Taming Trotter Errors with Quantum Resources
Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 070202 – Published 13 August, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/qf86-f5jg
Abstract
Quantum simulation is a cornerstone application of quantum computing, yet how fundamental quantum resources—entanglement and nonstabilizerness—shape simulation fidelity remains an open question. In this Letter, we establish a rigorous connection between these resources and the statistical behavior of algorithmic errors arising in Hamiltonian simulation based on the Trotter-Suzuki formula. By analyzing ensembles of states with fixed entanglement entropy or magic, we make two key discoveries: First, the variance of the Trotter error decreases with increasing entanglement entropy, indicating a stronger concentration of error for entangled states. Moreover, we find that the kurtosis of the error exhibits a negative linear dependence on magic, implying that states with high magic possess lighter-tailed error distributions and thus a reduced probability of large deviations. These findings reveal a subtle phenomenon: quantum resources that obstruct classical emulation may, paradoxically, enhance the intrinsic robustness of quantum simulation, highlighting a constructive interplay between complexity and stability in quantum computation.
