct the locality tools that make qubit dynamics efficiently learnable and simulable. We establish a finite-energy locality principle for geometrically local bosonic open systems satisfying photon-number moment propagation. It compares unbounded generators with Galerkin cutoffs, transferring finite-dimensional Lieb--Robinson, product-formula and circuit techniques to bosons with explicit errors. For this moment-controlled class, we obtain, to our knowledge, the first model-independent weak Lieb--Robinson bounds beyond Bose--Hubbard-type dynamics, together with quantitative Trotter and simulation guarantees for polynomial bosonic GKSL generators. As a central application, coherent-state preparation and local heterodyne detection suffice to learn coefficients of a known bounded-degree polynomial Hamiltonian ansatz local on a bounded-growth interaction graph to accuracy ε\varepsilonε and failure probability δδδ, with sample complexity and total evolution time both O~(ε−2log⁡(m/δ))\widetilde{\mathcal{O}}(\varepsilon^{-2}\log(m/δ))O(ε−2log(m/δ)), where mmm counts on-site and interaction terms. This matches the best known finite-dimensional locality-assisted scaling in accuracy and system size, up to polylogarithmic factors. The assumptions hold for Bose--Hubbard and quadratic dynamics without added dissipation; for more general local polynomial Hamiltonians they can be supplied natively or engineered by known multi-photon loss in stabilized bosonic architectures.
Abstract Elementary quantum mechanics proposes that a closed physical system consistently evolves in a reversible manner. However, control and readout necessitate the coupling of the quantum system to the external environment, subjecting it to relaxation and decoherence. Consequently, system-environment interactions are indispensable for simulating physically significant theories. A broad spectrum of physical systems in condensed-matter and high-energy physics, vibrational spectroscopy, and circuit and cavity QED necessitates the incorporation of bosonic degrees of freedom, such as phonons, photons, and gluons, into optimized fermion algorithms for near-future quantum simulations. In particular, when a quantum system is surrounded by an external environment, its basic physics can usually be simplified to a spin or fermionic system interacting with bosonic modes. Nevertheless, troublesome factors such as the magnitude of the bosonic degrees of freedom typically complicate the direct quantum simulation of these interacting models, necessitating the consideration of a comprehensive plan. This strategy should specifically include a suitable fermion/boson-to-qubit mapping scheme to encode sufficiently large yet manageable bosonic modes, and a method for truncating and/or downfolding the Hamiltonian to the defined subspace for performing an approximate but highly accurate simulation, guided by rigorous error analysis. In this pedagogical tutorial review, we aim to provide such an exhaustive strategy, focusing on encoding and simulating certain bosonic-related model Hamiltonians, inclusive of their static properties and time evolutions. Specifically, we emphasize two aspects: (1) the discussion of recently developed quantum algorithms for these interacting models and the construction of effective Hamiltonians, and (2) a detailed analysis regarding a tightened error bound for truncating the bosonic modes for a class of fermion-boson interacting Hamiltonians.
Abstract To simulate bosons on a qubit- or qudit-based quantum computer, one has to regularize the theory by truncating infinite-dimensional local Hilbert spaces to finite dimensions. In the search for practical quantum applications, it is important to know how big the truncation errors can be. In general, it is not easy to estimate errors unless we have a good quantum computer. In this paper, we show that traditional sampling methods on classical devices, specifically Markov Chain Monte Carlo, can address this issue for a rather generic class of bosonic systems with a reasonable amount of computational resources available today. As a demonstration, we apply this idea to the scalar field theory on a two-dimensional lattice, with a size that goes beyond what is achievable using exact diagonalization methods. This method can be used to estimate the resources needed for realistic quantum simulations of bosonic theories, and also, to check the validity of the results of the corresponding quantum simulations.