Partial dynamical symmetry (PDS) is an algebraic structure in which a prescribed symmetry is neither exact nor completely broken: a subset of eigenstates keeps good quantum numbers and remains solvable while the rest of the spectrum mixes. PDS is currently identified from spectroscopic data, band-head energies, level systematics, and $B(E2)$ ratios. We ask whether it also has a purely structural signature in the eigenstates, and find that it does, though not in the magnitude of entanglement. The natural diagnostic is the variance of a symmetry Casimir, the label variance $\Var\,\C[G]$, which we show coincides with a block-coherence entropy and a block impurity: all three vanish exactly when a state carries a single irreducible-representation label. Resolved state by state, this quantity is zero on the solvable subset and of order $N^2$ on the mixed states, at stable symmetry points and at Leviatan's first- and second-order critical points, where it takes two distinct forms set by the order of the transition. The magnitude of bipartite entanglement, by contrast, does not separate solvable from mixed states and drifts even where the labels are exact. We anchor the analysis in $^{168}$Er, connect the block purity to the ``purity/coherence''language of the quasi-dynamical-symmetry literature, and show the label variance is uncorrelated with multipartite entanglement and with magic. Finally we encode the model on a qubit register and prepare its solvable and mixed eigenstates variationally, as a step toward evaluating the diagnostic on a quantum device.
Quantifying properties of quantum states through the limits of their manipulation is a central goal of quantum resource theories. For symmetry breaking, the quantum geometric tensor governs asymptotic pure-state conversion, but a complete characterization for general mixed states has remained elusive. Here we fully resolve this problem for finite-dimensional systems under compact Lie group symmetries in the i.i.d. asymptotic regime. Specifically, we establish a single-letter formula for the optimal conversion rate between arbitrary states, with vanishing trace-distance error, in the resource theory of asymmetry. The rate is determined by a one-parameter family of quantum Fisher information (QFI) matrices that interpolates between the symmetric- and right-logarithmic-derivative QFIs. No state-independent finite subset of this family suffices in general, even for $U(1)$ symmetry, revealing a qualitative distinction from pure-state conversion. Our formula further yields an exact formula for pure-state distillation rates in terms of the generalized quantum geometric tensor, characterizes asymptotically reversible interconversion, and identifies bound asymmetry for quantum clocks. Complementarity among different members of the QFI family also uncovers an activation mechanism for quantum clocks. Our proof relies on two developments of independent interest. First, we extend quantum local asymptotic normality to unitary models with arbitrary rank and spectral degeneracy. Second, we characterize convertibility between quantum Gaussian shift models in terms of the same one-parameter family of QFIs. Together, these results provide an operational characterization of symmetry breaking for general quantum states in the i.i.d. asymptotic regime and reveal how distinct QFI constraints give rise to irreversibility and activation.
We study bilinear order-parameter correlations in a general class of sign problem-free systems that are described by what we call Fluctuating Gaussian States (FGS) with anti-unitary symmetries, where the weight of each Gaussian measurement in the space-time path integral is positive-definite. Supported by Monte Carlo simulations on fluctuating Gaussian fermionic and bosonic examples, we argue that such systems generally exhibit two types of broken-symmetry phases: a \emph{saddle point phase} and a \emph{non-local contraction phase}, with the competition between the two determined by the stability of the fluctuation saddle point of FGS. Due to the Fermi liquid instability in fermionic FGS with anti-unitary symmetries, we also discuss the possibility of representing fermionic FGS with a particular Projected Entangled-Pair State (PEPS) ansatz, which we argue a certain construction provides an efficient description for the saddle point phase, but not for the non-local contraction phase. Finally, we discuss the potential implication of our result in non-equilibrium systems and stabilizing a target bilinear order.
Degeneracy patterns in quantum mechanics stem from the system symmetries. In particular, the broken-symmetry phase in the well-known Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick (LMG) model is composed of doubly-degenerate states of different parity. In this work, we show that such doublets can exist even if parity is not conserved. For this purpose, our starting point is an anharmonic LMG Hamiltonian with a second-order ground-state quantum phase transition (GSQPT) and a rich spectrum, with two different excited-state quantum phase transitions. The inclusion in the Hamiltonian of a term inducing a first-order GSQPT breaks the parity symmetry but conserving the exponential degeneracy in the energy doublets. We demonstrate that this phenomenon can be traced back to the existence of a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry (reflection symmetry) in the system's classical limit phase space that leads to an anti-unitary $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry in the quantum system.
J. Khalouf-Rivera, M. Carvajal, Francisco Pérez-Bernal· 0 citations
The quantum harmonic oscillator (QHO) is normally built on a structure that contains a Hilbert space, ladder operators, and a Born rule. Here we derive it from counting. We adopt three information-theoretic postulates: information is carried by binary sequences of length $n$; only symbol counts, not the sequences themselves, are observable; and the transition measure must account for exactly the $2^n$-configuration capacity of the register. The first two postulates force the counting problem into the Hamming/Delsarte association scheme and endow it with an exact symmetry under relabeling of the two symbols. Given an exchange-symmetric bilinear transition measure we prove a rigidity theorem: relabeling symmetry and normalization together force the alternating sign $(-1)^t$ which drives interference. The variable that carries the sign, i.e. the overlap between input and output sequences, or equivalently their Hamming distance $d_{ab}$, is a hidden quantum number of the transition as a whole, defined only by the two endpoints jointly and unknowable from either alone. Interference thus enters as alternating-sign bookkeeping over a nonlocal, relational variable $d_{ab}$, rather than as a separate dynamical ingredient. This forced weighting makes the transition probability proportional to the square of a Krawtchouk polynomial, whose difference equation has an exactly equally spaced spectrum and which converges to the QHO as $n\to\infty$. At fixed excitation, deviations from the QHO are $\mathcal{O}(1/n)$, and are testable in laboratory realizations of the oscillator, since any real system has finite information capacity. In this framework, interference, quadratic (Born-rule-like) probabilities, and the particle-hole symmetric oscillator spectrum are consequences of counting; only the bilinear form of the measure is assumed (though well motivated) rather than derived.
It is shown how this algorithm is able to take advantage of emerging dynamical circuit capabilities in near-term hardware to roughly halve the number required qubits, as well as how quantum readout error mitigation is trivial for this method.
Graham Van Goffrier, Debasish Banerjee, Bipasha Chakraborty et al.· 0 citations
Entanglement asymmetry, introduced by F. Ares, S. Murciano and P. Calabrese, provides a density-matrix diagnostic of symmetry breaking and successfully captures the Landau data associated with a broken symmetry pattern. However, it is by now well established that gapped quantum many-body systems can exhibit phases which are not characterized solely by Landau symmetry breaking. A fundamental example is a symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phase, and the ordinary definition of entanglement asymmetry is insensitive to this topological information. In this work we introduce a refined quantity, which we call the twisted entropic order parameter, designed to detect SPT phases from reduced density matrices, particularly focusing on one-dimensional bosonic systems. The key ingredient in our construction is an ancilla degrees of freedom that coherently records the untwisted state and the twisted state associated to a one-ended topological defect of unbroken symmetry, so that the enlarged density matrix retains the charge carried by the defect endpoint. We demonstrate our proposal in concrete lattice models and further generalize it beyond ordinary group symmetries, establishing its ability to diagnose SPT phases. This provides a first step toward a unified entanglement-asymmetry framework for diagnosing quantum phases of matter.
