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Estimating spectral gaps of quantum many-body Hamiltonians is a highly challenging computational task, even under assumptions of locality and translation-invariance. Yet, the quest for rigorous gap certificates is motivated by their broad applicability, ranging from many-body physics to quantum computing and classical sampling techniques. Here we present a general method for obtaining lower bounds on the spectral gap of frustration-free quantum Hamiltonians in the thermodynamic limit. We formulate the gap certification problem as a hierarchy of optimization problems (semidefinite programs) in which the certificate -- a proof of a lower bound on the gap -- is improved with increasing levels. Our approach encompasses existing finite-size methods, such as Knabe's bound and its subsequent improvements, as those appear as particular possible solutions in our optimization, which is thus guaranteed to either match or surpass them. We demonstrate the power of the method on one-dimensional spin-chain models where we observe an improvement by several orders of magnitude over existing finite size criteria in both the accuracy of the lower bound on the gap, as well as the range of parameters in which a gap is detected., Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures, comments welcome

Tensor network methods have proved to be highly effective in addressing a wide variety of physical scenarios, including those lacking an intrinsic one-dimensional geometry. In such contexts, it is possible for the problem to exhibit a weak form of permutational symmetry, in the sense that entanglement behaves similarly across any arbitrary bipartition. In this paper, we show that translationally-invariant (TI) matrix product states (MPS) with this property are trivial, meaning that they are either product states or superpositions of a few of them. The results also apply to non-TI generic MPS, as well as further relevant examples of MPS including the W state and the Dicke states in an approximate sense. Our findings motivate the usage of ans\"atze simpler than tensor networks in systems whose structure is invariant under permutations., Comment: 15 pages

Tensor network contraction is a powerful computational tool in quantum many-body physics, quantum information and quantum chemistry. The complexity of contracting a tensor network is thought to mainly depend on its entanglement properties, as reflected by the Schmidt rank across bipartite cuts. Here, we study how the complexity of tensor-network contraction depends on a different notion of quantumness, namely, the sign structure of its entries. We tackle this question rigorously by investigating the complexity of contracting tensor networks whose entries have a positive bias. We show that for intermediate bond dimension d>~n, a small positive mean value >~1/d of the tensor entries already dramatically decreases the computational complexity of approximately contracting random tensor networks, enabling a quasi-polynomial time algorithm for arbitrary 1/poly(n) multiplicative approximation. At the same time exactly contracting such tensor networks remains #P-hard, like for the zero-mean case [HHEG20]. The mean value 1/d matches the phase transition point observed in [CJHS24]. Our proof makes use of Barvinok's method for approximate counting and the technique of mapping random instances to statistical mechanical models. We further consider the worst-case complexity of approximate contraction of positive tensor networks, where all entries are non-negative. We first give a simple proof showing that a multiplicative approximation with error exponentially close to one is at least StoqMA-hard. We then show that when considering additive error in the matrix 1-norm, the contraction of positive tensor network is BPP-Complete. This result compares to Arad and Landau's [AL10] result, which shows that for general tensor networks, approximate contraction up to matrix 2-norm additive error is BQP-Complete., Comment: 45 pages, 7 figures

This paper presents the global analysis of two extended decreases of the galactic cosmic ray intensity observed by world-wide networks of ground-based detectors in 2012. This analysis is capable of separately deriving the cosmic ray density (or omnidirectional intensity) and anisotropy each as a function of time and rigidity. A simple diffusion model along the spiral field line between Earth and a cosmic-ray barrier indicates the long duration of these events resulting from about 190$^\circ$ eastern extension of a barrier such as an IP-shock followed by the sheath region and/or the corotating interaction region (CIR). It is suggested that the coronal mass ejection merging and compressing the preexisting CIR at its flank can produce such the extended barrier. The derived rigidity spectra of the density and anisotropy both vary in time during each event period. In particular we find that the temporal feature of the ``phantom Forbush decrease'' reported in an analyzed period is dependent on rigidity, looking quite different at different rigidities. From these rigidity spectra of the density and anisotropy, we derive the rigidity spectrum of the average parallel mean-free-path of pitch angle scattering along the spiral field line and infer the power spectrum of the magnetic fluctuation and its temporal variation. Possible physical cause of the strong rigidity dependence of the ``phantom Forbush decrease'' is also discussed. These results demonstrate the high-energy cosmic rays observed at Earth responding to remote space weather., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

Estimating ground state energies of many-body Hamiltonians is a central task in many areas of quantum physics. In this work, we give quantum algorithms which, given any $k$-body Hamiltonian $H$, compute an estimate for the ground state energy and prepare a quantum state achieving said energy, respectively. Specifically, for any $\varepsilon>0$, our algorithms return, with high probability, an estimate of the ground state energy of $H$ within additive error $\varepsilon M$, or a quantum state with the corresponding energy. Here, $M$ is the total strength of all interaction terms, which in general is extensive in the system size. Our approach makes no assumptions about the geometry or spatial locality of interaction terms of the input Hamiltonian and thus handles even long-range or all-to-all interactions, such as in quantum chemistry, where lattice-based techniques break down. In this fully general setting, the runtime of our algorithms scales as $2^{cn/2}$ for $c<1$, yielding the first quantum algorithms for low-energy estimation breaking the natural bound based on Grover search. The core of our approach is remarkably simple, and relies on showing that any $k$-body Hamiltonian has a low-energy subspace of exponential dimension., Comment: 8 pages

We study the statistics of domain wall excitations in quantum spin chains. We focus on systems with finite symmetry groups represented by matrix product unitaries (MPUs), i.e. finite depth quantum circuits. Such symmetries can be anomalous, in which case gapped phases which they support must break the symmetry. The lowest lying excitations of those systems are thus domain wall excitations. We investigate the behavior of these domain walls under exchange, and find that they can exhibit non-trivial exchange statistics. This statistics is completely determined by the anomaly of the symmetry, and we provide a direct relation between the known classification of MPU symmetry actions on ground states and the domain wall statistics. Already for the simplest case of a $\mathbb Z_2$ symmetry, we obtain that the presence of an anomalous MPU symmetry gives rise to domain wall excitations which behave neither as bosons nor as fermions, but rather exhibit fractional statistics. Finally, we show that the exchange statistics of domain walls is a physically accessible quantity, by devising explicit measurement operators through which it can be determined.

We investigate how the computational difficulty of contracting tensor networks depends on the sign structure of the tensor entries. Using results from computational complexity, we observe that the approximate contraction of tensor networks with only positive entries has lower complexity. This raises the question how this transition in computational complexity manifests itself in the hardness of different contraction schemes. We pursue this question by studying random tensor networks with varying bias towards positive entries. First, we consider contraction via Monte Carlo sampling, and find that the transition from hard to easy occurs when the entries become predominantly positive; this can be seen as a tensor network manifestation of the Quantum Monte Carlo sign problem. Second, we analyze the commonly used contraction based on boundary tensor networks. Its performance is governed by the amount of correlations (entanglement) in the tensor network. Remarkably, we find that the transition from hard to easy (i.e., from a volume law to a boundary law scaling of entanglement) occurs already for a slight bias towards a positive mean, and the earlier the larger the bond dimension is. This is in contrast to both expectations and the behavior found in Monte Carlo contraction. We gain further insight into this early transition from the study of an effective statmech model. Finally, we investigate the computational difficulty of computing expectation values of tensor network wavefunctions, i.e., PEPS, where we find that the complexity of entanglement-based contraction always remains low. We explain this by providing a local transformation which maps PEPS expectation values to a positive-valued tensor network. This not only provides insight into the origin of the observed boundary law entanglement scaling, but also suggests new approaches towards PEPS contraction based on positive decompositions.

The advancement of quantum simulators motivates the development of a theoretical framework to assist with efficient state preparation in quantum many-body systems. Generally, preparing a target entangled state via unitary evolution with time-dependent couplings is a challenging task and very little is known about the existence of solutions and their properties. In this work we develop a constructive approach for preparing matrix product states (MPS) via continuous unitary evolution. We provide an explicit construction of the operator which exactly implements the evolution of a given MPS along a specified direction in its tangent space. This operator can be written as a sum of local terms of finite range, yet it is in general non-Hermitian. Relying on the explicit construction of the non-Hermitian generator of the dynamics, we demonstrate the existence of a Hermitian sequence of operators that implements the desired MPS evolution with the error which decreases exponentially with the operator range. The construction is benchmarked on an explicit periodic trajectory in a translationally invariant MPS manifold. We demonstrate that the Floquet unitary generating the dynamics over one period of the trajectory features an approximate MPS-like eigenstate embedded among a sea of thermalizing eigenstates. These results show that our construction is useful not only for state preparation and control of many-body systems, but also provides a generic route towards Floquet scars -- periodically driven models with quasi-local generators of dynamics that have exact MPS eigenstates in their spectrum., Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures

Gradient based optimization methods are the established state-of-the-art paradigm to study strongly entangled quantum systems in two dimensions with Projected Entangled Pair States. However, the key ingredient, the gradient itself, has proven challenging to calculate accurately and reliably in the case of a corner transfer matrix (CTM)-based approach. Automatic differentiation (AD), which is the best known tool for calculating the gradient, still suffers some crucial shortcomings. Some of these are known, like the problem of excessive memory usage and the divergences which may arise when differentiating a singular value decomposition (SVD). Importantly, we also find that there is a fundamental inaccuracy in the currently used backpropagation of SVD that had not been noted before. In this paper, we describe all these problems and provide them with compact and easy to implement solutions. We analyse the impact of these changes and find that the last problem -- the use of the correct gradient -- is by far the dominant one and thus should be considered a crucial patch to any AD application that makes use of an SVD for truncation.

Diagrammatic summation is a common bottleneck in modern applications of projected entangled-pair states, especially in computing low-energy excitations of a two-dimensional quantum many-body system. To solve this problem, here we extend the generating function approach for tensor network diagrammatic summation, a scheme previously proposed in the context of matrix product states. Taking the form of a one-particle excitation, we show that the excited state can be computed efficiently in the generating function formalism, which can further be used in evaluating the dynamical structure factor of the system. Our benchmark results for the spin-$1/2$ transverse-field Ising model and Heisenberg model on the square lattice provide a desirable accuracy, showing good agreement with known results. We then study the spin-$1/2$ $J_1$-$J_2$ model on the same lattice and investigate the dynamical properties of the putative gapless spin liquid phase. We conclude with a discussion on generalizations to multi-particle excitations., Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures

We address the key question of representation of chiral topological quantum states in (2+1) dimensions (i.e., with non-zero chiral central charge) by Projected Entangled Pair States (PEPS). A noted result (due to Wahl, Tu, Schuch, and Cirac [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 236805 (2013)], and Dubail and Read [Phys. Rev. B 92, 205307 (2015)]) says that this is possible for non-interacting fermions, but the answer is as yet unknown for interacting systems. Characteristic counting of degeneracies of low-lying states in the entanglement spectrum (ES) at fixed transverse momentum of bipartitioned long cylinders ("Li-Haldane counting") provides often-used supporting evidence for chirality. However, non-chiral PEPS (with zero chiral central charge), yet with strong breaking of time-reversal and reflection symmetries, with invariance under the product of these two operations (i.e., "apparently" chiral states), are known whose low-lying ES exhibits the same Li-Haldane counting as a chiral state in certain topological sectors [Kure\v{c}i\'c, Vanderstraeten, and Schuch, Phys. Rev. B 99, 045116 (2019); Arildsen, Schuch, and Ludwig, Phys. Rev. B 108, 245150 (2023)]. In the present work, we identify a distinct indicator and hallmark of chirality in the ES of PEPS with global $\mathrm{SU}(3)$ symmetry: the splittings of conjugate irreps. We prove that in the ES of the chiral states conjugate irreps are exactly degenerate, because the operators that would split them [related to the cubic Casimir invariant of $\mathrm{SU}(3)$] are forbidden. By contrast, in the ES of non-chiral states, conjugate splittings are demonstrably non-vanishing. Such a diagnostic provides an unambiguous and powerful tool to distinguish chiral and non-chiral topological states in (2+1) dimensions via their entanglement spectra., Comment: 49 pages, 14 figures, 8 tables. Submitted to Physical Review B

Given a renormalization scheme, we show how to formulate a tractable convex relaxation of the set of feasible local density matrices of a many-body quantum system. The relaxation is obtained by introducing a hierarchy of constraints between the reduced states of ever-growing sets of lattice sites. The coarse-graining maps of the underlying renormalization procedure serve to eliminate a vast number of those constraints, such that the remaining ones can be enforced with reasonable computational means. This can be used to obtain rigorous lower bounds on the ground state energy of arbitrary local Hamiltonians, by performing a linear optimization over the resulting convex relaxation of reduced quantum states. The quality of the bounds crucially depends on the particular renormalization scheme, which must be tailored to the target Hamiltonian. We apply our method to 1D translation-invariant spin models, obtaining energy bounds comparable to those attained by optimizing over locally translation-invariant states of $n\gtrsim 100$ spins. Beyond this demonstration, the general method can be applied to a wide range of other problems, such as spin systems in higher spatial dimensions, electronic structure problems, and various other many-body optimization problems, such as entanglement and nonlocality detection., Comment: Section III, that presents the general framework, was revised

New or enlarged symmetries can emerge at the low-energy spectrum of a Hamiltonian that does not possess the symmetries, if the symmetry breaking terms in the Hamiltonian are irrelevant under the renormalization group flow. In this letter, we propose a tensor network based algorithm to numerically extract lattice operator approximation of the emergent conserved currents from the ground state of any quantum spin chains, without the necessity to have prior knowledge about its low-energy effective field theory. Our results for the spin-1/2 $J$-$Q$ Heisenberg chain and a one-dimensional version of the deconfined quantum critical points (DQCP) demonstrate the power of our method to obtain the emergent lattice Kac-Moody generators. It can also be viewed as a way to find the local integrals of motion of an integrable model and the local parent Hamiltonian of a critical gapless ground state., Comment: 7+13 pages; results and figures have been updated with Hermiticity imposed

We analyze the cosmic-ray variations during a significant Forbush decrease observed with world-wide networks of ground-based neutron monitors and muon detectors during November 3-5, 2021. Utilizing the difference between primary cosmic-ray rigidities monitored by neutron monitors and muon detectors, we deduce the rigidity spectra of the cosmic-ray density (or omnidirectional intensity) and the first- and second-order anisotropies separately, for each hour of data. A clear two-step decrease is seen in the cosmic-ray density with the first $\sim2\%$ decrease after the interplanetary shock arrival followed by the second $\sim5\%$ decrease inside the magnetic flux rope (MFR) at 15 GV. Most strikingly, a large bidirectional streaming along the magnetic field is observed in the MFR with a peak amplitude of $\sim5\%$ at 15 GV which is comparable to the total density decrease inside the MFR. The bidirectional streaming could be explained by adiabatic deceleration and/or focusing in the expanding MFR, which have stronger effects for pitch angles near 90$^\circ$, or by selective entry of GCRs along a leg of the MFR. The peak anisotropy and density depression in the flux rope both decrease with increasing rigidity. The spectra vary dynamically indicating that the temporal variations of density and anisotropy appear different in neutron monitor and muon detector data., Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

It is well-known that many topological phase transitions of intrinsic Abelian topological phases are accompanied by condensation and confinement of anyons. However, for non-Abelian topological phases, more intricate phenomena can occur at their phase transitions, because the multiple degenerate degrees of freedom of a non-Abelian anyon can change in different ways after phase transitions. In this paper, we study these new phenomena, including partial condensation, partial deconfinement and especially anyon splitting (a non-Abelian anyon splits into different kinds of the new anyon species) using projected entangled pair states (PEPS). First, we show that anyon splitting can be observed from the topologically degenerate ground states. Next, we construct a set of PEPS describing all possible degrees of freedom of the same non-Abelian anyon. From the overlaps of this set of PEPS of a given non-Abelian anyon with the ground state, we can extract the information of partial condensation. Then, we construct a central object, a matrix defined by the norms and overlaps among the PEPS in that set. The information of partial deconfinement can be extracted from this matrix. In particular, we use it to construct an order parameter which can directly detect anyon splitting. We demonstrate the power of our approach by applying it to a range of non-Abelian topological phase transitions: From $D(S_3)$ quantum double to toric code, from $D(S_3)$ quantum double to $D(Z_3)$ quantum double, from Rep($S_3$) string-net to toric code, and finally from double Ising string-net to toric code., Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures

The Li-Haldane correspondence [PRL 101, 010504 (2008)] is often used to help identify wave functions of (2+1)-D chiral topological phases (i.e., with non-zero chiral central charge) by studying low-lying entanglement spectra (ES) on long cylinders of finite circumference. Here we consider such ES of states [in fact, certain Projected Entangled Pair States (PEPS)] that are not chiral (i.e., having zero chiral central charge), but which strongly break time-reversal as well as reflection symmetry, while preserving their product, the same symmetry as a chiral state. This leads to ES with branches of both right- and left-moving chiralities, but with vastly different velocities. For circumferences much smaller than the inverse entanglement gap scale, the low-lying ES appear chiral in some topological sectors, and precisely follow the Li-Haldane state counting of a truly chiral phase. This could lead one to misidentify the phase as chiral. However, considering the ES in all sectors, one can observe distinct differences from a chiral phase. We explore this in an $SU(3)$ spin liquid PEPS studied by Kure\v{c}i\'c, et al. [PRB 99, 045116 (2019)], where the topologically trivial sector has the state counting of a chiral $SU(3)$-level-one [$SU(3)_1$] Conformal Field Theory (CFT). In fact, the PEPS has $D(\mathbb{Z}_3)$ topological order, with 9 sectors. We compute the ES in minimally entangled states corresponding to these sectors, which map to the 9 anyon types of doubled $SU(3)_1$ Chern-Simons Topological Field Theory. The state countings of the ES coincide with our expectation: the ES contain irreps of global $SU(3)$ symmetry from the tensor products of the (lowest-lying) irrep of primary states of a "high-velocity" chiral $SU(3)_1$ CFT with the full content of a "low-velocity" chiral $SU(3)_1$ CFT sector, a non-chiral structure beyond that observable in the topologically trivial sector of the ES., Comment: 47 pages, 9 figures, 5 tables. As published

Matrix Product Operators (MPOs) are tensor networks representing operators acting on 1D systems. They model a wide variety of situations, including communication channels with memory effects, quantum cellular automata, mixed states in 1D quantum systems, or holographic boundary models associated to 2D quantum systems. A scenario where MPOs have proven particularly useful is to represent algebras of non-trivial symmetries. Concretely, the boundary of both symmetry protected and topologically ordered phases in 2D quantum systems exhibit symmetries in the form of MPOs. In this paper, we develop a theory of MPOs as representations of algebraic structures. We establish a dictionary between algebra and MPO properties which allows to transfer results between both setups, covering the cases of pre-bialgebras, weak bialgebras, and weak Hopf algebras. We define the notion of pulling-through algebras, which abstracts the minimal requirements needed to define topologically ordered 2D tensor networks from MPO algebras. We show, as one of our main results, that any semisimple pivotal weak Hopf algebra is a pulling-trough algebra. We demonstrate the power of this framework by showing that they can be used to construct Kitaev's quantum double models for Hopf algebras solely from an MPO representation of the Hopf algebra, in the exact same way as MPO symmetries obtained from fusion categories can be used to construct Levin-Wen string-net models, and to explain all their topological features; it thus allows to describe both Kitaev and string-net models on the same formal footing.

Tensor Network states form a powerful framework for both the analytical and numerical study of strongly correlated phases. Vital to their analytical utility is that they appear as the exact ground states of associated parent Hamiltonians, where canonical proof techniques guarantee a controlled ground space structure. Yet, while those Hamiltonians are local by construction, the known techniques often yield complex Hamiltonians which act on a rather large number of spins. In this paper, we present an algorithm to systematically simplify parent Hamiltonians, breaking them down into any given basis of elementary interaction terms. The underlying optimization problem is a semidefinite program, and thus the optimal solution can be found efficiently. Our method exploits a degree of freedom in the construction of parent Hamiltonians -- the excitation spectrum of the local terms -- over which it optimizes such as to obtain the best possible approximation. We benchmark our method on the AKLT model and the Toric Code model, where we show that the canonical parent Hamiltonians (acting on 3 or 4 and 12 sites, respectively) can be broken down to the known optimal 2-body and 4-body terms. We then apply our method to the paradigmatic Resonating Valence Bond (RVB) model on the kagome lattice. Here, the simplest previously known parent Hamiltonian acts on all the 12 spins on one kagome star. With our optimization algorithm, we obtain a vastly simpler Hamiltonian: We find that the RVB model is the exact ground state of a parent Hamiltonian whose terms are all products of at most four Heisenberg interactions, and whose range can be further constrained, providing a major improvement over the previously known 12-body Hamiltonian.

For bare lead ions, decelerated to the low beam energy of 10 MeV/u, the x-ray emission associated with radiative recombination (RR) at "cold collision" conditions has been studied at the electron cooler of CRYRING@ESR at GSI-Darmstadt. Utilizing dedicated x-ray detection chambers installed at 0{\deg} and 180{\deg} observation geometry, we observed for the very first time for stored ions the full x-ray emission spectrum associated with RR under electron cooling conditions. Most remarkably, no line distortion effects due to delayed emission are present in the well resolved spectra, spanning over a wide range of x-ray energies (from about 5 to 100 keV) which enable to identify fine-structure resolved Lyman, Balmer as well as Paschen x-ray lines along with the RR transitions into the K-, L and M-shell of the ions. To compare with theory, an elaborate theoretical model has been applied. By considering the relativistic atomic structure of Pb$^{81+}$, this model is based on a sophisticated computation of the initial population distribution via RR for all atomic levels up to Rydberg states with principal quantum number $n=$ 165 in combination with cascade calculations based on time-dependent rate equations. Within the statistical accuracy, the experimental x-ray line emission is in very good agreement with the results of the theoretical model applied. Most notably, this comparison sheds light on the contribution of prompt and delayed X-ray emission (up to 70 ns) to the observed X-ray spectra, originating in particular from Yrast transitions into inner shells.

We construct a constant depth quantum circuit that maps between Morita equivalent string-net models. Due to its constant depth and unitarity, the circuit cannot alter the topological order, which demonstrates that Morita equivalent string-nets are in the same phase. The circuit is constructed from an invertible bimodule category connecting the two input fusion categories of the relevant string-net models, acting as a generalized Fourier transform for fusion categories. The circuit does not only act on the ground state subspace, but acts unitarily on the full Hilbert space when supplemented with ancillas., Comment: 11+2 pages, v2: updated section III.B

We systematically investigate the robustness of symmetry protected topological (SPT) order in open quantum systems by studying the evolution of string order parameters and other probes under noisy channels. We find that one-dimensional SPT order is robust against noisy couplings to the environment that satisfy a strong symmetry condition, while it is destabilized by noise that satisfies only a weak symmetry condition, which generalizes the notion of symmetry for closed systems. We also discuss "transmutation" of SPT phases into other SPT phases of equal or lesser complexity, under noisy channels that satisfy twisted versions of the strong symmetry condition.

Topological phases exhibit unconventional order that cannot be detected by any local order parameter. In the framework of Projected Entangled Pair States(PEPS), topological order is characterized by an entanglement symmetry of the local tensor which describes the model. This symmetry can take the form of a tensor product of group representations, or in the more general case a correlated symmetry action in the form of a Matrix Product Operator(MPO), which encompasses all string-net models. Among other things, these entanglement symmetries allow for the description of ground states and anyon excitations. Recently, the idea has been put forward to use those symmetries and the anyonic objects they describe as order parameters for probing topological phase transitions, and the applicability of this idea has been demonstrated for Abelian groups. In this paper, we extend this construction to the domain of non-Abelian models with MPO symmetries, and use it to study the breakdown of topological order in the double Fibonacci (DFib) string-net and its Galois conjugate, the non-hermitian double Yang-Lee (DYL) string-net. We start by showing how to construct topological order parameters for condensation and deconfinement of anyons using the MPO symmetries. Subsequently, we set up interpolations from the DFib and the DYL model to the trivial phase, and show that these can be mapped to certain restricted solid on solid(RSOS) models, which are equivalent to the $((5\pm\sqrt{5})/2)$-state Potts model, respectively. The known exact solutions of the statistical models allow us to locate the critical points, and to predict the critical exponents for the order parameters. We complement this by numerical study of the phase transitions, which fully confirms our theoretical predictions; remarkably, we find that both models exhibit a duality between the order parameters for condensation and deconfinement., Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures

We consider a family of tensor network states defined on regular lattices that come with a natural definition of an adiabatic path to prepare them. This family comprises relevant classes of states, such as injective Matrix Product and Projected Entangled-Pair States, and some corresponding to classical spin models. We show how uniform lower bounds to the gap of the parent Hamiltonian along the adiabatic trajectory can be efficiently computed using semi-definite programming. This allows one to check whether the adiabatic preparation can be performed efficiently with a scalable effort. We also derive a set of observables whose expectation values can be easily determined and that form a complete set, in the sense that they uniquely characterize the state. We identify a subset of those observables which can be efficiently computed if one has access to the quantum state and local measurements, and analyze how they can be used in verification procedures., Comment: 22 pages (12 + appendices), 4 figures

We demonstrate that global observations of high-energy cosmic rays contribute to understanding unique characteristics of a large-scale magnetic flux rope causing a magnetic storm in August 2018. Following a weak interplanetary shock on 25 August 2018, a magnetic flux rope caused an unexpectedly large geomagnetic storm. It is likely that this event became geoeffective because the flux rope was accompanied by a corotating interaction region and compressed by high-speed solar wind following the flux rope. In fact, a Forbush decrease was observed in cosmic-ray data inside the flux rope as expected, and a significant cosmic-ray density increase exceeding the unmodulated level before the shock was also observed near the trailing edge of the flux rope. The cosmic-ray density increase can be interpreted in terms of the adiabatic heating of cosmic rays near the trailing edge of the flux rope, as the corotating interaction region prevents free expansion of the flux rope and results in the compression near the trailing edge. A northeast-directed spatial gradient in the cosmic-ray density was also derived during the cosmic-ray density increase, suggesting that the center of the heating near the trailing edge is located northeast of Earth. This is one of the best examples demonstrating that the observation of high-energy cosmic rays provides us with information that can only be derived from the cosmic ray measurements to observationally constrain the three-dimensional macroscopic picture of the interaction between coronal mass ejections and the ambient solar wind, which is essential for prediction of large magnetic storms., Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in the Space Weather

The understanding of complex quantum many-body systems has been vastly boosted by tensor network (TN) methods. Among others, excitation spectrum and long-range interacting systems can be studied using TNs, where one however confronts the intricate summation over an extensive number of tensor diagrams. Here, we introduce a set of generating functions, which encode the diagrammatic summations as leading order series expansion coefficients. Combined with automatic differentiation, the generating function allows us to solve the problem of TN diagrammatic summation. We illustrate this scheme by computing variational excited states and dynamical structure factor of a quantum spin chain, and further investigating entanglement properties of excited states. Extensions to infinite size systems and higher dimension are outlined., Comment: v1: 6 pages, 2 figures. v2: published version

We define two dual tensor network representations of the (3+1)d toric code ground state subspace. These two representations, which are obtained by initially imposing either family of stabilizer constraints, are characterized by different virtual symmetries generated by string-like and membrane-like operators, respectively. We discuss the topological properties of the model from the point of view of these virtual symmetries, emphasizing the differences between both representations. In particular, we argue that, depending on the representation, the phase diagram of boundary entanglement degrees of freedom is naturally associated with that of a (2+1)d Hamiltonian displaying either a global or a gauge $\mathbb Z_2$-symmetry.

We construct a tensor network representation of the 3d toric code ground state that is stable to a generating set of uniform local tensor perturbations, including those that do not map to local operators on the physical Hilbert space. The stability is established by mapping the phase diagram of the perturbed tensor network to that of the 3d Ising gauge theory, which has a non-zero finite temperature transition. More generally, we find that the stability of a topological tensor network state is determined by the form of its virtual symmetries and the topological excitations created by virtual operators that break those symmetries. In particular, a dual representation of the 3d toric code ground state, as well as representations of the X-cube and cubic code ground states, for which point-like excitations are created by such operators, are found to be unstable., Comment: 8+10 pages, 1 figure; v2 published version

The theory of entanglement provides a fundamentally new language for describing interactions and correlations in many body systems. Its vocabulary consists of qubits and entangled pairs, and the syntax is provided by tensor networks. We review how matrix product states and projected entangled pair states describe many-body wavefunctions in terms of local tensors. These tensors express how the entanglement is routed, act as a novel type of non-local order parameter, and we describe how their symmetries are reflections of the global entanglement patterns in the full system. We will discuss how tensor networks enable the construction of real-space renormalization group flows and fixed points, and examine the entanglement structure of states exhibiting topological quantum order. Finally, we provide a summary of the mathematical results of matrix product states and projected entangled pair states, highlighting the fundamental theorem of matrix product vectors and its applications., Comment: Review article. 72 pages

Topological phases are exotic quantum phases which are lacking the characterization in terms of order parameters. In this paper, we develop a unified framework based on variational iPEPS for the quantitative study of both topological and conventional phase transitions through entanglement order parameters. To this end, we employ tensor networks with suitable physical and/or entanglement symmetries encoded, and allow for order parameters detecting the behavior of any of those symmetries, both physical and entanglement ones. First, this gives rise to entanglement-based order parameters for topological phases. These topological order parameters allow to quantitatively probe topological phase transitions and to identify their universal behavior. We apply our framework to the study of the Toric Code model in different magnetic fields, which in some cases maps to the (2+1)D Ising model. We identify 3D Ising critical exponents for the entire transition, consistent with those special cases and general belief. However, we moreover find an unknown critical exponent beta=0.021. We then apply our framework of entanglement order parameters to conventional phase transitions. We construct a novel type of disorder operator (or disorder parameter), which is non-zero in the disordered phase and measures the response of the wavefunction to a symmetry twist in the entanglement. We numerically evaluate this disorder operator for the (2+1)D transverse field Ising model, where we again recover a critical exponent hitherto unknown in the model, beta=0.024, consistent with the findings for the Toric Code. This shows that entanglement order parameters can provide additional means of characterizing the universal data both at topological and conventional phase transitions, and altogether demonstrates the power of this framework to identify the universal data underlying the transition., Comment: v2: Significantly extended; added new Section IV with construction and study of disorder parameters for conventional phase transitions

We propose and study a wave function describing an interacting three-dimensional fractional chiral hinge insulator (FCHI) constructed by Gutzwiller projection of two non-interacting second order topological insulators with chiral hinge modes at half filling. We use large-scale variational Monte Carlo computations to characterize the model states via the entanglement entropy and charge-spin-fluctuations. We show that the FCHI possesses fractional chiral hinge modes characterized by a central charge $c=1$ and Luttinger parameter $K=1/2$, like the edge modes of a Laughlin $1/2$ state. By changing the boundary conditions for the underlying fermions, we investigate the topological degeneracy of the FCHI. Within the range of the numerically accessible system sizes, we observe a non-trivial topological degeneracy. A more numerically pristine characterization of the bulk topology is provided by the topological entanglement entropy (TEE) correction to the area law. While our computations indicate a vanishing bulk TEE, we show that the gapped surfaces host a two-dimensional topological order with a TEE per surface compatible with half that of a Laughlin $1/2$ state, a value that cannot be obtained from topological quantum field theory., Comment: 7+21 pages, 3+14 figures

In this work it is shown that there is an inherent nonlinear evolution in the dynamics of the so-called generalized coherent states. To show this, the immersion of a classical manifold into the Hilbert space of quantum mechanics is employed. Then one may parametrize the time-dependence of the wave function through the variation of parameters in the classical manifold. Therefore, the immersion allows to consider the so-called principle of analogy, i.e. using the procedures and structures available from the classical setting to employ them in the quantum framework.

We demonstrate that projected entangled-pair states (PEPS) are able to represent ground states of critical, fermionic systems exhibiting both 1d and 0d Fermi surfaces on a 2D lattice with an efficient scaling of the bond dimension. Extrapolating finite size results for the Gaussian restriction of fermionic projected entangled-pair states to the thermodynamic limit, the energy precision as a function of the bond dimension is found to improve as a power law, illustrating that an arbitrary precision can be obtained by increasing the bond dimension in a controlled manner. In this process, boundary conditions and system sizes have to be chosen carefully so that nonanalyticities of the Ansatz, rooted in its nontrivial topology, are avoided., Comment: Small changes in correspondence to the PRL publication

We study the response of critical Resonating Valence Bond (RVB) spin liquids to doping with longer-range singlets, and more generally of U(1)-symmetric tensor networks to non-symmetric perturbations. Using a field theory description, we find that in the RVB, doping constitutes a relevant perturbation which immediately opens up a gap, contrary to previous observations. Our analysis predicts a very large correlation length even at significant doping, which we verify using high-accuracy numerical simulations. This emphasizes the need for careful analysis, but also justifies the use of such states as a variational ansatz for critical systems. Finally, we give an example of a PEPS where non-symmetric perturbations do not open up a gap and the U(1) symmetry re-emerges., Comment: v2: Accepted version, without changes introduced during copyediting

We construct and study quantum trimer models and resonating SU(3)-singlet models on the kagome lattice, which generalize quantum dimer models and the Resonating Valence Bond wavefunctions to a trimer and SU(3) setting. We demonstrate that these models carry a Z_3 symmetry which originates in the structure of trimers and the SU(3) representation theory, and which becomes the only symmetry under renormalization. Based on this, we construct simple and exact parent Hamiltonians for the model which exhibit a topological 9-fold degenerate ground space. A combination of analytical reasoning and numerical analysis reveals that the quantum order ultimately displayed by the model depends on the relative weight assigned to different types of trimers -- it can display either Z_3 topological order or form a symmetry-broken trimer crystal, and in addition possesses a point with an enhanced U(1) symmetry and critical behavior. Our results accordingly hold for the SU(3) model, where the two natural choices for trimer weights give rise to either a topological spin liquid or a system with symmetry-broken order, respectively. Our work thus demonstrates the suitability of resonating trimer and SU(3)-singlet ansatzes to model SU(3) topological spin liquids on the kagome lattice.

Matrix Product States form the basis of powerful simulation methods for ground state problems in one dimension. Their power stems from the fact that they faithfully approximate states with a low amount of entanglement, the "area law". In this work, we establish the mixed state analogue of this result: We show that one-dimensional mixed states with a low amount of entanglement, quantified by the entanglement of purification, can be efficiently approximated by Matrix Product Density Operators (MPDOs). In combination with results establishing area laws for thermal states, this helps to put the use of MPDOs in the simulation of thermal states on a formal footing.

We study the entanglement structure of symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases from an operational point of view by considering entanglement distillation in the presence of symmetries. We demonstrate that non-trivial SPT phases in one-dimension necessarily contain some entanglement which is inaccessible if the symmetry is enforced. More precisely, we consider the setting of local operations and classical communication (LOCC) where the local operations commute with a global onsite symmetry group $G$, which we call $G$-LOCC, and we define the inaccessible entanglement $E_{inacc}$ as the entanglement that cannot be used for distillation under $G$-LOCC. We derive a tight bound on $E_{inacc}$ which demonstrates a direct relation between inaccessible entanglement and the SPT phase, namely $\log(D_\omega^2) \leq E_{inacc} \leq \log(|G|)$, where $D_\omega$ is the topologically protected edge mode degeneracy of the SPT phase $\omega$ with symmetry $G$. For particular phases such as the Haldane phase, $D_\omega = \sqrt{|G|}$ so the bound becomes an equality. We numerically investigate the distribution of states throughout the bound, and show that typically the region near the upper bound is highly populated, and also determine the nature of those states lying on the upper and lower bounds. We then discuss the relation of $E_{inacc}$ to string order parameters, and also the extent to which it can be used to distinguish different SPT phases of matter., Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures

Quantum spin liquids can be faithfully represented and efficiently characterized within the framework of Projected Entangled Pair States (PEPS). Guided by extensive exact diagonalization and density matrix renormalization group calculations, we construct an optimized symmetric PEPS for a SU$(3)_1$ chiral spin liquid on the square lattice. Characteristic features are revealed by the entanglement spectrum (ES) on an infinitely long cylinder. In all three $\mathbb{Z}_3$ sectors, the level counting of the linear dispersing modes is in full agreement with SU$(3)_1$ Wess-Zumino-Witten conformal field theory prediction. Special features in the ES are shown to be in correspondence with bulk anyonic correlations, indicating a fine structure in the holographic bulk-edge correspondence. Possible universal properties of topological SU$(N)_k$ chiral PEPS are discussed., Comment: v1: 6+23 pages, 4+13 figures, 0+27 tables. v2: add one figure in supplemental material, add one reference

We apply the charge pumping argument to fermionic tensor network representations of d-dimensional topological insulators (TIs) to obtain tensor network states for (d+1)-dimensional TIs. We exemplify the method by constructing a two-dimensional projected entangled pair states (PEPS)for a Chern insulator starting from a matrix product state (MPS) in d=1 describing pumping in the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model. In extending the argument to second-order TIs, we build a three-dimensional TNS for a chiral hinge TI from a PEPS in d=2 for the obstructed atomic insulator (OAI) of the quadrupole model. The (d+1)-dimensional TNSs obtained in this way have a constant bond dimension inherited from the d-dimensional TNSs in all but one spatial direction, making them candidates for numerical applications. From the d-dimensional models, we identify gapped next-nearest neighbour Hamiltonians interpolating between the trivial and OAI phases of the fully dimerized SSH and quadrupole models, whose ground states are given by an MPS and a PEPS with a constant bond dimension equal to 2, respectively., Comment: 36 pages, 10 figures

We investigate the spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the kagome lattice with breathing anisotropy (i.e. with weak and strong triangular units), constructing an improved simplex Resonating Valence Bond (RVB) ansatz by successive applications (up to three times) of local quantum gates which implement a filtering operation on the bare nearest-neighbor RVB state. The resulting Projected Entangled Pair State involves a small number of variational parameters (only one at each level of application) and preserves full lattice and spin-rotation symmetries. Despite its simple analytic form, the simplex RVB provides very good variational energies at strong and even intermediate breathing anisotropy. We show that it carries $Z_2$ topological order which does not fade away under the first few applications of the quantum gates, suggesting that the RVB topological spin liquid becomes a competing ground state candidate for the kagome antiferromagnet at large breathing anisotropy.

Cosmic rays are charged particles whose flux observed at Earth shows temporal variations related to space weather phenomena and may be an important tool to study them. The cosmic ray intensity recorded with ground-based detectors also shows temporal variations arising from atmospheric variations. In the case of muon detectors, the main atmospheric effects are related to pressure and temperature changes. In this work, we analyze both effects using data recorded by the Global Muon Detector Network (GMDN), consisting of four multidirectional muon detectors at different locations, in the period between 2007 and 2016. For each GMDN directional channel, we obtain coefficients that describe the pressure and temperature effects. We then analyze how these coefficients can be related to the geomagnetic cutoff rigidity and zenith angle associated with cosmic-ray particles observed by each channel. In the pressure effect analysis, we found that the observed barometric coefficients show a very clear logarithmic correlation with the cutoff rigidity divided by the zenith angle cosine. On the other hand, the temperature coefficients show a good logarithmic correlation with the product of the cutoff and zenith angle cosine after adding a term proportional to the sine of geographical latitude of the observation site. This additional term implies that the temperature effect measured in the northern hemisphere detectors is stronger than that observed in the southern hemisphere. The physical origin of this term and of the good correlations found in this analysis should be studied in detail in future works.

We study the robustness of the paradigmatic kagome Resonating Valence Bond (RVB) spin liquid and its orthogonal version, the quantum dimer model. The non-orthogonality of singlets in the RVB model and the induced finite length scale not only makes it difficult to analyze, but can also significantly affect its physics, such as how much noise resilience it exhibits. Surprisingly, we find that this is not the case: The amount of perturbations which the RVB spin liquid can tolerate is not affected by the finite correlation length, making the dimer model a viable model for studying RVB physics under perturbations. Remarkably, we find that this is a universal phenomenon protected by symmetries: First, the dominant correlations in the RVB are spinon correlations, making the state robust against doping with visons. Second, reflection symmetry stabilizes the spin liquid against doping with spinons, by forbidding mixing of the initially dominant correlations with those which lead to the breakdown of topological order., Comment: v2: accepted version

We consider the Brownian SYK model of $N$ interacting Majorana fermions, with random couplings that are taken to vary independently at each time. We study the out-of-time-ordered correlators (OTOCs) of arbitrary observables and the R\'enyi-$2$ tripartite information of the unitary evolution operator, which were proposed as diagnostic tools for quantum chaos and scrambling, respectively. We show that their averaged dynamics can be studied as a quench problem at imaginary times in a model of $N$ qudits, where the Hamiltonian displays site-permutational symmetry. By exploiting a description in terms of bosonic collective modes, we show that for the quantities of interest the dynamics takes place in a subspace of the effective Hilbert space whose dimension grows either linearly or quadratically with $N$, allowing us to perform numerically exact calculations up to $N = 10^6$. We analyze in detail the interesting features of the OTOCs, including their dependence on the chosen observables, and of the tripartite information. We observe explicitly the emergence of a scrambling time $t^\ast\sim \ln N$ controlling the onset of both chaotic and scrambling behavior, after which we characterize the exponential decay of the quantities of interest to the corresponding Haar scrambled values., Comment: 25 pages, 13 figures

It is well known that the cosmic ray intensity observed at the Earth's surface presents an 11 and 22-yr variations associated with the solar activity cycle. However, the observation and analysis of this modulation through ground muon detectors data is make difficult due to the temperature effect. Furthermore, detector electronic changes or temporary problems may difficult the analysis of these variations. In this work, we analyze the cosmic ray intensity observed since October 1970 until December 2012 by the Nagoya muon detector. We show the results obtained after analyzing all discontinuities and gaps present in this data and removing changes not related to natural phenomena. We also show the results found using the mass weighted method for eliminate the influence of atmospheric temperature changes on muon intensity observed at ground. Furthermore, we show the preliminary results of the analysis of the solar cycle modulation on the muon intensity observed for more than 40 years.

While general quantum many-body systems require exponential resources to be simulated on a classical computer, systems of non-interacting fermions can be simulated exactly using polynomially scaling resources. Such systems may be of interest in their own right, but also occur as effective models in numerical methods for interacting systems, such as Hartree-Fock, density functional theory, and many others. Often it is desirable to solve systems of many thousand constituent particles, rendering these simulations computationally costly despite their polynomial scaling. We demonstrate how this scaling can be improved by adapting methods based on matrix product states, which have been enormously successful for low-dimensional interacting quantum systems, to the case of free fermions. Compared to the case of interacting systems, our methods achieve an exponential speedup in the entanglement entropy of the state. We demonstrate their use to solve systems of up to one million sites with an effective MPS bond dimension of 10^15.

Subsystem symmetry protected topological (SSPT) order is a type of quantum order that is protected by symmetries acting on lower-dimensional subsystems of the entire system. In this paper, we show how SSPT order can be characterized and detected by a constant correction to the entanglement area law, similar to the topological entanglement entropy. Focusing on the paradigmatic two-dimensional cluster phase as an example, we use tensor network methods to give an analytic argument that almost all states in the phase exhibit the same correction to the area law, such that this correction may be used to reliably detect the SSPT order of the cluster phase. Based on this idea, we formulate a numerical method that uses tensor networks to extract this correction from ground-state wave functions. We use this method to study the fate of the SSPT order of the cluster state under various external fields and interactions, and find that the correction persists unless a phase transition is crossed, or the subsystem symmetry is explicitly broken. Surprisingly, these results uncover that the SSPT order of the cluster state persists beyond the cluster phase, thanks to a new type of subsystem time-reversal symmetry. Finally, we discuss the correction to the area law found in three-dimensional cluster states on different lattices, indicating rich behavior for general subsystem symmetries, Comment: 17 pages. v2: Published version, minor changes throughout

We prove that matrix-product unitaries (MPUs) with on-site unitary symmetries are completely classified by the (chiral) index and the cohomology class of the symmetry group $G$, provided that we can add trivial and symmetric ancillas with arbitrary on-site representations of $G$. If the representations in both system and ancillas are fixed to be the same, we can define symmetry-protected indices (SPIs) which quantify the imbalance in the transport associated to each group element and greatly refines the classification. These SPIs are stable against disorder and measurable in interferometric experiments. Our results lead to a systematic construction of two-dimensional Floquet symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases beyond the standard classification, and thus shed new light on understanding nonequilibrium phases of quantum matter., Comment: 6+16 pages, 3+8 figures

We analyze the short cosmic ray intensity increase ("cosmic ray burst": CRB) on June 22, 2015 utilizing a global network of muon detectors and derive the global anisotropy of cosmic ray intensity and the density (i.e. the omnidirectional intensity) with 10-minute time resolution. We find that the CRB was caused by a local density maximum and an enhanced anisotropy of cosmic rays both of which appeared in association with Earth's crossing of the heliospheric current sheet (HCS). This enhanced anisotropy was normal to the HCS and consistent with a diamagnetic drift arising from the spatial gradient of cosmic ray density, which indicates that cosmic rays were drifting along the HCS from the north of Earth. We also find a significant anisotropy along the HCS, lasting a few hours after the HCS crossing, indicating that cosmic rays penetrated into the inner heliosphere along the HCS. Based on the latest geomagnetic field model, we quantitatively evaluate the reduction of the geomagnetic cut-off rigidity and the variation of the asymptotic viewing direction of cosmic rays due to a major geomagnetic storm which occurred during the CRB and conclude that the CRB is not caused by the geomagnetic storm, but by a rapid change in the cosmic ray anisotropy and density outside the magnetosphere., Comment: accepted for the publication in the Astrophysical Journal

We construct a topological spin liquid (TSL) model on the kagome lattice, with SU(3) symmetry with the fundamental representation at each lattice site, based on Projected Entangled Pair States (PEPS). Using the PEPS framework, we can adiabatically connect the model to a fixed point model (analogous to the dimer model for Resonating Valence Bond states) which we prove to be locally equivalent to a $Z_3$ quantum double model. Numerical study of the interpolation reveals no sign of a phase transition or long-range order, characterizing the model conclusively as a gapped TSL. We further study the entanglement spectrum of the model and find that while it is gapped, it exhibits branches with vastly different velocities, with the slow branch matching the counting of a chiral $SU(3)_1$ CFT, suggesting that it can be deformed to a model with chiral $SU(3)_1$ entanglement spectrum., Comment: 5 pages. Accepted version

We consider a random time evolution operator composed of a circuit of random unitaries coupling even and odd neighboring spins on a chain in turn. In spirit of Floquet evolution, the circuit is time-periodic; each timestep is repeated with the same random instances. We obtain analytical results for arbitrary local Hilbert space dimension d: On a single site, average time evolution acts as a depolarising channel. In the spin 1/2 (d=2) case, this is further quantified numerically. For that, we develop a new numerical method that reduces complexity by an exponential factor. Haar-distributed unitaries lead to full depolarization after many timesteps, i.e. local thermalization. A unitary probability distribution with tunable coupling strength allows us to observe a many-body localization transition. In addition to a spin chain under a unitary circuit, we consider the analogous problem with Gaussian circuits. We can make stronger statements about the entire covariance matrix instead of single sites only, and find that the dynamics is localising. For a random time evolution operator homogeneous in space, however, the system delocalizes.

Projected entangled pair states (PEPS) provide exact representations for many non-chiral topologically ordered states whereas their range of applicability to interacting chiral topological phases remains largely unsettled. In this context, the symmetries of the local PEPS tensors are crucial for determining the characteristic topological features of the state. In this article we examine the constraints that arise when different symmetries are imposed simultaneously on the local tensor such as internal $SU(2)$, point group and translation symmetry. We show how the interplay of these symmetries manifests in the entanglement spectrum which is the main diagnostic tool for chiral topological order. We apply our results to a spin liquid PEPS introduced previously as a chiral generalization of the resonating valence bond state. Our findings explain the discrepancies observed between the entanglement spectrum of this state and the expected edge spectrum described by a chiral conformal field theory. Finally, in a certain parameter region where this PEPS possesses an additional $U(1)$ symmetry we are able to resolve these discrepancies and obtain an entanglement spectrum with the expected state countings and conformal weight., Comment: 25 pages