paper

Postselection-free entanglement dynamics via spacetime duality

arXiv:2010.15840 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.060501

Abstract

The dynamics of entanglement in `hybrid' non-unitary circuits (for example, involving both unitary gates and quantum measurements) has recently become an object of intense study. A major hurdle toward experimentally realizing this physics is the need to apply \emph{postselection} on random measurement outcomes in order to repeatedly prepare a given output state, resulting in an exponential overhead. We propose a method to sidestep this issue in a wide class of non-unitary circuits by taking advantage of \emph{spacetime duality}. This method maps the purification dynamics of a mixed state under non-unitary evolution onto a particular correlation function in an associated unitary circuit. This translates to an operational protocol which could be straightforwardly implemented on a digital quantum simulator. We discuss the signatures of different entanglement phases, and demonstrate examples via numerical simulations. With minor modifications, the proposed protocol allows measurement of the purity of arbitrary subsystems, which could shed light on the properties of the quantum error correcting code formed by the mixed phase in this class of hybrid dynamics.

4 pages main text + 9 page supplemental material. v2: added references, expanded supplement, minor modifications to text

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