English

Explicit States with Two-sided Long-Range Magic

Quantum Physics 2026-04-01 v2 Other Condensed Matter

Abstract

Nonstabilizerness, or magic, is a necessary resource for quantum advantage beyond the classically simulatable Clifford framework. Recent works have begun to chart the structure of magic in many-body states, introducing the concepts of long-range magic -- nonstabilizerness that cannot be removed by finite-depth local unitary (FDU) circuits -- and the magic hierarchy, which classifies quantum circuits by alternating layers of Clifford and FDUs. In this work, we construct explicit states that provably possess two-sided long-range magic, a stronger form of magic meaning that they cannot be prepared by a Clifford circuit and a FDU in either order, thus placing them provably outside the first level of the magic hierarchy. Our examples include the ``magical cat" state, ψ0n++n|\psi\rangle \propto |0^n\rangle + |+^n\rangle, and ground states of certain nonabelian topological orders. These results provide new examples and proof techniques for circuit complexity, and in doing so, reveal the connection between long-range magic, the structure of many-body phases, and the principles of quantum error correction.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2603.25023,
  title  = {Explicit States with Two-sided Long-Range Magic},
  author = {Zhi Li},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.25023},
  year   = {2026}
}
R2 v1 2026-07-01T11:38:29.364Z