01817nas a2200181 4500008004100000245006100041210006100102260001400163520125300177100003201430700001901462700002201481700002201503700002001525700002801545700002501573856003701598 2024 eng d00aEstimation of Hamiltonian parameters from thermal states0 aEstimation of Hamiltonian parameters from thermal states c1/18/20243 a

We upper- and lower-bound the optimal precision with which one can estimate an unknown Hamiltonian parameter via measurements of Gibbs thermal states with a known temperature. The bounds depend on the uncertainty in the Hamiltonian term that contains the parameter and on the term's degree of noncommutativity with the full Hamiltonian: higher uncertainty and commuting operators lead to better precision. We apply the bounds to show that there exist entangled thermal states such that the parameter can be estimated with an error that decreases faster than 1/n−−√, beating the standard quantum limit. This result governs Hamiltonians where an unknown scalar parameter (e.g. a component of a magnetic field) is coupled locally and identically to n qubit sensors. In the high-temperature regime, our bounds allow for pinpointing the optimal estimation error, up to a constant prefactor. Our bounds generalize to joint estimations of multiple parameters. In this setting, we recover the high-temperature sample scaling derived previously via techniques based on quantum state discrimination and coding theory. In an application, we show that noncommuting conserved quantities hinder the estimation of chemical potentials.

1 aGarcĂ­a-Pintos, Luis, Pedro1 aBharti, Kishor1 aBringewatt, Jacob1 aDehghani, Hossein1 aEhrenberg, Adam1 aHalpern, Nicole, Yunger1 aGorshkov, Alexey, V. uhttps://arxiv.org/abs/2401.1034301881nas a2200193 4500008004100000245007300041210006900114260001400183490000600197520129800203100002001501700002201521700002101543700001601564700001801580700002401598700002801622856003701650 2023 eng d00aExperimental Observation of Thermalization with Noncommuting Charges0 aExperimental Observation of Thermalization with Noncommuting Cha c4/28/20230 v43 a

Quantum simulators have recently enabled experimental observations of quantum many-body systems' internal thermalization. Often, the global energy and particle number are conserved, and the system is prepared with a well-defined particle number - in a microcanonical subspace. However, quantum evolution can also conserve quantities, or charges, that fail to commute with each other. Noncommuting charges have recently emerged as a subfield at the intersection of quantum thermodynamics and quantum information. Until now, this subfield has remained theoretical. We initiate the experimental testing of its predictions, with a trapped-ion simulator. We prepare 6-21 spins in an approximate microcanonical subspace, a generalization of the microcanonical subspace for accommodating noncommuting charges, which cannot necessarily have well-defined nontrivial values simultaneously. We simulate a Heisenberg evolution using laser-induced entangling interactions and collective spin rotations. The noncommuting charges are the three spin components. We find that small subsystems equilibrate to near a recently predicted non-Abelian thermal state. This work bridges quantum many-body simulators to the quantum thermodynamics of noncommuting charges, whose predictions can now be tested.

1 aKranzl, Florian1 aLasek, Aleksander1 aJoshi, Manoj, K.1 aKalev, Amir1 aBlatt, Rainer1 aRoos, Christian, F.1 aHalpern, Nicole, Yunger uhttps://arxiv.org/abs/2202.0465202003nas a2200217 4500008004100000245007300041210006900114260001300183520129800196653002701494653003101521653004701552100002001599700002201619700002101641700001601662700001801678700002401696700002801720856003701748 2022 eng d00aExperimental observation of thermalisation with noncommuting charges0 aExperimental observation of thermalisation with noncommuting cha c2/9/20223 a

Quantum simulators have recently enabled experimental observations of quantum many-body systems' internal thermalisation. Often, the global energy and particle number are conserved, and the system is prepared with a well-defined particle number - in a microcanonical subspace. However, quantum evolution can also conserve quantities, or charges, that fail to commute with each other. Noncommuting charges have recently emerged as a subfield at the intersection of quantum thermodynamics and quantum information. Until now, this subfield has remained theoretical. We initiate the experimental testing of its predictions, with a trapped-ion simulator. We prepare 6-15 spins in an approximate microcanonical subspace, a generalisation of the microcanonical subspace for accommodating noncommuting charges, which cannot necessarily have well-defined nontrivial values simultaneously. We simulate a Heisenberg evolution using laser-induced entangling interactions and collective spin rotations. The noncommuting charges are the three spin components. We find that small subsystems equilibrate to near a recently predicted non-Abelian thermal state. This work bridges quantum many-body simulators to the quantum thermodynamics of noncommuting charges, whose predictions can now be tested.

10aFOS: Physical sciences10aQuantum Physics (quant-ph)10aStatistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)1 aKranzl, Florian1 aLasek, Aleksander1 aJoshi, Manoj, K.1 aKalev, Amir1 aBlatt, Rainer1 aRoos, Christian, F.1 aHalpern, Nicole, Yunger uhttps://arxiv.org/abs/2202.0465201745nas a2200181 4500008004100000245009400041210006900135260001500204300001100219490000800230520117000238100002401408700001901432700002801451700002601479700002101505856003701526 2022 eng d00aExperimentally Measuring Rolling and Sliding in Three-Dimensional Dense Granular Packings0 aExperimentally Measuring Rolling and Sliding in ThreeDimensional c06/18/2022 a0480010 v1293 a

We experimentally measure a three-dimensional (3D) granular system’s reversibility under cyclic compression. We image the grains using a refractive-index-matched fluid, then analyze the images using the artificial intelligence of variational autoencoders. These techniques allow us to track all the grains’ translations and 3D rotations with accuracy sufficient to infer sliding and rolling displacements. Our observations reveal unique roles played by 3D rotational motions in granular flows. We find that rotations and contact-point motion dominate the dynamics in the bulk, far from the perturbation’s source. Furthermore, we determine that 3D rotations are irreversible under cyclic compression. Consequently, contact-point sliding, which is dissipative, accumulates throughout the cycle. Using numerical simulations whose accuracy our experiment supports, we discover that much of the dissipation occurs in the bulk, where grains rotate more than they translate. Our observations suggest that the analysis of 3D rotations is needed for understanding granular materials’ unique and powerful ability to absorb and dissipate energy.

1 aBenson, Zackery, A.1 aPeshkov, Anton1 aHalpern, Nicole, Yunger1 aRichardson, Derek, C.1 aLosert, Wolfgang uhttps://arxiv.org/abs/2108.1197501588nas a2200241 4500008004100000022001400041245008300055210006900138260001400207300001100221490000600232520086600238100002401104700002201128700002101150700001801171700002801189700001401217700002401231700002301255700002101278856004701299 2021 eng d a2058-956500aEntangled quantum cellular automata, physical complexity, and Goldilocks rules0 aEntangled quantum cellular automata physical complexity and Gold c9/29/2021 a0450170 v63 a

Cellular automata are interacting classical bits that display diverse emergent behaviors, from fractals to random-number generators to Turing-complete computation. We discover that quantum cellular automata (QCA) can exhibit complexity in the sense of the complexity science that describes biology, sociology, and economics. QCA exhibit complexity when evolving under "Goldilocks rules" that we define by balancing activity and stasis. Our Goldilocks rules generate robust dynamical features (entangled breathers), network structure and dynamics consistent with complexity, and persistent entropy fluctuations. Present-day experimental platforms -- Rydberg arrays, trapped ions, and superconducting qubits -- can implement our Goldilocks protocols, making testable the link between complexity science and quantum computation exposed by our QCA.

1 aHillberry, Logan, E1 aJones, Matthew, T1 aVargas, David, L1 aRall, Patrick1 aHalpern, Nicole, Yunger1 aBao, Ning1 aNotarnicola, Simone1 aMontangero, Simone1 aCarr, Lincoln, D uhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1088/2058-9565/ac1c4101930nas a2200133 4500008004100000245008000041210006900121260001400190520148400204100002801688700002701716700001601743856003701759 2019 eng d00aEquilibration to the non-Abelian thermal state in quantum many-body physics0 aEquilibration to the nonAbelian thermal state in quantum manybod c6/21/20193 a

In statistical mechanics, a small system exchanges conserved charges---heat, particles, electric charge, etc.---with a bath. The small system thermalizes to the canonical ensemble, or the grand canonical ensemble, etc., depending on the charges. The charges are usually represented by operators assumed to commute with each other. This assumption was removed within quantum-information-theoretic (QI-theoretic) thermodynamics recently. The small system's long-time state was dubbed "the non-Abelian thermal state (NATS)." We propose an experimental protocol for observing a system thermalize to the NATS. We illustrate with a chain of spins, a subset of which form the system of interest. The conserved charges manifest as spin components. Heisenberg interactions push the charges between the system and the effective bath, the rest of the chain. We predict long-time expectation values, extending the NATS theory from abstract idealization to finite systems that thermalize with finite couplings for finite times. Numerical simulations support the analytics: The system thermalizes to the NATS, rather than to the canonical prediction. Our proposal can be implemented with ultracold atoms, nitrogen-vacancy centers, trapped ions, quantum dots, and perhaps nuclear magnetic resonance. This work introduces noncommuting charges from QI-theoretic thermodynamics into quantum many-body physics: atomic, molecular, and optical physics and condensed matter. 

1 aHalpern, Nicole, Yunger1 aBeverland, Michael, E.1 aKalev, Amir uhttps://arxiv.org/abs/1906.09227