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The Quantum Complexity of String Breaking in the Schwinger Model

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology 2026-04-15 v2 High Energy Physics - Lattice High Energy Physics - Theory Nuclear Theory Quantum Physics

Abstract

String breaking, the process by which flux tubes fragment into hadronic states, is a hallmark of confinement in strongly-interacting quantum field theories. A suite of quantum complexity measures is examined using Matrix Product States to characterize the string breaking process in the 1+1D Schwinger model. We demonstrate the presence of nonlocal quantum correlations along the string that may affect fragmentation dynamics, and show that entanglement and magic offer complementary perspectives on string formation and breaking beyond conventional observables.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2601.08825,
  title  = {The Quantum Complexity of String Breaking in the Schwinger Model},
  author = {Sebastian Grieninger and Martin J. Savage and Nikita A. Zemlevskiy},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.08825},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

16 pages, 14 figures, comments welcome

R2 v1 2026-07-01T09:03:14.163Z