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arXiv:2608.30370

Marginal spectral distributions on regular bipartite unitary orbits

Lin Zhang

quant-phmath-phmath.FASubmitted Aug 31, 2026• Announced Sep 1, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

Fix the spectrum of a bipartite density matrix and randomize its eigenbasis according to Haar measure. We study the probability distributions induced on the spectra of the two marginal states. For arbitrary subsystem dimensions $m$ and $n$, the joint characteristic function of the reduced density matrices is expressed as a Harish-Chandra-Itzykson-Zuber integral whose external eigenvalues are the pairwise sums $x_i + y_j$. Repeated external eigenvalues are handled by confluent determinant limits. In the two-qubit case, we derive an explicit alternating-spline formula for the joint density of the two marginal Bloch radii. Its support is the Bravyi-Klyachko compatibility region. We also obtain a compact truncated-power formula for the Bloch-radius density of either individual qubit marginal. In the qubit-qutrit case, we derive a truncated-power formula for the qubit Bloch-radius density and a bivariate spline formula for the joint density of the largest and smallest eigenvalues of the qutrit marginal. The latter two variables determine the full qutrit spectrum because the trace is fixed. The derivations combine confluent HCIZ integrals, distributional Fourier inversion, orbital measures, and the SU(2) and SU(3) derivative principles. The resulting densities are piece-wise polynomial on chambers determined by subset sums of the fixed global eigenvalues, in agreement with the Duistermaat-Heckman description of projected coadjoint-orbit measures.

Comments
45 pages, 5 figures

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Fix the spectrum of a bipartite density matrix and randomize its eigenbasis according to Haar measure. We study the probability distributions induced on the spectra of the two marginal states. For arbitrary subsystem dimensions mmm and nnn, the joint characteristic function of the reduced density matrices is expressed as a Harish-Chandra-Itzykson-Zuber integral whose external eigenvalues are the pairwise sums xi+yjx_i + y_jxi​+yj​. Repeated external eigenvalues are handled by confluent determinant limits. In the two-qubit case, we derive an explicit alternating-spline formula for the joint density of the two marginal Bloch radii. Its support is the Bravyi-Klyachko compatibility region. We also obtain a compact truncated-power formula for the Bloch-radius density of either individual qubit marginal. In the qubit-qutrit case, we derive a truncated-power formula for the qubit Bloch-radius density and a bivariate spline formula for the joint density of the largest and smallest eigenvalues of the qutrit marginal. The latter two variables determine the full qutrit spectrum because the trace is fixed. The derivations combine confluent HCIZ integrals, distributional Fourier inversion, orbital measures, and the SU(2) and SU(3) derivative principles. The resulting densities are piece-wise polynomial on chambers determined by subset sums of the fixed global eigenvalues, in agreement with the Duistermaat-Heckman description of projected coadjoint-orbit measures.
Given two n×nn \times nn×n Hermitian matrices YYY and ΛΛΛ, the Harish-Chandra-Itzykson-Zuber (HCIZ) distribution on the unitary group U(n)\text{U}(n)U(n) is etr(UΛU∗Y)dμ(U)e^{\text{tr}(UΛU^*Y)}dμ(U)etr(UΛU∗Y)dμ(U), where μμμ is the Haar measure on U(n)\text{U}(n)U(n). The density etr(UΛU∗Y)e^{\text{tr}(UΛU^*Y)}etr(UΛU∗Y) is known as the HCIZ density. Random unitary matrices distributed according to the HCIZ density are important in various settings in physics and random matrix theory. However, the basic question of efficient sampling from the HCIZ distribution has remained open. We present two efficient algorithms to sample matrices from distributions that are close to the HCIZ distribution. The first algorithm outputs samples that are ξξξ-close in total variation distance and requires polynomially many arithmetic operations in log⁡1/ξ\log 1/ξlog1/ξ and the number of bits needed to encode YYY and ΛΛΛ. The second algorithm comes with a stronger guarantee that the samples are ξξξ-close in infinity divergence, but the number of arithmetic operations depends polynomially on 1/ξ1/ξ1/ξ, the number of bits needed to encode YYY and ΛΛΛ, and the differences of the largest and the smallest eigenvalues of YYY and ΛΛΛ. HCIZ densities can also be viewed as exponential densities on U(n)\text{U}(n)U(n)-orbits, and these densities have been studied in statistics, machine learning, and theoretical computer science. Thus our results have the following applications: 1) an efficient algorithm to sample from complex versions of matrix Langevin distributions studied in statistics, 2) an efficient algorithm to sample from continuous max-entropy distributions on unitary orbits, which implies an efficient algorithm to sample a pure quantum state from the entropy-maximizing ensemble representing a given density matrix, and 3) an efficient algorithm for differentially private rank-kkk approximation, with improved utility bounds for k>1k>1k>1.
Abstract In this paper, we present a general framework to solve a fundamental problem in random matrix theory (RMT), i.e. the problem of describing the joint distribution of eigenvalues of the sum of two independent random Hermitian matrices and . Some considerations about the mixture of quantum states are basically subsumed into the above mathematical problem. Instead, we focus on deriving the spectral density of the mixture of adjoint orbits of quantum states in terms of the Duistermaat–Heckman measure, originated from the theory of symplectic geometry. Based on this method, we can obtain the spectral density of the mixture of independent random states. In particular, we obtain explicit formulas for the mixture of random qubits. We also find that, in the two-level quantum system, the average entropy of the equiprobable mixture of n random density matrices chosen from a random state ensemble (specified in the text) increases with the number n . Hence, as a physical application, our results quantitatively explain that the quantum coherence of the mixture monotonously decreases statistically as the number of components n in the mixture. Besides, our method may be used to investigate some statistical properties of a special subclass of unital qubit channels.
In this paper, we present a general framework to solve a fundamental problem in Random Matrix Theory (RMT), i.e., the problem of describing the joint distribution of eigenvalues of the sum $\bsA+\bsB$ of two independent random Hermitian matrices $\bsA$ and $\bsB$. Some considerations about the mixture of quantum states are basically subsumed into the above mathematical problem. Instead, we focus on deriving the spectral density of the mixture of adjoint orbits of quantum states in terms of Duistermaat-Heckman measure, originated from the theory of symplectic geometry. Based on this method, we can obtain the spectral density of the mixture of independent random states. In particular, we obtain explicit formulas for the mixture of random qubits. We also find that, in the two-level quantum system, the average entropy of the equiprobable mixture of nnn random density matrices chosen from a random state ensemble (specified in the text) increases with the number nnn. Hence, as a physical application, our results quantitatively explain that the quantum coherence of the mixture monotonously decreases statistically as the number of components nnn in the mixture. Besides, our method may be used to investigate some statistical properties of a special subclass of unital qubit channels.
Given two Hermitian matrices Y and Λ, the Harish-Chandra–Itzykson–Zuber (HCIZ) distribution is given by the density eTr(U Λ U*Y) with respect to the Haar measure on the unitary group. Random unitary matrices distributed according to the HCIZ distribution are important in various settings in physics and random matrix theory, but the problem of sampling efficiently from this distribution has remained open. We present two algorithms to sample matrices from distributions that are close to the HCIZ distribution. The first produces samples that are ξ-close in total variation distance, and the number of arithmetic operations required depends on poly(log1/ξ). The second produces samples that are ξ-close in infinity divergence, but with a poly(1/ξ) dependence. Our results have the following applications: 1) an efficient algorithm to sample from complex versions of matrix Langevin distributions studied in statistics, 2) an efficient algorithm to sample from continuous maximum entropy distributions over unitary orbits, which in turn implies an efficient algorithm to sample a pure quantum state from the entropy-maximizing ensemble representing a given density matrix, and 3) an efficient algorithm for differentially private rank-k approximation that comes with improved utility bounds for k>1.
Inner products of random matrices and random quantum states---such as orbital inner products, expectation values, overlaps, and cyclic Bargmann invariants---are shown to follow from two underlying mechanisms: the diagonal of an induced random state is Dirichlet distributed, and the expectation value of a random pure state in a rank-one or two-by-two operator is a numerical shadow on an elliptical disk. For states induced by an environment of dimension KKK, the expectation value of any observable is a Curry--Schoenberg spline with each eigenvalue repeated KKK times, and the vector of moments has an explicit density on a simplex; for a qutrit, the variance law is obtained in finite form. The overlap of two random qubit states attains its mode at its mean for every rotation-invariant ensemble, but for Hilbert--Schmidt qutrits the density at the mean has a strictly negative derivative, so mode and mean separate; for large environments, the centred overlap converges to a variance-gamma law rather than a Gaussian. For two noncommuting qubit observables, the joint law of the two standard deviations is derived for all KKK, and the probability of coming within a small distance of the optimal sum of variances scales as a power of that distance, with a different exponent when the Bloch axes are orthogonal. For three Haar-random qubit states, the exact density of the Bargmann invariant is given in terms of a complete elliptic integral, together with its local behaviour and elementary marginals. In every dimension, the probability that its real part is negative---certifying basis-independent coherence---is computed, along with all mixed moments. For cycles of arbitrary length, the invariant is shown to be driven by an exact three-parameter Markov chain, and the logarithm of its modulus obeys a law of large numbers and a central limit theorem.
Abstract The randomized quantum marginal problem asks about the joint distribution of the partial traces (“marginals”) of a uniform random Hermitian operator with fixed spectrum acting on a space of tensors. We introduce a new approach to this problem based on studying the mixed moments of the entries of the marginals. For randomized quantum marginal problems that describe systems of distinguishable particles, bosons, or fermions, we prove formulae for these mixed moments, which determine the joint distribution of the marginals completely. Our main tool is Weingarten calculus, which provides a method for computing integrals of polynomial functions with respect to Haar measure on the unitary group. As an application, in the case of two distinguishable particles, we prove some results on the asymptotic behavior of the marginals as the dimension of one or both Hilbert spaces goes to infinity.