Information-Theoretic Constraints on Variational Quantum Optimization: Efficiency Transitions and the Dynamical Lie Algebra
Abstract
Variational quantum algorithms are leading candidates for near-term advantage, yet their scalability is fundamentally limited by the ``Barren Plateau'' phenomenon. While traditionally attributed to geometric concentration of measure, I propose an information-theoretic origin: a bandwidth bottleneck in the optimization feedback loop. By modeling the optimizer as a coherent Maxwell's Demon, I derive a thermodynamic constitutive relation, , where work extraction is strictly bounded by the mutual information established via entanglement. I demonstrate that systems with polynomial Dynamical Lie Algebra (DLA) dimension exhibit ``Information Superconductivity'' (sustained ), whereas systems with exponential DLA dimension undergo an efficiency collapse when the rate of information scrambling exceeds the ancilla's channel capacity. These results reframe quantum trainability as a thermodynamic phase transition governed by the stability of information flow.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2512.14701,
title = {Information-Theoretic Constraints on Variational Quantum Optimization: Efficiency Transitions and the Dynamical Lie Algebra},
author = {Jun Liang Tan},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.14701},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
I already added acknowledgement section to address the use of AI(with claude) as requested and added code/data available on GitHub, update figure 2 and 4 accuracy