Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical

This topical review article gives an overview of the interplay between quantum information theory and thermodynamics of quantum systems. We focus on several trending topics including the foundations of statistical mechanics, resource theories, entanglement in thermodynamic settings, fluctuation theorems and thermal machines. This is not a comprehensive review of the diverse field of quantum thermodynamics; rather, it is a convenient entry point for the thermo-curious information theorist. Furthermore this review should facilitate the unification and understanding of different interdisciplinary approaches emerging in research groups around the world.

We summarize important recent advances in quantum metrology, in connection to experiments in cold gases, trapped cold atoms and photons. First we review simple metrological setups, such as quantum metrology with spin squeezed states, with Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger states, Dicke states and singlet states. We calculate the highest precision achievable in these schemes. Then, we present the fundamental notions of quantum metrology, such as shot-noise scaling, Heisenberg scaling, the quantum Fisher information and the Cramér–Rao bound. Using these, we demonstrate that entanglement is needed to surpass the shot-noise scaling in very general metrological tasks with a linear interferometer. We discuss some applications of the quantum Fisher information, such as how it can be used to obtain a criterion for a quantum state to be a macroscopic superposition. We show how it is related to the speed of a quantum evolution, and how it appears in the theory of the quantum Zeno effect. Finally, we explain how uncorrelated noise limits the highest achievable precision in very general metrological tasks.

This article is part of a special issue of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical devoted to '50 years of Bell's theorem'.

In its most restrictive definition, an octupolar tensor is a fully symmetric traceless third-rank tensor in three space dimensions. So great a body of works have been devoted to this specific class of tensors and their physical applications that a review would perhaps be welcome by a number of students. Here, we endeavour to place octupolar tensors into a broader perspective, considering non-vanishing traces and non-fully symmetric tensors as well. A number of general concepts are recalled and applied to either octupolar and higher-rank tensors. As a tool to navigate the diversity of scenarios we envision, we introduce the octupolar potential, a scalar-valued function which can easily be given an instructive geometrical representation. Physical applications are plenty; those to liquid crystal science play a major role here, as they were the original motivation for our interest in the topic of this review.

The motion of run-and-tumble particles in one-dimensional finite domains are analyzed in the presence of generic boundary conditions. These describe accumulation at walls, where particles can either be absorbed at a given rate, or tumble, with a rate that may be, in general, different from that in the bulk. This formulation allows us to treat in a unified way very different boundary conditions (fully and partially absorbing/reflecting, sticky, sticky-reactive and sticky-absorbing boundaries) which can be recovered as appropriate limits of the general case. We report the general expression of the mean exit time, valid for generic boundaries, discussing many case studies, from equal boundaries to more interesting cases of different boundary conditions at the two ends of the domain, resulting in nontrivial expressions of mean exit times.

Quantum Fisher information matrix (QFIM) is a core concept in theoretical quantum metrology due to the significant importance of quantum Cramér–Rao bound in quantum parameter estimation. However, studies in recent years have revealed wide connections between QFIM and other aspects of quantum mechanics, including quantum thermodynamics, quantum phase transition, entanglement witness, quantum speed limit and non-Markovianity. These connections indicate that QFIM is more than a concept in quantum metrology, but rather a fundamental quantity in quantum mechanics. In this paper, we summarize the properties and existing calculation techniques of QFIM for various cases, and review the development of QFIM in some aspects of quantum mechanics apart from quantum metrology. On the other hand, as the main application of QFIM, the second part of this paper reviews the quantum multiparameter Cramér–Rao bound, its attainability condition and the associated optimal measurements. Moreover, recent developments in a few typical scenarios of quantum multiparameter estimation and the quantum advantages are also thoroughly discussed in this part.

The curse of dimensionality associated with the Hilbert space of spin systems provides a significant obstruction to the study of condensed matter systems. Tensor networks have proven an important tool in attempting to overcome this difficulty in both the numerical and analytic regimes.

These notes form the basis for a seven lecture course, introducing the basics of a range of common tensor networks and algorithms. In particular, we cover: introductory tensor network notation, applications to quantum information, basic properties of matrix product states, a classification of quantum phases using tensor networks, algorithms for finding matrix product states, basic properties of projected entangled pair states, and multiscale entanglement renormalisation ansatz states.

The lectures are intended to be generally accessible, although the relevance of many of the examples may be lost on students without a background in many-body physics/quantum information. For each lecture, several problems are given, with worked solutions in an ancillary file.

Quantum computing is gaining popularity across a wide range of scientific disciplines due to its potential to solve long-standing computational problems that are considered intractable with classical computers. One promising area where quantum computing has potential is in the speed-up of NP-hard optimisation problems that are common in industrial areas such as logistics and finance. Newcomers to the field of quantum computing who are interested in using this technology to solve optimisation problems do not have an easily accessible source of information on the current capabilities of quantum computers and algorithms. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the theory of quantum optimisation techniques and their practical application, focusing on their near-term potential for noisy intermediate scale quantum devices. The paper starts by drawing parallels between classical and quantum optimisation problems, highlighting their conceptual similarities and differences. Two main paradigms for quantum hardware are then discussed: analogue and gate-based quantum computers. While analog devices such as quantum annealers are effective for some optimisation problems, they have limitations and cannot be used for universal quantum computation. In contrast, gate-based quantum computers offer the potential for universal quantum computation, but they face challenges with hardware limitations and accurate gate implementation. The paper provides a detailed mathematical discussion with references to key works in the field, as well as a more practical discussion with relevant examples. The most popular techniques for quantum optimisation on gate-based quantum computers, the quantum approximate optimisation algorithm and the quantum alternating operator ansatz framework, are discussed in detail. However, it is still unclear whether these techniques will yield quantum advantage, even with advancements in hardware and noise reduction. The paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges facing quantum optimisation techniques and the need for further research and development to identify new, effective methods for achieving quantum advantage.

In this paper we study coisotropic reduction in different types of dynamics according to the geometry of the corresponding phase space. The relevance of coisotropic reduction is motivated by the fact that these dynamics can always be interpreted as Lagrangian or Legendrian submanifolds. Furthermore, Lagrangian or Legendrian submanifolds can be reduced by a coisotropic one.

In this topical review we consider stochastic processes under resetting, which have attracted a lot of attention in recent years. We begin with the simple example of a diffusive particle whose position is reset randomly in time with a constant rate r, which corresponds to Poissonian resetting, to some fixed point (e.g. its initial position). This simple system already exhibits the main features of interest induced by resetting: (i) the system reaches a nontrivial nonequilibrium stationary state (ii) the mean time for the particle to reach a target is finite and has a minimum, optimal, value as a function of the resetting rate r. We then generalise to an arbitrary stochastic process (e.g. Lévy flights or fractional Brownian motion) and non-Poissonian resetting (e.g. power-law waiting time distribution for intervals between resetting events). We go on to discuss multiparticle systems as well as extended systems, such as fluctuating interfaces, under resetting. We also consider resetting with memory which implies resetting the process to some randomly selected previous time. Finally we give an overview of recent developments and applications in the field.

The absolute values of polynomial SLOCC invariants (which always vanish on separable states) can be seen as entanglement measures. We study the case of real 3-qutrit systems and discover a new set of maximally entangled states (from the point of view of maximizing the hyperdeterminant). We also study the basic fundamental invariants and find real 3-qutrit states that maximize their absolute values. It is notable that the Aharonov state is a simultaneous maximizer for all three fundamental invariants. We also study the evaluation of these invariants on random real 3-qutrit systems and analyze their behavior using histograms and level-set plots. Finally, we show how to evaluate these invariants on any 3-qutrit state using basic matrix operations.

We consider two-dimensional, non-relativistic quantum system with asymptotically straight soft waveguide. We show that the local deformation of the symmetric waveguide can lead to the emerging of the embedded eigenvalues living in the continuous spectrum. The main problem of this paper is devoted to the analysis of weak perturbation of the symmetric system. We show that the original embedded eigenvalues turn to the second sheet of the resolvent analytic continuation and constitute resonances. We describe the asymptotics of the real and imaginary components of the complex resonant pole depending on deformation. Finally, we generalize the problem to three dimensional system equipped with a soft layer.

The issue of thermalization in open quantum systems is explored from the perspective of fermion models with quadratic couplings and linear baths. Both the thermodynamic state and the stationary solution of the Lindblad equation are rendered as a matrix-product sequence following a reformulation in terms of underlying algebras, allowing to characterize a family of stationary solutions and determine the cases where they correspond to thermal states. This characterization provides insight into the operational mechanisms that lead the system to thermalization and their interplay with mechanisms that tend to drive it out of thermal equilibrium.

Non-inertial physics is seldom considered in quantum mechanics and this contrasts with the ubiquity of non-inertial reference frames. Here, we show an application to the Dirac oscillator which provides a fundamental model of relativistic quantum mechanics. The model emerges from a term linearly dependent on spatial coordinates added to the momentum of the free-particle Dirac Hamiltonian. The definition generates peculiar features (mutating vacuum energy, non-Hermitian momentum, accidental degeneracies of the spectrum, etc). We interpret these anomalies in terms of inertial effects. The demonstration is based on the decoupling of the Dirac equation from the stereographic projection that maps the 3D geometry of the dynamical problem to the complex plane. The decoupling shows that the fundamental mechanical model underpinning the Dirac oscillator reduces to the representation of the oscillator in the rotating reference frame attached to the orbital angular momentum. The resulting Coriolis-like contribution to the Hamiltonian accounts for the peculiarities of the model (mutating vacuum energy, form of the non-minimal correction to the momentum, classical intrinsic spin and gain of its quantum value, accidental degeneracies of the energy spectrum, supersymmetric potential). The suggested interpretation has an interdisciplinary character where stereographic geometry, classical physics of the Coriolis effect and quantum physics of Dirac particles contribute to the definition of one of the few exactly soluble models of relativistic quantum mechanics.

Unital qubit Schwarz maps interpolate between positive and completely positive maps. It is shown that the relaxation rates of the qubit semigroups of unital maps enjoying the Schwarz property satisfy a universal constraint, which provides a modification of the corresponding constraint known for completely positive semigroups. As an illustration, we consider two paradigmatic qubit semigroups: Pauli dynamical maps and phase-covariant dynamics. This result has two interesting implications: it provides a universal constraint for the spectra of qubit Schwarz maps and gives rise to a necessary condition for a Schwarz qubit map to be Markovian.

This paper delves into the world of fractal calculus, investigating its implications for fractal sets. It introduces the Fractal Schrödinger equation and provides insights into its consequences. The study presents a general solution for the time-dependent Schrödinger equation, unveiling its core aspects. Exploring quantum mechanics in the context of fractals, the paper analyzes the probability density of the radial hydrogen atom, unveiling its behavior within fractal dimensions. The investigation extends to deciphering the intricate energy levels of the hydrogen atom, uncovering the interplay of quantum mechanics and fractal geometry. Innovatively, the research applies the Fractal Schrödinger equation to simple harmonic motion, leading to the introduction of the fractal probability density function for the harmonic oscillator. The paper employs a series of illustrative figures that enhance the comprehension of the findings. By intertwining quantum mechanics and fractal mathematics, this research paves the way for deeper insights into their relationship.

This paper presents a comprehensive exploration of semi-definite programming (SDP) techniques within the context of quantum information. It examines the mathematical foundations of convex optimization, duality, and SDP formulations, providing a solid theoretical framework for addressing optimization challenges in quantum systems. By leveraging these tools, researchers and practitioners can characterize classical and quantum correlations, optimize quantum states, and design efficient quantum algorithms and protocols. The paper also discusses implementational aspects, such as solvers for SDP and modeling tools, enabling the effective employment of optimization techniques in quantum information processing. The insights and methodologies presented in this paper have proven instrumental in advancing the field of quantum information, facilitating the development of novel communication protocols, self-testing methods, and a deeper understanding of quantum entanglement.

In this paper we study coisotropic reduction in different types of dynamics according to the geometry of the corresponding phase space. The relevance of coisotropic reduction is motivated by the fact that these dynamics can always be interpreted as Lagrangian or Legendrian submanifolds. Furthermore, Lagrangian or Legendrian submanifolds can be reduced by a coisotropic one.

Rydberg atoms and excitons are composed so that they have a hydrogenic energy level structure governed by the Rydberg formula. They are relevant per se and for their numerous applications, e.g. facilitating the creation of novel quantum devices in quantum technologies which are inherently robust, miniature, and scalable (basically because they exist in solid-state platforms) and the realization of synthetic dimensions in numerous quantum-mechanical systems, giving rise to quantum matter which can behave as if it were in dimensions other than three. However the quantification of their internal disorder is scarcely known. Here we show and review the knowledge of dispersion, entanglement, physical entropies (Rényi, Shannon) and complexity-like measures of D-dimensional Rydberg systems with $D \unicode{x2A7E} 2$ in both position and momentum spaces. These uncertainty quantifiers are expressed in terms of D, the potential strength and the hyperquantum numbers of the Rydberg states. This has been possible because of the fine asymptotics of algebraic functionals the Laguerre and Gegenbauer polynomials which, together with the hyperspherical harmonics, control the Rydberg wavefunctions.

Mathematical models are increasingly adopted for setting disease prevention and control targets. As model-informed policies are implemented, however, the inaccuracies of some forecasts become apparent, for example overprediction of infection burdens and intervention impacts. Here, we attribute these discrepancies to methodological limitations in capturing the heterogeneities of real-world systems. The mechanisms underpinning risk factors of infection and their interactions determine individual propensities to acquire disease. These factors are potentially so numerous and complex that to attain a full mechanistic description is likely unfeasible. To contribute constructively to the development of health policies, model developers either leave factors out (reductionism) or adopt a broader but coarse description (holism). In our view, predictive capacity requires holistic descriptions of heterogeneity which are currently underutilised in infectious disease epidemiology, in comparison to other population disciplines, such as non-communicable disease epidemiology, demography, ecology and evolution.

Quantum computing is gaining popularity across a wide range of scientific disciplines due to its potential to solve long-standing computational problems that are considered intractable with classical computers. One promising area where quantum computing has potential is in the speed-up of NP-hard optimisation problems that are common in industrial areas such as logistics and finance. Newcomers to the field of quantum computing who are interested in using this technology to solve optimisation problems do not have an easily accessible source of information on the current capabilities of quantum computers and algorithms. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the theory of quantum optimisation techniques and their practical application, focusing on their near-term potential for noisy intermediate scale quantum devices. The paper starts by drawing parallels between classical and quantum optimisation problems, highlighting their conceptual similarities and differences. Two main paradigms for quantum hardware are then discussed: analogue and gate-based quantum computers. While analog devices such as quantum annealers are effective for some optimisation problems, they have limitations and cannot be used for universal quantum computation. In contrast, gate-based quantum computers offer the potential for universal quantum computation, but they face challenges with hardware limitations and accurate gate implementation. The paper provides a detailed mathematical discussion with references to key works in the field, as well as a more practical discussion with relevant examples. The most popular techniques for quantum optimisation on gate-based quantum computers, the quantum approximate optimisation algorithm and the quantum alternating operator ansatz framework, are discussed in detail. However, it is still unclear whether these techniques will yield quantum advantage, even with advancements in hardware and noise reduction. The paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges facing quantum optimisation techniques and the need for further research and development to identify new, effective methods for achieving quantum advantage.

Four-dimensional conformal fishnet theory is an integrable scalar theory which arises as a double scaling limit of -deformed maximally supersymmetric Yang–Mills. We give a perturbative reformulation of -deformed super-Yang–Mills theory in twistor space, and implement the double scaling limit to obtain a twistor description of conformal fishnet theory. The conformal fishnet theory retains an abelian gauge symmetry on twistor space which is absent in space-time, allowing us to obtain cohomological formulae for scattering amplitudes that manifest conformal invariance. We study various classes of scattering amplitudes in twistor space with this formalism.

We probe the character of knotting in open, confined polymers, assigning knot types to open curves by identifying their projections as virtual knots. In this sense, virtual knots are transitional, lying in between classical knot types, which are useful to classify the ambiguous nature of knotting in open curves. Modelling confined polymers using both lattice walks and ideal chains, we find an ensemble of random, tangled open curves whose knotting is not dominated by any single knot type, a behaviour we call weakly knotted. We compare cubically confined lattice walks and spherically confined ideal chains, finding the weak knotting probability in both families is quite similar and growing with length, despite the overall knotting probability being quite different. In contrast, the probability of weak knotting in unconfined walks is small at all lengths investigated. For spherically confined ideal chains, weak knotting is strongly correlated with the degree of confinement but is almost entirely independent of length. For ideal chains confined to tubes and slits, weak knotting is correlated with an adjusted degree of confinement, again with length having negligible effect.

We consider anomaly cancellation for gauge theories where the left-handed chiral multiplets are in higher representations. In particular, if the left-handed quarks and leptons transform under the triplet representation of and if the gauge group is compact then up to an overall scaling there is only one possible nontrivial assignment for the hypercharges if N  =  3, and two if N  =  9. Otherwise there are infinitely many. We use the Mordell–Weil theorem, Mazur's theorem and the Cremona elliptic curve database which uses Kolyvagin's theorem on the Birch Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture to prove these statements.

In an attempt to generalise knot matrix models for non-torus knots, which currently remains an open problem, we derived expressions for the Harer–Zagier transform -a discrete Laplace transform- of the HOMFLY–PT polynomial for some infinite families of twisted hyperbolic knots. Among them, we found a family of pretzel knots for which the transform has a fully factorised form, while for the remaining families considered it consists of sums of factorised terms. Their zero loci show a remarkable structure and, for all knots, they have the property that the modulus of the product of all the zeros equals unity.

Non-inertial physics is seldom considered in quantum mechanics and this contrasts with the ubiquity of non-inertial reference frames. Here, we show an application to the Dirac oscillator which provides a fundamental model of relativistic quantum mechanics. The model emerges from a term linearly dependent on spatial coordinates added to the momentum of the free-particle Dirac Hamiltonian. The definition generates peculiar features (mutating vacuum energy, non-Hermitian momentum, accidental degeneracies of the spectrum, etc). We interpret these anomalies in terms of inertial effects. The demonstration is based on the decoupling of the Dirac equation from the stereographic projection that maps the 3D geometry of the dynamical problem to the complex plane. The decoupling shows that the fundamental mechanical model underpinning the Dirac oscillator reduces to the representation of the oscillator in the rotating reference frame attached to the orbital angular momentum. The resulting Coriolis-like contribution to the Hamiltonian accounts for the peculiarities of the model (mutating vacuum energy, form of the non-minimal correction to the momentum, classical intrinsic spin and gain of its quantum value, accidental degeneracies of the energy spectrum, supersymmetric potential). The suggested interpretation has an interdisciplinary character where stereographic geometry, classical physics of the Coriolis effect and quantum physics of Dirac particles contribute to the definition of one of the few exactly soluble models of relativistic quantum mechanics.

Unital qubit Schwarz maps interpolate between positive and completely positive maps. It is shown that the relaxation rates of the qubit semigroups of unital maps enjoying the Schwarz property satisfy a universal constraint, which provides a modification of the corresponding constraint known for completely positive semigroups. As an illustration, we consider two paradigmatic qubit semigroups: Pauli dynamical maps and phase-covariant dynamics. This result has two interesting implications: it provides a universal constraint for the spectra of qubit Schwarz maps and gives rise to a necessary condition for a Schwarz qubit map to be Markovian.

These are exciting times for quantum physics as new quantum technologies are expected to soon transform computing at an unprecedented level. Simultaneously network science is flourishing proving an ideal mathematical and computational framework to capture the complexity of large interacting systems. Here we provide a comprehensive and timely review of the rising field of complex quantum networks. On one side, this subject is key to harness the potential of complex networks in order to provide design principles to boost and enhance quantum algorithms and quantum technologies. On the other side this subject can provide a new generation of quantum algorithms to infer significant complex network properties. The field features fundamental research questions as diverse as designing networks to shape Hamiltonians and their corresponding phase diagram, taming the complexity of many-body quantum systems with network theory, revealing how quantum physics and quantum algorithms can predict novel network properties and phase transitions, and studying the interplay between architecture, topology and performance in quantum communication networks. Our review covers all of these multifaceted aspects in a self-contained presentation aimed both at network-curious quantum physicists and at quantum-curious network theorists. We provide a framework that unifies the field of quantum complex networks along four main research lines: network-generalized, quantum-applied, quantum-generalized and quantum-enhanced. Finally we draw attention to the connections between these research lines, which can lead to new opportunities and new discoveries at the interface between quantum physics and network science.

Some generalizations of spin Sutherland models descend from `master integrable systems' living on Heisenberg doubles of compact semisimple Lie groups. The master systems represent Poisson--Lie counterparts of the systems of free motion modeled on the respective cotangent bundles and their reduction relies on taking quotient with respect to a suitable conjugation action of the compact Lie group. We present an enhanced exposition of the reductions and prove rigorously for the first time that the reduced systems possess the property of degenerate integrability on the dense open subset of the Poisson quotient space corresponding to the principal orbit type for the pertinent group action. After restriction to a smaller dense open subset, degenerate integrability on the generic symplectic leaves is demonstrated as well. The paper also contains a novel description of the reduced Poisson structure and a careful elaboration of the scaling limit whereby our reduced systems turn into the spin Sutherland models.

We provide a formula for computing the overlap between two Generalized Coherent States of any rank one simple Lie algebra. Then, we apply our formula to spin coherent states (i.e. su(2) algebra), pseudo-spin coherent states (i.e. su(1,1) algebra), and the sl(2,R) subalgebras of Virasoro. In all these examples, we show the emergence of a semi-classical behaviour from the set of coherent states and verify that it always happens when some parameter, depending on the algebra and its representation, becomes large.

We address the problem of the reconstruction of quantum covariance matrices using the notion of Lagrangian and symplectic polar duality introduced in previous work. We apply our constructions to Gaussian quantum states which leads to a non-trivial generalization
1of Pauli s reconstruction problem and we state a simple tomographic characterization of such states.

Sampling with the generalised atmospheric Rosenbluth method (GARM) is a technique for estimating the distributions of lattice polymer models that has had some success in the study of linear polymers and lattice polygons. In this paper we will explain how and why such sampling appears not to be effective for many models of branched polymers. Analysing the algorithm on a simple binary tree, we argue that the fundamental issue is an inherent bias towards extreme configurations that is costly to correct with reweighting techniques. We provide a solution to this by applying uniform sampling methods to the atmospheres that are central to GARM. We caution that the ensuing computational complexity often outweighs the improvements gained.

We investigate the quantum Zeno effect (QZE) in spin 1/2, spin 1 and spin 3/2 open quantum systems undergoing Rabi oscillations, revealing unexplored features for the spin 1 and spin 3/2 systems. The systems interact with an environment designed to perform continuous measurements of an observable, driving the systems stochastically towards one of the eigenstates of the corresponding operator. The system-environment coupling constant represents the strength of the measurement. Stochastic quantum trajectories are generated by unravelling a Markovian Lindblad master equation using the quantum state diffusion formalism. These are regarded as a more appropriate representation of system behaviour than consideration of the averaged evolution since the latter can mask the effect of measurement. Complete positivity is maintained and thus the trajectories can be considered as physically meaningful. The QZE is investigated over a range of measurement strengths. Increasing the strength leads to greater system dwell in the vicinity of the eigenstates of the measured observable and lengthens the time taken by the system to return to that eigenstate, thus the QZE emerges. For very strong measurement, the Rabi oscillations resemble randomly occurring near-instantaneous jumps between eigenstates. The trajectories followed by the quantum system are heavily dependent on the measurement strength which other than slowing down and adding noise to the Rabi oscillations, changes the paths taken in spin phase space from a circular precession into elaborate figures-of-eight. For spin 1 and spin 3/2 systems, the measurement strength determines which eigenstates are explored and the QZE is stronger when the system dwells in the vicinity of certain eigenstates compared to others.

We introduce and study the spatial replicator equation with higher order interactions and both infinite (spatially homogeneous) populations and finite (spatially inhomogeneous) populations. We show that in the special case of three strategies (rock–paper–scissors) higher order interaction terms allow travelling waves to emerge in non-declining finite populations. We show that these travelling waves arise from diffusion stabilisation of an unstable interior equilibrium point that is present in the aspatial dynamics. Based on these observations and prior results, we offer two conjectures whose proofs would fully generalise our results to all odd cyclic games, both with and without higher order interactions, assuming a spatial replicator dynamic. Intriguingly, these generalisations for $N \unicode{x2A7E} 5$ strategies seem to require declining populations, as we show in our discussion.