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Symmetry-initialized quantum Gibbs sampling: a non-Abelian asymmetry cascade

Quantum Physics 2026-07-27 v1 Statistical Mechanics Data Structures and Algorithms High Energy Physics - Theory Mathematical Physics

Abstract

For a quantum Gibbs sampler whose mixing bottleneck is a weakly broken symmetry, I show that the correct initialization is determined by representation theory. I first prove a general speedup-versus-prefactor dichotomy: by exactly eliminating slow-mode overlap, I convert a nominal prefactor reduction into a fundamental, asymptotic acceleration of the system's mixing time. I then show that when the bottleneck is a weakly broken symmetry, the otherwise exponentially expensive bottleneck eigenvector is the symmetry charge.For a non-Abelian group GG, I prove that the correct initialization target is the group-averaging asymmetry. Projecting this asymmetry out requires a GG-invariant input. Partial, subgroup-invariant inputs produce a cascade of mixing-time speedups indexed by the subgroup lattice. Conversely, matching first moments alone is provably insufficient.The asymmetry is a directly measurable initialization target. I verify these results analytically and numerically in an SU(2)SU(2) Davies sampler where total-spin multiplets constitute the slow modes. The predicted speedup cascade emerges with relaxation rates scaling linearly with the symmetry-breaking parameter. Finally, the model maps the boundaries of the asymmetry target, illustrating where the separate matching of conserved logical data becomes necessary.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2608.00055,
  title  = {Symmetry-initialized quantum Gibbs sampling: a non-Abelian asymmetry cascade},
  author = {Soo-Jong Rey},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2608.00055},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

27 pages; 1 figure