Search NASA⌕ Search
Home/Archive/DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI · 2910824

Entanglement properties of SU(2) gauge theory

Ebner, Lukas [Univ. of Regensburg (Germany)] (ORCID:0009000551869042)·Müller, Berndt [Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States)] (ORCID:0000000324683996)·Schäfer, Andreas [Univ. of Regensburg (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000311710078)·Schmotzer, Leonhard [Univ. of Regensburg (Germany)] (ORCID:000900069307072X)·Seidl, Clemens [Univ. of Regensburg (Germany)] (ORCID:0009000694097553)·Yao, Xiaojun [Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000283772203)
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Understanding how isolated quantum systems thermalize is central to both fundamental physics and the development of quantum technologies. In this Perspective, we present recent and new results on thermalization in nonabelian gauge theory from exact real-time simulations of two-dimensional lattice models. We discuss tests of the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis, entanglement entropy dynamics, the absence of persistent non-thermal states, spectral signatures, and measures of quantum complexity. Our new results include a two-step thermalization process in localized regions and the role of higher gauge field representations. These findings suggest that thermalization in gauge theories may offer a test case for quantum advantage.

Explore related subjects

information theory and computationtheoretical particle physics

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Ebner, Lukas [Univ. of Regensburg (Germany)] (ORCID:0009000551869042), Müller, Berndt [Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States)] (ORCID:0000000324683996), Schäfer, Andreas [Univ. of Regensburg (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000311710078), Schmotzer, Leonhard [Univ. of Regensburg (Germany)] (ORCID:000900069307072X), Seidl, Clemens [Univ. of Regensburg (Germany)] (ORCID:0009000694097553), Yao, Xiaojun [Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000283772203). 2025-09-12. Entanglement properties of SU(2) gauge theory. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-025-02298-5

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

Discover connections

information theory and computation subject

Connections use source metadata and explicit phrase matches, not verified experimental comparisons.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related discoveries

DOE OSTI2024

Thermal Bekenstein-Hawking entropy from the worldsheet

We define and compute the leading sphere diagram contribution to the entropy of the BTZ black hole supported by Kalb-Ramond flux in bosonic string theory. In a winding condensate description, integrating exactly over the constant mode for the radial direction of AdS 3 reduces the problem to one of the correlation functions of winding operators in the free theory. The volume of the residual PSL(2,ℂ) gauge group of the sphere is canceled by the action of conformal transformations on the winding interaction insertions. We formulate a precise version of the replica trick in terms of (infinitesimally) non-integer winding condensates to produce the entropy of the BTZ black hole. The resulting entropy can be calculated from the one-point function of a non-local operator on the worldsheet.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

The phase diagram of quantum chromodynamics in one dimension on a quantum computer

The quantum chromodynamics (QCD) phase diagram, which reveals the state of strongly interacting matter at different temperatures and densities, is key to answering open questions in physics, ranging from the behaviour of particles in neutron stars to the conditions of the early universe. However, classical simulations of QCD face significant computational barriers, such as the sign problem at finite matter densities. Quantum computing offers a promising solution to overcome these challenges. Here, we take an important step toward exploring the QCD phase diagram with quantum devices by preparing thermal states in one-dimensional non-Abelian gauge theories. We experimentally simulate the thermal states of SU(2) and SU(3) gauge theories at finite densities on a trapped-ion quantum computer using a variational method. This is achieved by introducing two features: Firstly, we add motional ancillae to the existing qubit register to efficiently prepare thermal probability distributions. Secondly, we introduce charge-singlet measurements to enforce colour-neutrality constraints. This work pioneers the quantum simulation of QCD at finite density and temperature for two and three colours, laying the foundation to explore QCD phenomena on quantum platforms.

Quantum information↗
DOE OSTI2025

Generalized geometric speed limits for quantum observables

Leveraging quantum information geometry, we derive generalized quantum speed limits on the rate of change of the expectation values of observables. These bounds subsume and, for Hilbert space dimension ≥3, tighten existing bounds—in some cases by an arbitrarily large multiplicative constant. Our theoretical results are supported by illustrative examples and an experimental demonstration using a superconducting qutrit. We also derive two upper bounds on the generalized quantum Fisher information in terms of the condition number of the density matrix. One of these bounds applies only to coherent dynamics and depends also on the variance of the Hamiltonian. The other bound depends also on the so-called Wigner-Yanase skew information. These bounds generalize well-known bounds on the symmetric logarithmic derivative quantum Fisher information and are tighter than the existing bounds for sufficiently mixed states (e.g., for sufficiently high temperature thermal states).

open quantum systems & decoherence↗