English

Magic transition in monitored free fermion dynamics

Quantum Physics 2025-07-16 v1 Statistical Mechanics

Abstract

We investigate magic and its connection to entanglement in 1+1 dimensional random free fermion circuits, with a focus on hybrid free fermion dynamics that can exhibit an entanglement phase transition. To quantify magic, we use the Stabilizer R\'enyi Entropy (SRE), which we compute numerically via a perfect sampling algorithm. We show that although the SRE remains extensive as the system transitions from a critical phase to an area-law (disentangled) phase, the structure of magic itself undergoes a delocalization phase transition. This transition is characterized using the bipartite stabilizer mutual information, which exhibits the same scaling behavior as entanglement entropy: logarithmic scaling in the critical phase and a finite constant in the area-law phase. Additionally, we explore the dynamics of SRE. While the total SRE becomes extensive in O(1)O(1) time, we find that in the critical phase, the relaxation time to the steady-state value is parameterically longer than that in generic random circuits. The relaxation follows a universal form, with a relaxation time that grows linearly with the system size, providing further evidence for the critical nature of the phase.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2507.10688,
  title  = {Magic transition in monitored free fermion dynamics},
  author = {Cheng Wang and Zhi-Cheng Yang and Tianci Zhou and Xiao Chen},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.10688},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

12 pages, 8 figures

R2 v1 2026-07-01T04:00:59.941Z