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arXiv:2310.03078 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Boundary transfer matrix spectrum of measurement-induced transitions

Abhishek Kumar, Kemal Aziz, Ahana Chakraborty, Andreas W. W. Ludwig, Sarang Gopalakrishnan, J. H. Pixley, Romain Vasseur

Published Jan 4, 2024• 19 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Measurement-induced phase transitions (MIPTs) are known to be described by nonunitary conformal field theories (CFTs) whose precise nature remains unknown. Most physical quantities of interest, such as the entanglement features of quantum trajectories, are described by boundary observables in this CFT. We introduce a transfer matrix approach to study the boundary spectrum of this field theory, and consider a variety of boundary conditions. We apply this approach numerically to monitored Haar and Clifford circuits, and to the measurement-only Ising model where the boundary scaling dimensions can be derived analytically. Our transfer matrix approach provides a systematic numerical tool to study the spectrum of MIPTs.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.109.014303

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Measurement-induced phase transitions (MIPTs) are known to be described by nonunitary conformal field theories (CFTs) whose precise nature remains unknown. Most physical quantities of interest, such as the entanglement features of quantum trajectories, are described by boundary observables in this CFT. We introduce a transfer matrix approach to study the boundary spectrum of this field theory, and consider a variety of boundary conditions. We apply this approach numerically to monitored Haar and Clifford circuits, and to the measurement-only Ising model where the boundary scaling dimensions can be derived analytically. Our transfer matrix approach provides a systematic numerical tool to study the spectrum of MIPTs.
Repeated local measurements of quantum many-body systems can induce a phase transition in their entanglement structure. These measurement-induced phase transitions (MIPTs) have been studied for various types of dynamics, yet most cases yield quantitatively similar critical exponents, making it unclear how many distinct universality classes are present. Here, we probe the properties of the conformal field theories governing these MIPTs using a numerical transfer-matrix method, which allows us to extract the effective central charge, as well as the first few low-lying scaling dimensions of operators at these critical points for (1+1)-dimensional systems. Our results provide convincing evidence that the generic and Clifford MIPTs for qubits lie in different universality classes and that both are distinct from the percolation transition for qudits in the limit of large on-site Hilbert space dimension. For the generic case, we find strong evidence of multifractal scaling of correlation functions at the critical point, reflected in a continuous spectrum of scaling dimensions.
FINDING: Measurement-induced phase transitions (MIPT) in quantum systems reveal a sharp entanglement phase boundary driven by the competition between unitary evolution and projective measurements, with critical points often characterized by universal exponents and effective central charges. | MATH: The MIPT is typically studied via the entanglement entropy S=−Tr(ρAln⁡ρA)S = -\text{Tr}(\rho_A \ln \rho_A)S=−Tr(ρA​lnρA​) scaling as S∼c6ln⁡LS \sim \frac{c}{6} \ln LS∼6c​lnL at criticality (for 1+1D conformal field theory), where ccc is the effective central charge. The critical measurement rate pcp_cpc​ separates volume-law (S∝LS \propto LS∝L) from area-law (S∝constS \propto \text{const}S∝const) phases. For Clifford circuits, the transition is in the percolation universality class with c=0c = 0c=0 (or c=ln⁡2c = \ln 2c=ln2 for Haar random circuits). The "1/(2π)" appears in the context of the quantum Zeno effect: for a system measured at rate γ\gammaγ, the effective Hamiltonian is \(H_{\text{eff}} = H - i \frac{\gamma}{2} \sum_m |m\rangle\langle Author: Andrew Stewart Caldin, Independent Researcher, UK. Part of the E8 Intelligence Research series. Platform: e8intelligence.com
The entanglement spectra for a subsystem in a spin chain fine-tuned to a quantum-critical point contains signatures of the underlying quantum field theory that governs its low-energy properties. For an open chain with given boundary conditions described by a 2D conformal field theory~(CFT), the entanglement spectrum of the left/right half of the system coincides with a boundary CFT spectrum, where one of the boundary conditions arise due to the `entanglement cut'. The latter has been argued to be conformal and has been numerically found to be the `free' boundary condition for Ising, Potts and free boson theories. For these models, the `free' boundary condition for the lattice degree of freedom has a counterpart in the continuum theory. However, this is not true in general. Here, this question is analyzed for the unitary minimal models of 2D CFTs using the density matrix renormalization group technique. The entanglement spectra are computed for blocks of spins in open chains of A-type restricted solid-on-solid models with identical boundary conditions at the ends. The imposed boundary conditions are realized exactly for these lattice models due to their integrable nature. The obtained entanglement spectra are in good agreement with certain boundary CFT spectra. The boundary condition for the entanglement cut is found to be conformal and to coincide with the one with the highest boundary entropy. This identification enables determination of the exponents governing the unusual corrections to the entanglement entropy from the CFT partition functions. These are compared with numerical results.
Measurement-induced phase transitions (MIPT) give rise to novel dynamical states of quantum matter realized by balancing unitary evolution and measurements. We present large-scale numerical simulations of a trapped-ion native MIPT, argued to belong to the universality class described by the Haar non-unitary conformal field theory. First, through a finite-size analysis we obtained the critical measurement rate, and correlation length exponent, which falls close to the percolation value. Second, by leveraging a monotone computable via semi-definite programming, we uncover robust algebraic decay of genuine multiparty entanglement (GME) versus separation for 2, 3, and 4 parties. The corresponding critical exponents are lower-bounded by those of the multiparty mutual information, which we determine up to 4 parties, and conjecture to be (k+2) for k parties. Additionally, we derive lower bounds for both GME and multiparty mutual information.
The transfer of quantum information between many-qubit states is a subject of fundamental importance in quantum science and technology. We consider entanglement swapping in critical quantum spin chains, where the entanglement between the two chains is induced solely by the Bell-state measurements. We employ a boundary conformal field theory (CFT) approach and describe the measurements as conformal boundary conditions in the replicated field theory. We show that the swapped entanglement exhibits a logarithmic scaling, whose coefficient takes a universal value determined by the scaling dimension of the boundary condition changing operator. We apply our framework to the critical spin-12\frac{1}{2}21​ XXZ chain and determine the universal coefficient by the boundary CFT analysis. We also numerically verify these results by the tensor-network calculations. Possible experimental relevance to Rydberg atom arrays is briefly discussed.
Performing measurements on gapless quantum ground states can give rise to new universal phenomena, whose origins remain poorly understood even for the paradigmatic Ising critical point. Replica methods offer a natural framework to study such post-measurement ensembles, with the replica limit Q→1Q\to 1Q→1 describing physical Born-averaged observables. Here we show that, for the monitored critical Ising chain, the replicated post-measurement ensemble of states itself undergoes a phase transition precisely at the physically relevant replica limit Q→1Q \to 1Q→1, preventing standard replica treatments. We use boundary conformal field theory (BCFT) methods to explain the underlying mechanism of this transition. Our methods yield a perturbative analytic calculation of the universal O(1)O(1)O(1) constant in the Shannon entropy of the measurement record, previously known only numerically. We also apply our tools to study measurement-averaged spin correlators, providing a unified description of the universal properties of measurement outcomes and post-measurement states in the critical Ising chain.