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  • Open Access

Harvesting magic from the vacuum

Ron Nyström1,*, Nicola Pranzini1,2,3,†, and Esko Keski-Vakkuri1,3,4,‡

  • 1Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, FIN-00014 Helsinki, Finland
  • 2QTF Centre of Excellence, Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 43, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
  • 3InstituteQ - the Finnish Quantum Institute, Finland
  • 4Helsinki Institute of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, FIN-00014 Helsinki, Finland

  • *Contact author: ron.nystrom@helsinki.fi
  • †Contact author: nicola.pranzini@helsinki.fi
  • ‡Contact author: esko.keski-vakkuri@helsinki.fi
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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 033085 – Published 23 July, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/9ph7-cyzh

Abstract

Magic is the quantum resource allowing a quantum computer to perform operations that cannot be simulated efficiently by classical computation. As such, generating magic in a quantum system is crucial for achieving quantum advantage. This article shows that magic can be harvested by a three-level Unruh-DeWitt detector (a qutrit) interacting with a quantum field in an initial vacuum state. While the idea of extracting resources from Quantum Field Theories (QFT) was born from the harvesting of entanglement, our result extends the protocol to evolve a qutrit from a nonmagical state to a magical one, making it possible to generate magic from QFT.

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Supplemental Material

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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 033085– Published 23 July, 2025
  • Received 31 October 2024
  • Accepted 23 June 2025
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