String Seminar
Tempered distribution theory on a lattice
All (Poincaré + gauge)-symmetry-preserving lattice theories can be constructed using a discrete derivative and its inverse (lattice integral) that seem to satisfy the same calculi of the continuum. In this sense the discrete operations are exact for which there are certain preliminary evidences. Noting that the mathematical tool needed to construct a classical field theory in the continuum is that of the Schwartz class functions and tempered distributions, we embark on attacking the full-fledged problem at hand, i.e. to develop the tempered distribution theory on the lattice. Some of the key results our construction leads to are as follows: (1) Exact operations satisfy exactly the same calculi of the continuum. Kronecker delta satisfies the same continuum distributional identities of the Dirac delta on the lattice with respect to the exact derivative. This allows one to prove Noether's theorems and derive symmetry algebras for the lattice theories. (2) Lattice configuration space (Schwartz space) corresponds to a subspace of the continuum configuration space that carries lattice cutoff as a parameter such that: (A) Lattice path integral is same as the continuum path integral over this subspace. By construction, the latter is UV divergence free. This must be true non-perturbatively. (B) The subspace is closed under Poincaré and gauge transformations. This is the root cause for the symmetries being preserved on the lattice. (C) Preliminary observations indicate that this may be a dense subspace.
QUBO reformulation of syndrome decoding for stabilizer codes.
Quantum Error Correction (QEC) is essential for protecting fragile quantum states against physical noise, a prerequisite for reliable quantum computation. A key component of QEC is syndrome decoding—determining which recovery operation to apply using measured error syndromes. While decoding linear classical codes is NP-complete, the quantum version is #P-complete, presenting an even greater challenge. Achieving practical solutions is therefore critical to unlock the exponential advantages promised by quantum computing.
In this talk, we introduce a new formulation of syndrome decoding for quantum stabilizer codes as a Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) problem. By leveraging well-established QUBO algorithms, this approach allows tuning the trade-off between solution accuracy and algorithm runtime. Preliminary numerical results for various quantum low-density parity-check (qLDPC) codes show robust decoding performance and the emergence of a code-capacity threshold with polynomial runtime.
Zoom Link: https://uky.zoom.us/j/82369158320?pwd=N9RVyw0Gn2g85GKc6ZmSjnSxnz2pjc.1
"Aspects of Local Random Matrix Theory”
Efficient pseudomode representation and the complexity of quantum impurity models.
Simulation of non-equilibrium properties of quantum systems is one of the central challenges in quantum physics. In my talk, I will concentrate on the quantum impurity models (QIM) describing the small interacting degree of freedom coupled to a free and large bath. These models exhibit rich phenomena such as phase transitions and non-Markovian behavior but pose significant computational challenges. In this talk, I will review the influence matrix (IM) approach, which allows to approximate an infinite bath by a finite set of effective modes while preserving accuracy guarantees. I will demonstrate that this approach enables simulations with computational complexity scaling polynomially with both the evolution time and target error. Additionally, I will introduce a numerical routine for extracting optimal pseudomodes, enhancing practical applicability. The talk will draw on results from arXiv:2307.15592 and arXiv:2409.08816.
Factorization of the Hilbert space of eternal black holes in general relativity
We generalize recent results in two-dimensional Jackiw-Teitelboim gravity to study factorization of the Hilbert space of eternal black holes in quantum gravity with a negative cosmological constant in any dimension. We approach the problem by computing the trace of two-sided observables as a sum over a recently constructed family of semiclassically well-controlled black hole microstates. These microstates, which contain heavy matter shells behind the horizon and form an overcomplete basis of the Hilbert space, exist in any theory of gravity with general relativity as its low energy limit. Using this representation of the microstates, we show that the trace of operators dual to functions of the Hamiltonians of the left and right holographic CFTs factorizes into a product over left and right factors to leading order in the semiclassical limit. Under certain conditions this implies factorization of the Hilbert space.
Double scaled SYK correlators from N=2 supersymmetric gauge theory
I describe a new exact correspondence between correlation functions in the double scaled SYK model and Schur indices in 4D N=2 Seiberg-Witten theory. The operator algebra on both sides of the duality is isomorphic to the algebra of Wilson lines in SL(2,C) Chern-Simons theory on the punctured sphere. I comment on the relation with the complex Liouville string and on the potential application of these results to low dimensional de Sitter holography.
Entanglement dynamics from universal low-lying modes
SPOCK symposium
(1) Shreya Vardhan: Estimating time in quantum chaotic systems and black holes
Abstract: A time-evolved state in a unitary chaotic quantum many-body system macroscopically resembles a thermal density matrix. However, while a thermal density matrix does not evolve with time, a pure state undergoing unitary evolution must continue to evolve with time unless it is an energy eigenstate. We sharpen this difference by considering an information-theoretic task where we attempt to estimate the time for which the state has been evolved by making measurements on the state. We quantify the effectiveness of the time estimate using a quantity from quantum metrology called the quantum Fisher information (QFI). This quantity shows an interesting interplay between expectations from thermalization and constraints from unitarity. In the context of evaporating black holes, these results imply that the ability to make local time estimates suddenly improves after the Page time.
(2) Herman Verlinde: Double Scaled SYK Model and de Sitter Holography
(3) Philip Argyres: Light ray operators and lightlike conformal defects
The granularity of emergent geometry from Matrix models
We show that large N matrix models (where the matrices depend only on time) have an exact boson description in 1+1 dimensions where space is naturally a lattice of spacing ~ 1/N embedded in a geometry dictated by the potential of the matrix model. We then show that the result can be extended to the c=1 matrix model, in which N is taken to infinity with a second parameter taken to zero with the product \mu held fixed. The exact boson description now has a short distance cutoff proportional to 1/\mu. This bosonic description explains the uv finiteness of entanglement entropy and correlation functions of the c=1 matrix model. We compare this finiteness with 2D string theory. Generalisation of these ideas to matrix models in zero dimensions and to the theory of giant gravitons is discussed at the end. The first part is based on: "Exact lattice bosonization of finite N matrix quantum mechanics and c = 1", Ajay Mohan and GM, e-Print: 2406.07629 [hep-th]