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arXiv:2501.17837 · International Journal of Modern Physics C

Distinguishing ordered phases using machine learning and classical shadows

Leandro Morais, Tiago Pernambuco, Rodrigo G. Pereira, Askery Canabarro, Diogo O. Soares-Pinto, Rafael Chaves

Published Apr 30, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

Classifying phase transitions is a fundamental and complex challenge in condensed matter physics. This work proposes a framework for identifying quantum phase transitions by combining classical shadows with unsupervised machine learning. We use the axial next-nearest neighbor Ising model as our benchmark and extend the analysis to the Kitaev–Heisenberg model on a two-leg ladder. Even with few qubits, we can effectively distinguish between the different phases of the Hamiltonian models. Furthermore, by relying on a restricted set of local observables, such as pairwise correlations and plaquette operators, the sample complexity of the classical shadows protocol scales logarithmically with the number of measured features. This makes our approach a scalable and efficient tool for studying phase transitions in larger many-body systems where classical verification becomes intractable.

DOI
10.1142/s0129183126430060

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Classifying phase transitions is a fundamental and complex challenge in condensed matter physics. This work proposes a framework for identifying quantum phase transitions by combining classical shadows with unsupervised machine learning. We use the axial next-nearest neighbor Ising model as our benchmark and extend the analysis to the Kitaev–Heisenberg model on a two-leg ladder. Even with few qubits, we can effectively distinguish between the different phases of the Hamiltonian models. Furthermore, by relying on a restricted set of local observables, such as pairwise correlations and plaquette operators, the sample complexity of the classical shadows protocol scales logarithmically with the number of measured features. This makes our approach a scalable and efficient tool for studying phase transitions in larger many-body systems where classical verification becomes intractable.
The classification of phase transitions is a central and challenging task in condensed matter physics. Typically, it relies on the identification of order parameters and the analysis of singularities in the free energy and its derivatives. Here, we propose an alternative framework to identify quantum phase transitions, employing both unsupervised and supervised machine learning techniques. Using the axial next-nearest-neighbor Ising (ANNNI) model as a benchmark, we show how unsupervised learning can detect three phases (ferromagnetic, paramagnetic, and a cluster of the antiphase with the floating phase) as well as two distinct regions within the paramagnetic phase. Employing supervised learning we show that transfer learning becomes possible: a machine trained only with nearest-neighbor interactions can learn to identify a new type of phase occurring when next-nearest-neighbor interactions are introduced. All our results rely on few- and low-dimensional input data (up to twelve lattice sites), thus providing a computational friendly and general framework for the study of phase transitions in many-body systems.
The classification of phases and the detection of phase transitions are central and challenging tasks in diverse fields. Within physics, these rely on the identification of order parameters and the analysis of singularities in the free energy and its derivatives. Here, we propose an alternative framework to identify quantum phase transitions. Using the axial next-nearest-neighbor Ising (ANNNI) model as a benchmark, we show how machine learning can detect three phases (ferromagnetic, paramagnetic, and a cluster of the antiphase with the floating phase). Employing supervised learning, we demonstrate the feasibility of transfer learning. Specifically, a machine trained only with nearest-neighbor interactions can learn to identify a new type of phase occurring when next-nearest-neighbor interactions are introduced. We also compare the performance of common classical machine learning methods with a version of the quantum nearest neighbors (QNN) algorithm.
We provide a general machine learning methodology that integrates classical shadow representations with unsupervised principal component analysis (PCA) to explore various quantum phase transitions. By sampling spin configurations from random Pauli measurements, our approach can effectively analyze hidden statistical patterns in the data, thereby capturing the distinct signatures of quantum criticality through their fluctuations. We benchmark this approach across various spin-1/2 systems, including the 1D XZX cluster-Ising model, the 1D bond-alternating XXZ model, the 2D transverse-field Ising model, and the 2D Kitaev honeycomb model. We show that PCA not only reliably detects and distinguishes both symmetry-breaking and topological transitions, but also enables their qualitative classification based on characteristic fluctuation patterns. Our data-driven approach does not require any knowledge of the Hamiltonian or explicit order parameters, and can therefore be a general and applicable tool for probing new quantum phases.
Using machine learning (ML) to recognize different phases of matter and to infer the entire phase diagram has proven to be an effective tool given a large dataset. In our previous proposals, we have successfully explored phase transitions for topological phases of matter at low dimensions either in a supervised or an unsupervised learning protocol with the assistance of quantum-information-related quantities. In this work, we adopt our previous ML procedures to study quantum phase transitions of magnetism systems such as the XYXYXY and XXZXXZXXZ spin chains by using spin-spin correlation functions as the input data. We find that our proposed approach not only maps out the phase diagrams with accurate phase boundaries, but also indicates some features that have not been observed in the field of machine learning before. In particular, we define so-called relevant correlation functions to some corresponding phases that can always distinguish between those and their neighbors. Based on the unsupervised learning protocol we proposed [Phys. Rev. B 104, 165108 (2021)], the reduced latent representations of the inputs combined with the clustering algorithm show the connectedness or disconnectedness between neighboring clusters (phases) just corresponding to the continuous or disrupt quantum phase transition, respectively. This property reminds us of the behavior of order parameters. Moreover, in the silhouette analysis we show that the ferromagnetic states in the XXZXXZXXZ model with various anisotropy parameters correspond to almost the same silhouette value, while the critical or antiferromagnetic states behave quite differently. The analysis further indicates that the minima of silhouette values are close to the phase-transition points, showing strong positive correlation. These results again justify the usefulness of our proposed ML procedures, and they move us a step further toward understanding the relation between ML and quantum phase transitions from correlation function aspects.
Experimental quantum simulators have become large and complex enough that discovering new physics from the huge amount of measurement data can be quite challenging, especially when little theoretical understanding of the simulated model is available. Unsupervised machine learning methods are particularly promising in overcoming this challenge. For the specific task of learning quantum phase transitions, unsupervised machine learning methods have primarily been developed for phase transitions characterized by simple order parameters, typically linear in the measured observables. However, such methods often fail for more complicated phase transitions, such as those involving incommensurate phases, valence-bond solids, topological order, and many-body localization. We show that the diffusion map method, which performs nonlinear dimensionality reduction and spectral clustering of the measurement data, has significant potential for learning such complex phase transitions unsupervised. This method may work for measurements of local observables in a single basis and is thus readily applicable to many experimental quantum simulators as a versatile tool for learning various quantum phases and phase transitions.
Unsupervised learning is a discipline of machine learning which aims at discovering patterns in large data sets or classifying the data into several categories without being trained explicitly. We show that unsupervised learning techniques can be readily used to identify phases and phases transitions of many-body systems. Starting with raw spin configurations of a prototypical Ising model, we use principal component analysis to extract relevant low-dimensional representations of the original data and use clustering analysis to identify distinct phases in the feature space. This approach successfully finds physical concepts such as the order parameter and structure factor to be indicators of a phase transition. We discuss the future prospects of discovering more complex phases and phase transitions using unsupervised learning techniques.