English

Measurement-induced phase transition in space

Strongly Correlated Electrons 2026-07-14 v1 Statistical Mechanics Quantum Physics

Abstract

Measurement-induced phase transitions (MIPTs) in monitored quantum circuits are usually characterized by preparing steady states at different uniform measurement probabilities. Here we introduce a spatial realization of the MIPT by imposing a deterministic measurement gradient in a single monitored Clifford chain. The resulting steady state contains coexisting volume-law, critical, and area-law regions, with the point p(x)=pcp(x)=p_c acting as a spatial critical cut. By scanning entanglement observables across this profile, we show that the transition is organized by a spatial scaling form. Although this structure is analogous to finite-time scaling in temporally driven MIPT, the spatial protocol has no Kibble-Zurek dynamics. Instead, the physical bounds 0p10\le p\le 1 impose a finite linear window, producing cutoff-controlled asymptotic regimes whose fitted exponents provide direct access to the correlation-length exponent ν\nu. Our results establish spatially inhomogeneous measurements as a controlled route to engineer and probe measurement-induced criticality within a single steady state.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.12386,
  title  = {Measurement-induced phase transition in space},
  author = {Jia-Qiang Li and Liang-Jun Zhai and Shuo Liu and Shuai Yin},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.12386},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

14 pages, 7 figures