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    Exponential Quantum Advantages for Practical Non-Hermitian Eigenproblems

    Xiao-Ming Zhang1,2,3, Yukun Zhang3, Wenhao He4,5, and Xiao Yuan3,*

    • 1Key Laboratory of Atomic and Subatomic Structure and Quantum Control (Ministry of Education), Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Structure and Fundamental Interactions of Matter, School of Physics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China
    • 2Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory of Quantum Matter, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China
    • 3Center on Frontiers of Computing Studies, School of Computer Science, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
    • 4Center for Computational Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
    • 5School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China

    • *Contact author: xiaoyuan@pku.edu.cn

    Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 140601 – Published 29 September, 2025

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/3n8f-k8pl

    Abstract

    Non-Hermitian physics has emerged as a rich field of study, with applications ranging from PT-symmetry breaking and skin effects to non-Hermitian topological phase transitions. Yet most studies remain restricted to small-scale or classically tractable systems. While quantum computing has shown strong performance in Hermitian eigenproblems, its extension to the non-Hermitian regime remains largely unexplored. Here, we develop a quantum algorithm to address general non-Hermitian eigenvalue problems, specifically targeting eigenvalues near a given line in the complex plane—thereby generalizing previous results on ground state energy and spectral gap estimation for Hermitian matrices. Our method combines a fuzzy quantum eigenvalue detector with a divide-and-conquer strategy to efficiently isolate relevant eigenvalues. This yields a provable exponential quantum speedup for non-Hermitian eigenproblems. Furthermore, we discuss the broad applications in detecting spontaneous PT-symmetry breaking, estimating Liouvillian gaps, and analyzing classical Markov processes. These results highlight the potential of quantum algorithms in tackling challenging problems across quantum physics and beyond.

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