We generalize the information lattice, originally defined for one-dimensional open-boundary chains, to characterize quantum many-body states in higher-dimensional geometries. In one dimension, the information lattice provides a position- and scale-resolved decomposition of von Neumann information. Its generalization is nontrivial because overlapping subsystems can form loops, allowing multiple regions to encode the same information. This prevents information from being assigned uniquely to any one of them. We address this by introducing a higher-dimensional information lattice in which local information is defined through an inclusion-exclusion principle. The inclusion-exclusion local information is assigned to the lattice vertices, each labeled by subsystem position and scale. We implement this construction explicitly in two dimensions and apply it to a range of many-body ground states with distinct entanglement structures. Within this position- and scale-resolved framework, we extract information-based localization lengths, direction-dependent critical exponents, characteristic edge mode information, long-range information patterns due to topological order, and signatures of non-Abelian fusion channels. Our work establishes a general information-theoretic framework for isolating the universal scale-resolved features of quantum many-body states in higher-dimensional geometries.
We generalize the information lattice, originally defined for one-dimensional open-boundary chains, to characterize quantum many-body states in higher-dimensional geometries. In one dimension, the information lattice provides a position- and scale-resolved decomposition of von Neumann information. Its generalization is nontrivial because overlapping subsystems can form loops, allowing multiple regions to encode the same information. This prevents information from being assigned uniquely to any one of them. We address this by introducing a higher-dimensional information lattice in which local information is defined through an inclusion-exclusion principle. The inclusion-exclusion local information is assigned to the lattice vertices, each labeled by subsystem position and scale. We implement this construction explicitly in two dimensions and apply it to a range of many-body ground states with distinct entanglement structures. Within this position- and scale-resolved framework, we extract information-based localization lengths, direction-dependent critical exponents, characteristic edge mode information, long-range information patterns due to topological order, and signatures of non-Abelian fusion channels. Our work establishes a general information-theoretic framework for isolating the universal scale-resolved features of quantum many-body states in higher-dimensional geometries.
During time evolution of many-body systems entanglement grows rapidly, limiting exact simulations to small-scale systems or small timescales. Quantum information tends, however, to flow towards larger scales without returning to local scales, such that its detailed large-scale structure does not directly affect local observables. This allows for the removal of large-scale quantum information in a way that preserves all local observables and gives access to large-scale and large-time quantum dynamics. To this end, we use the recently introduced to organize quantum information into different scales, allowing us to define and that we employ to systematically discard long-range quantum correlations in a controlled way. Our approach relies on decomposing the system into subsystems up to a maximum scale and time evolving the subsystem density matrices by solving the subsystem von Neumann equations in parallel. Importantly, the information flow needs to be preserved during the discarding of large-scale information. To achieve this without the need to make assumptions about the microscopic details of the information current, we introduce a second scale at which information is discarded, while using the state at the maximum scale to accurately obtain the information flow. The resulting algorithm, which we call local-information time evolution, is highly versatile and suitable for investigating many-body quantum dynamics in both closed and open quantum systems with diverse hydrodynamic behaviors. We present results for the energy transport in the mixed-field Ising model and the magnetization transport in the X X spin chain with onsite dephasing where we accurately determine the power-law exponent and the diffusion coefficients. Furthermore, the information lattice framework employed here promises to offer insightful results about the spatial and temporal behavior of entanglement in many-body systems.
In this thesis, I will discuss how information-theoretic arguments can be used to produce sharp bounds in the studies of quantum many-body systems. The main advantage of this approach, as opposed to the conventional field-theoretic argument, is that it depends very little on the precise form of the Hamiltonian. The main idea behind this thesis lies on a number of results concerning the structure of quantum states that are conditionally independent. Depending on the application, some of these statements are generalized to quantum states that are approximately conditionally independent. These structures can be readily used in the studies of gapped quantum many-body systems, especially for the ones in two spatial dimensions. A number of rigorous results are derived, including (i) a universal upper bound for a maximal number of topologically protected states that is expressed in terms of the topological entanglement entropy, (ii) a first-order perturbation bound for the topological entanglement entropy that decays superpolynomially with the size of the subsystem, and (iii) a correlation bound between an arbitrary local operator and a topological operator constructed from a set of local reduced density matrices. I also introduce exactly solvable models supported on a three-dimensional lattice that can be used as a reliable quantum memory.
Quantum many-body dynamics generically result in increasing entanglement that eventually leads to thermalization of local observables. This makes the exact description of the dynamics complex despite the apparent simplicity of (high-temperature) thermal states. For accurate but approximate simulations one needs a way to keep track of essential (quantum) information while discarding inessential one. To this end, we first introduce the concept of the information lattice, which supplements the physical spatial lattice with an additional dimension and where a local Hamiltonian gives rise to well-defined locally conserved von Neumann information current. This provides a convenient and insightful way of capturing the flow, through time and space, of information during quantum time-evolution, and gives a distinct signature of when local degrees of freedom decouple from long-range entanglement. As an example, we describe such decoupling of local degrees of freedom for the mixed-field transverse Ising model. Building on this, we secondly construct algorithms to time-evolve sets of local density matrices without any reference to a global state. With the notion of information currents, we motivate algorithms based on the intuition that information for statistical reasons flows from small to large scales. Using this guiding principle, we construct an algorithm that, at worst, shows two-digit convergence in time-evolutions up to very late times for diffusion process governed by the mixed-field transverse Ising Hamiltonian. While we focus on dynamics in 1D with nearest-neighbor Hamiltonians, the algorithms do not essentially rely on these assumptions and can in principle be generalized to higher dimensions and more complicated Hamiltonians.
The Schrödinger equation is nearly a century old, yet we are still in the midst of uncovering the remarkable phenomena emerging in many-body quantum systems. From superconductivity to anyonic quasiparticles, nature consistently surprises with its rich self-organization. To elucidate and grasp this variety, it is paramount to understand the phases of matter that can occur in many-body ground states, as well as their emergent collective excitations. Of particular interest are topological phases of matter, characterized by exotic excitations or edge phenomena. There exist by now several universal frameworks for gapped systems, i.e., those with an energy gap above the ground state. However, in the last decade, a multitude of gapless quantum wires---effectively one-dimensional systems---have been reported to be topologically non-trivial. A framework for their understanding and classification is missing. In addition to ground state order---topological or otherwise---a more complete picture involves the properties of excitations above the ground state. Alas, little is known about excitations beyond the universal low-energy regime. In part, this is due to a lack of analytical and numerical methods able to describe excitations at finite energies, especially in strongly-interacting systems beyond one dimension. In this thesis, we address these issues: firstly, we build a general understanding of topological phases in one dimension, including both gapped and gapless cases. In particular, we unify previously studied examples into a single framework. Secondly, we develop a novel numerical method for obtaining spectral functions in two dimensions---these give direct insight into the properties of excitations and are moreover experimentally measurable. Using this numerical method, we uncover a variety of robust properties of excitations at finite energies. Part I of this thesis concerns gapped and gapless topological phases in one dimension. In Chapter 2, we first treat the case of non-interacting fermions. Therein, we review the known classification of gapped phases before extending it to the gapless case, showing that exponentially-localized Majorana zero modes can still emerge at the edge when the bulk is gapless. Interacting gapped phases are discussed in Chapter 3, with a focus on symmetry-protected topological order. These have already been classified; our contribution is to provide a non-technical review of this classification as well as showing that many paradigmatic model Hamiltonians can be related to one another. Finally, Chapter 4 introduces the notion of symmetry-enriched quantum criticality, which we propose as a framework for classifying gapless phases. The key message is that in the presence of symmetries, a universality class can divide into distinct phases, characterized by the symmetry action on the low-energy scaling operators. This includes gapless topological phases, with examples hiding in plain sight; we clarify their stability and reinterpret previously studied examples. Part II studies the excitations above the ground states of two-dimensional quantum spin models. The main object of our study is the dynamic spin structure factor; this type of spectral function is reviewed in the first part of Chapter 5. The second part of this chapter introduces a novel matrix-product-state-based algorithm to efficiently compute it, opening a new window on the dynamics of two-dimensional quantum systems. We benchmark this numerical method in Chapter 6 on the exactly-solvable Kitaev model---a paradigmatic topological model realizing a quantum spin liquid. By adding non-integrable Heisenberg perturbations, we identify the first unequivocal theoretical realization of a proximate spin liquid: the ground state becomes conventionally ordered, yet the high-energy spectral properties are structurally similar to those of the nearby Kitaev spin liquid. The latter agrees with aspects of recent inelastic neutron scattering experiments on alpha-RuCl3. In Chapter 7, we turn to one of the oldest models in many-body quantum physics: the spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the square lattice. Despite its venerable history, there is still disagreement about the physical origin of high-energy spectral features which low-order spin wave theory cannot account for. We provide a simple picture for this strongly-interacting-magnon feature by connecting it to a simple Ising limit. Lastly, Chapter 8 discusses the stability of quasiparticles---collective excitations behaving like a single emergent entity, of which magnons are a prime example. These are often known to be stable at the lowest energies and are presumed to decay whenever this is seemingly allowed by energy and momentum conservation. However, we show that strong interactions can prevent this from happening. We numerically confirm this principle of avoided decay in the (slightly-detuned) Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the triangular lattice. Moreover, we can even identify its fingerprints in existing experimental data on Ba3CoSb2O9 and superfluid helium. In this thesis, we thus enlarge our understanding of quantum phases and their excitations. The identification of the key principles of gapless topological phases in one dimension calls for direct analogues in higher dimensions, waiting to be uncovered. With regard to the robust properties of the excitations identified in this thesis, we are hopeful that these can be extended into a theory of quasiparticle properties away from the universal low-energy regime.
Unlike unitary dynamics, measurements of a subsystem can induce long-range entanglement via quantum teleportation. The amount of measurement-induced entanglement or mutual information depends jointly on the measurement basis and the entanglement structure of the state (before measurement), and has operational significance for whether the state is a resource for measurement-based quantum computing, as well as for the computational complexity of simulating the state using quantum or classical computers. In this paper, we examine entropic measures of measurement-induced entanglement (MIE) and information (MII) for the ground states of quantum many-body systems in one and two spatial dimensions. From numerical and analytic analysis of a variety of models encompassing critical points, quantum Hall states, string-net topological orders, and Fermi liquids, we identify universal features of the long-distance structure of MIE and MII that depend only on the underlying phase or critical universality class of the state. We argue that, whereas in 1D the leading contributions to long-range MIE and MII are universal, in 2D, the existence of a teleportation transition for finite-depth circuits implies that trivial 2D states can exhibit long-range MIE, and the universal features lie in subleading corrections. We introduce modified MIE measures that directly extract these universal contributions. As a corollary, we show that the leading contributions to strange correlators, used to numerically identify topological phases, are in fact nonuniversal in two or more dimensions, and explain how our modified constructions enable one to isolate universal components. We discuss the implications of these results for classical- and quantum- computational simulation of quantum materials.
We investigate the structure of quantum magic in interacting disordered fermionic systems, quantifying non-stabilizerness via the fermionic stabilizer Rényi entropy (SRE). To resolve the distribution of magic across different scales, we introduce a multipartite non-local magic functional, constructed from an inclusion-exclusion combination of subsystem contributions. This measure serves as a fine-grained diagnostic, isolating genuinely global contributions and revealing nontrivial interactions between local and collective supports of magic. We illustrate the measure on paradigmatic multipartite states and apply these diagnostics to the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model and its variants. Crucially, for thermal/typical ensembles, we observe a marked disparity between Thermal Pure Quantum (TPQ) states and the thermal density matrix. This reveals a concealed complexity: the immense computational hardness characterizing the unitary evolution is encoded in the specific microstructure of the black hole microstates, while being washed out in the coarse-grained thermodynamic description. Furthermore, in N=2 supersymmetric SYK, we show that while fortuitous BPS states exhibit intermediate stabilizer complexity, the multipartite measure unveils a rich, sector-dependent pattern of global correlations, distinguishing them from generic chaotic states.