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arXiv:2006.10707 · Quantum

Does causal dynamics imply local interactions?

Zoltán Zimborás, Terry Farrelly, Szilárd Farkas, Lluís Masanes

Published Jun 29, 2022• 11 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We consider quantum systems with causal dynamics in discrete spacetimes, also known as quantum cellular automata (QCA). Due to time-discreteness this type of dynamics is not characterized by a Hamiltonian but by a one-time-step unitary. This can be written as the exponential of a Hamiltonian but in a highly non-unique way. We ask if any of the Hamiltonians generating a QCA unitary is local in some sense, and we obtain two very different answers. On one hand, we present an example of QCA for which all generating Hamiltonians are fully non-local, in the sense that interactions do not decay with the distance. We expect this result to have relevant consequences for the classification of topological phases in Floquet systems, given that this relies on the effective Hamiltonian. On the other hand, we show that all one-dimensional quasi-free fermionic QCAs have quasi-local generating Hamiltonians, with interactions decaying exponentially in the massive case and algebraically in the critical case. We also prove that some integrable systems do not have local, quasi-local nor low-weight constants of motion; a result that challenges the standard definition of integrability.

DOI
10.22331/q-2022-06-29-748

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We consider quantum systems with causal dynamics in discrete spacetimes, also known as quantum cellular automata (QCA). Due to time-discreteness this type of dynamics is not characterized by a Hamiltonian but by a one-time-step unitary. This can be written as the exponential of a Hamiltonian but in a highly non-unique way. We ask if any of the Hamiltonians generating a QCA unitary is local in some sense, and we obtain two very different answers. On one hand, we present an example of QCA for which all generating Hamiltonians are fully non-local, in the sense that interactions do not decay with the distance. We expect this result to have relevant consequences for the classification of topological phases in Floquet systems, given that this relies on the effective Hamiltonian. On the other hand, we show that all one-dimensional quasi-free fermionic QCAs have quasi-local generating Hamiltonians, with interactions decaying exponentially in the massive case and algebraically in the critical case. We also prove that some integrable systems do not have local, quasi-local nor low-weight constants of motion; a result that challenges the standard definition of integrability.
Discretizing spacetime is often a natural step towards modelling physical systems. For quantum systems, if we also demand a strict bound on the speed of information propagation, we get quantum cellular automata (QCAs). These originally arose as an alternative paradigm for quantum computation, though more recently they have found application in understanding topological phases of matter and have} been proposed as models of periodically driven (Floquet) quantum systems, where QCA methods were used to classify their phases. QCAs have also been used as a natural discretization of quantum field theory, and some interesting examples of QCAs have been introduced that become interacting quantum field theories in the continuum limit. This review discusses all of these applications, as well as some other interesting results on the structure of quantum cellular automata, including the tensor-network unitary approach, the index theory and higher dimensional classifications of QCAs.
Discretizing spacetime is often a natural step towards modelling physical systems. For quantum systems, if we also demand a strict bound on the speed of information propagation, we get quantum cellular automata (QCAs). These originally arose as an alternative paradigm for quantum computation, though more recently they have found application in understanding topological phases of matter and have been proposed as models of periodically driven (Floquet) quantum systems, where QCA methods were used to classify their phases. QCAs have also been used as a natural discretization of quantum field theory, and some interesting examples of QCAs have been introduced that become interacting quantum field theories in the continuum limit. This review discusses all of these applications, as well as some other interesting results on the structure of quantum cellular automata, including the tensor-network unitary approach, the index theory and higher dimensional classifications of QCAs. © 2020 Verein zur Forderung des Open Access Publizierens in den Quantenwissenschaften. All rights reserved.
Quantum cellular automata (QCAs) are automorphisms of tensor product algebras that preserve locality, with local quantum circuits as a simple example. We study approximate QCAs, where the locality condition is only satisfied up to a small error, as occurs for local quantum dynamics on the lattice. A priori, approximate QCAs could exhibit genuinely new behavior, failing to be well-approximated by any exact QCA. We show this does not occur in one dimension: every approximate QCA on a finite circle can be rounded to a strict QCA with approximately the same action on local operators, so these systems are classified by the same index as in the exact case. Previous work considered the case of the infinite line, by using global methods not amenable to finite systems. Our new approach proceeds locally and now applies to finite systems, including circles or homomorphisms from sub-intervals. We extract exact local boundary algebras from the approximate QCA restricted to local patches, then glue these to form a strict QCA. The key technical ingredient is a robust notion of the intersection of two subalgebras: when the projections onto two subalgebras approximately commute, we construct an exact subalgebra that serves as a stable proxy for their intersection. This construction uses a recent theorem of Kitaev on the rigidity of approximate C∗C^*C∗-algebras.
Discretizing spacetime is often a natural step towards modelling physical systems. For quantum systems, if we also demand a strict bound on the speed of information propagation, we get quantum cellular automata (QCAs). These originally arose as an alternative paradigm for quantum computation, though more recently they have found application in understanding topological phases of matter and have been proposed as models of periodically driven (Floquet) quantum systems, where QCA methods were used to classify their phases. QCAs have also been used as a natural discretization of quantum field theory, and some interesting examples of QCAs have been introduced that become interacting quantum field theories in the continuum limit. This review discusses all of these applications, as well as some other interesting results on the structure of quantum cellular automata, including the tensor-network unitary approach, the index theory and higher dimensional classifications of QCAs. © 2020 Verein zur Forderung des Open Access Publizierens in den Quantenwissenschaften. All rights reserved.
The formulation of quantum measurements compatible with relativistic causality is obstructed by the tension between the locality of observable algebras and the dynamical state transformations induced by measurement processes. We develop a local measurement theory for quantum cellular automata, lattices of finite-dimensional quantum systems with a causal reversible dynamics evolving in discrete time steps. Measurement processes are described by localized completely positive maps and organized into operational measurement protocols, finite non-adaptive sequences of local instruments distributed across the causal cone induced by the automaton local dynamics. Each protocol induces an effective measurement on the initial time slice, whose support is constrained by the causal structure generated by the automaton. Non-local measurement effects therefore arise through causal propagation and composition of local operations, rather than from primitive non-local interventions or instantaneous collapse prescriptions. We establish the corresponding spatial support bounds and characterize the resulting measurement architecture. As an explicit example, we construct a two-step protocol for a one-dimensional nearest-neighbour qubit automaton which, for suitable automaton parameters, realizes a Bell-basis projective measurement on two neighbouring sites after coarse-graining of the local outcomes. Away from this point, the same protocol generates a continuous family of deformed Bell measurements whose entanglement and stabilizer Rényi non-classicality can be quantified explicitly. The framework thus provides a causally consistent operator-algebraic mechanism for synthesizing spatially extended quantum measurements from strictly local operations.
Abstract Unitary dynamics with a strict causal cone (or “light cone”) have been studied extensively, under the name of quantum cellular automata (QCAs). In particular, QCAs in one dimension have been completely classified by an index theory. Physical systems often exhibit only approximate causal cones; Hamiltonian evolutions on the lattice satisfy Lieb–Robinson bounds rather than strict locality. This motivates us to study approximately locality preserving unitaries (ALPUs). We show that the index theory is robust and completely extends to one-dimensional ALPUs. As a consequence, we achieve a converse to the Lieb–Robinson bounds: any ALPU of index zero can be exactly generated by some time-dependent, quasi-local Hamiltonian in constant time. For the special case of finite chains with open boundaries, any unitary satisfying the Lieb–Robinson bound may be generated by such a Hamiltonian. We also discuss some results on the stability of operator algebras which may be of independent interest.