- Accepted Paper
Quantum algorithm for modular flow
Phys. Rev. A - Accepted 15 October, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/q42c-xphx
Phys. Rev. A - Accepted 15 October, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/q42c-xphx
Entanglement is a defining property of quantum systems. For a subsystem of a larger quantum system, we can formally define an operator known as the modular Hamiltonian, which is closely linked to the entanglement properties of that subsystem, and a corresponding operator flow called the modular flow. Algorithms for estimating the von Neumann entropy, the best-known entanglement measure, are well-established, but no equivalent procedures have been previously described for the modular flow. In this work, we briefly review the quantum singular value transform (QSVT) framework for developing quantum algorithms, and then discuss the implementation of modular flow within this framework. We conclude by describing select applications of our modular flow algorithm, such as extracting the chiral central charge of a topologically ordered system and simulating the experience of the bulk observer in holography. We also prove a query complexity lower bound for modular flow, which shows that the dependence of our method on the condition number of the state is optimal up to a quadratic factor.
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