skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


This content will become publicly available on December 1, 2025

Title: Bulk and boundary entanglement transitions in the projective gauge-Higgs model
In quantum many-body spin systems, the interplay between the entangling effect of multiqubit Pauli measurements and the disentangling effect of single-qubit Pauli measurements may give rise to two competing effects. By introducing a randomized measurement pattern with such bases, a phase transition can be induced by altering the ratio between them. In this work, we numerically investigate a measurement-based model associated with the Fradkin-Shenker Hamiltonian that encompasses the deconfining, confining, and Higgs phases. We determine the phase diagram in our measurement-only model by employing entanglement measures. For the bulk topological order, we use the topological entanglement entropy. We also use the mutual information between separated boundary regions to diagnose the boundary phase transition associated with the Higgs or the bulk symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phase. We observe the structural similarity between our phase diagram and the one in the standard quantum Hamiltonian formulation of the Fradkin-Shenker model with the open rough boundary. First, a deconfining phase is detected by nonzero and constant topological entanglement entropy. Second, we find a (boundary) phase transition curve separating the Higgs=SPT phase from the rest. In certain limits, the topological phase transitions reside at the critical point of the formation of giant homological cycles in the bulk three-dimensional (3D) space-time lattice, as well as the bond percolation threshold of the boundary 2D space-time lattice when it is effectively decoupled from the bulk. Additionally, there are analogous mixed-phase properties at a certain region of the phase diagram, emerging from how we terminate the measurement-based procedure. Our findings pave an alternative pathway to study the physics of Higgs=SPT phases on quantum devices in the near future.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2310614
PAR ID:
10616649
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Publisher / Repository:
American Physical Society
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Physical Review B
Volume:
110
Issue:
24
ISSN:
2469-9950
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. We explore exact generalized symmetries in the standard 2+1d lattice\mathbb{Z}_2 2 gauge theory coupled to the Ising model, and compare them with their continuum field theory counterparts. One model has a (non-anomalous) non-invertible symmetry, and we identify two distinct non-invertible symmetry protected topological phases. The non-invertible algebra involves a lattice condensation operator, which creates a toric code ground state from a product state. Another model has a mixed anomaly between a 1-form symmetry and an ordinary symmetry. This anomaly enforces a nontrivial transition in the phase diagram, consistent with the “Higgs=SPT” proposal. Finally, we discuss how the symmetries and anomalies in these two models are related by gauging, which is a 2+1d version of the Kennedy-Tasaki transformation. 
    more » « less
  2. Monitored quantum circuits exhibit entanglement transitions at certain measurement rates. Such a transition separates phases characterized by how much information an observer can learn from the measurement outcomes. We study SU(2)-symmetric monitored quantum circuits, using exact numerics and a mapping onto an effective statistical-mechanics model. Due to the symmetry's non-Abelian nature, measuring qubit pairs allows for nontrivial entanglement scaling even in the measurement-only limit. We find a transition between a volume-law entangled phase and a critical phase whose diffusive purification dynamics emerge from the non-Abelian symmetry. Additionally, we identify a “spin-sharpening transition.” Across the transition, the rate at which measurements reveal information about the total spin quantum number changes parametrically with system size. 
    more » « less
  3. We generalize the area-law violating models of Fredkin and Motzkin spin chains into two dimensions by building quantum six- and nineteen-vertex models with correlated interactions. The Hamiltonian is frustration free, and its projectors generate ergodic dynamics within the subspace of height configuration that are non negative. The ground state is a volume- and color-weighted superposition of classical bi-color vertex configurations with non-negative heights in the bulk and zero height on the boundary. The entanglement entropy between subsystems has a phase transition as the q q -deformation parameter is tuned, which is shown to be robust in the presence of an external field acting on the color degree of freedom. The ground state undergoes a quantum phase transition between area- and volume-law entanglement phases with a critical point where entanglement entropy scales as a function L\log L L log L of the linear system size L L . Intermediate power law scalings between L\log L L log L and L^2 L 2 can be achieved with an inhomogeneous deformation parameter that approaches 1 at different rates in the thermodynamic limit. For the q>1 q > 1 phase, we construct a variational wave function that establishes an upper bound on the spectral gap that scales as q^{-L^3/8} q − L 3 / 8 . 
    more » « less
  4. We study a 2D measurement-only random circuit motivated by the Bacon-Shor error correcting code. We find a rich phase diagram as one varies the relative probabilities of measuring nearest-neighbor Pauli XX and ZZ check operators. In the Bacon-Shor code, these checks commute with a group of stabilizer and logical operators, which therefore represent conserved quantities. Described as a subsystem symmetry, these conservation laws lead to a continuous phase transition between an X-basis and Z-basis spin-glass order. The two phases are separated by a critical point where the entanglement entropy between two halves of an L × L system scales as L ln L, a logarithmic violation of the area law. We generalize to a model where the check operators break the subsystem symmetries (and the Bacon-Shor code structure). In tension with established heuristics, we find that the phase transition is replaced by a smooth crossover, and the X - and Z -basis spin-glass orders spatially coexist. Additionally, if we approach the line of subsystem symmetries away from the critical point in the phase diagram, some spin-glass order parameters jump discontinuously. 
    more » « less
  5. Quantum systems evolving unitarily and subject to quantum measurements exhibit various types of non-equilibrium phase transitions, arising from the competition between unitary evolution and measurements. Dissipative phase transitions in steady states of time-independent Liouvillians and measurement induced phase transitions at the level of quantum trajectories are two primary examples of such transitions. Investigating a many-body spin system subject to periodic resetting measurements, we argue that many-body dissipative Floquet dynamics provides a natural framework to analyze both types of transitions. We show that a dissipative phase transition between a ferromagnetic ordered phase and a paramagnetic disordered phase emerges for long-range systems as a function of measurement probabilities. A measurement induced transition of the entanglement entropy between volume law scaling and sub-volume law scaling is also present, and is distinct from the ordering transition. The two phases correspond to an error-correcting and a quantum-Zeno regimes, respectively. The ferromagnetic phase is lost for short range interactions, while the volume law phase of the entanglement is enhanced. An analysis of multifractal properties of wave function in Hilbert space provides a common perspective on both types of transitions in the system. Our findings are immediately relevant to trapped ion experiments, for which we detail a blueprint proposal based on currently available platforms. 
    more » « less