We consider ground states of quantum spin chains with symmetry-protected topological (SPT) order as resources for measurement-based quantum computation (MBQC). We show that, for a wide range of SPT phases, the computational power of ground states is uniform throughout each phase. This computational power, defined as the Lie group of executable gates in MBQC, is determined by the same algebraic information that labels the SPT phase itself. We prove that these Lie groups always contain a full set of single-qubit gates, thereby affirming the long-standing conjecture that general SPT phases can serve as computationally useful phases of matter.
We consider ground states of quantum spin chains with symmetry-protected topological (SPT) order as resources for measurement-based quantum computation (MBQC). Using tensor network methods, we show that SPT phases protected by a finite abelian on-site symmetry group exhibit uniform computational power. That is, any state from a given phase leads to the same Lie group of executable gates when used as a resource for MBQC. This Lie group is determined by the same algebraic information that labels the SPT phase itself, and we give a necessary condition on the phase that guarantees a full set of single-qubit gates. To obtain our results, we construct several new techniques in MBQC and refine the structure of quantum states with abelian SPT order. Our results are analogous to similar results relating topological order and topological quantum computation, and we comments on their implications on the general connection between quantum phases of matter and quantum computation.
We consider ground states of quantum spin chains with symmetry-protected topological (SPT) order and their usefulness as resources for measurement-based quantum computation (MBQC). It is known that SPT phases (applicable to infinite spin chains) protected by a finite abelian symmetry group exhibit uniform computational power. In this work, we extend these ideas to finite spin chains which are more realistic resources for physical computation. Herein, we relate the usefulness of MBQC resource states to a non-vanishing string-order parameter. Furthermore, using the techniques developed, we show that hard-to-think-about regimes of computation are actually more efficient than the textbook prescription. Our results strengthen the connection between condensed matter and quantum computation and also provide the necessary tools to explore such connections in the state-of-the-art noisy small quantum devices. As an outlook, we discuss how this newly developed formalism can potentially be used to identify non-traditional resource states for MBQC and be extended to higher dimensions, leading to universal quantum computation.
It is a challenging problem to correctly characterize the symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases in open quantum systems. As the measurement-based quantum computation (MBQC) utilizes non-trivial edge states of the SPT phases as the logical qubit, its computational power is closely tied to the non-trivial topological nature of the phases. In this paper, we propose to use the gate fidelity which is a measure of the computational power of the MBQC to identify the SPT phases in mixed-state settings. Specifically, we investigate the robustness of the Haldane phase by considering the MBQC on the Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki state subject to different types of noises. To illustrate how our criterion works, we analytically and numerically calculated the gate fidelity to find that its behavior depends crucially on whether the noises satisfy a certain symmetry condition with respect to the on-site
Z2×Z2 symmetry. In particular, the fidelity for the identity gate, which is given by the sum of the non-local string order parameters, plays an important role. Furthermore, we demonstrate that a stronger symmetry conditions are required to be able to perform other (e.g., the
Z-rotation gate) gates with high fidelity. By examining which unitary gates can be implemented with the MBQC on the decohered states, we can gain a useful insight into the richer structure of noisy SPT states that cannot be captured solely by the string order parameters.
Symmetry protected topological (SPT) phases are gapped short-range-entangled quantum phases with a symmetry
G. They can all be smoothly connected to the same trivial product state if we break the symmetry. The Haldane phase of spin-1 chain is the first example of SPT phases which is protected by
SO(3) spin rotation symmetry. The topological insulator is another example of SPT phases which are protected by
U(1) and time-reversal symmetries. In this paper, we show that interacting bosonic SPT phases can be systematically described by group cohomology theory: Distinct
d-dimensional bosonic SPT phases with on-site symmetry
G (which may contain antiunitary time-reversal symmetry) can be labeled by the elements in
H1+d[G,UT(1)], the Borel
(1+d)-group-cohomology classes of
G over the
G module
UT(1). Our theory, which leads to explicit ground-state wave functions and commuting projector Hamiltonians, is based on a new type of topological term that generalizes the topological $\ensuremath{\theta}$ term in continuous nonlinear $\ensuremath{\sigma}$ models to lattice nonlinear $\ensuremath{\sigma}$ models. The boundary excitations of the nontrivial SPT phases are described by lattice nonlinear $\ensuremath{\sigma}$ models with a nonlocal Lagrangian term that generalizes the Wess-Zumino-Witten term for continuous nonlinear $\ensuremath{\sigma}$ models. As a result, the symmetry
G must be realized as a non-on-site symmetry for the low-energy boundary excitations, and those boundary states must be gapless or degenerate. As an application of our result, we can use ${\mathcal{H}}^{1+d}[U(1)\ensuremath{\rtimes}{Z}_{2}^{T},{U}_{T}(1)]$ to obtain interacting bosonic topological insulators (protected by time reversal
Z2T and boson number conservation), which contain one nontrivial phase in one-dimensional (1D) or 2D and three in 3D. We also obtain interacting bosonic topological superconductors (protected by time-reversal symmetry only), in term of
H1+d[Z2T,UT(1)], which contain one nontrivial phase in odd spatial dimensions and none for even dimensions. Our result is much more general than the above two examples, since it is for any symmetry group. For example, we can use ${\mathcal{H}}^{1+d}[U(1)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{Z}_{2}^{T},{U}_{T}(1)]$ to construct the SPT phases of integer spin systems with time-reversal and
U(1) spin rotation symmetry, which contain three nontrivial SPT phases in 1D, none in 2D, and seven in 3D. Even more generally, we find that the different bosonic symmetry breaking short-range-entangled phases are labeled by the following three mathematical objects: $({G}_{H},{G}_{\ensuremath{\Psi}},{\mathcal{H}}^{1+d}[{G}_{\ensuremath{\Psi}},{U}_{T}(1)])$, where
GH is the symmetry group of the Hamiltonian and ${G}_{\ensuremath{\Psi}}$ the symmetry group of the ground states.
While quantum computers can achieve dramatic speedups over the classical computers familiar to us, identifying the origin of this quantum advantage in physical systems remains a major goal of quantum information science. A useful tool here is measurement-based quantum computation (MQC), a computational framework utilizing the quantum entanglement found in many-body resource states. Not all resource states are useful for quantum computation however, so an important question is what properties of many-body entanglement characterize universal resource states, which can implement any quantum computation. Many-body states are also studied in condensed matter physics, where the collective behavior of quantum many-body systems sometimes define topological phases of matter. These phases are defined by nonlocal many-body entanglement, making topologically-ordered states natural candidates for MQC. We might wonder if these topological phases could be organized as phases of quantum computation, so that every state within the phase is universal for MQC. While phases of symmetry-protected topological order (SPTO) have arisen as natural candidates, previous attempts to demonstrate an MQC-SPTO correspondence were mostly limited to nonuniversal 1D spin chains, leaving the important 2D setting wide open. In this dissertation, we explore the wide and varied connections between MQC and SPTO, and obtain new results for 1D and 2D systems. After identifying a new MQC-SPTO correspondence within 1D spin chains, we move up and explore the operational use of 2D states with two complementary forms of SPTO. We create a new Union Jack resource state, whose different form of SPTO than previous 2D resource states permits a hierarchical notion of MQC universality. This state leads us to consider an idealized model of 2D SPTO, where we show that an additional symmetry condition makes these model states form universal resources for MQC only when they have nontrivial SPTO. We finally study the intrinsic complexity of SPTO-inspired states for classically intractable sampling, and identify inherent advantages of MQC for this purpose. Our work highlights the rich complexity available in states of entangled quantum matter, providing new evidence which sharpens our understanding of the diverse connections between MQC and SPTO.