English

Twisted quantum doubles are sign problem-free

Strongly Correlated Electrons 2026-05-11 v2

Abstract

The sign problem is one of the central obstacles to efficiently simulating quantum many-body systems. It is commonly believed that some phases of matter, such as the double semion model, have an intrinsic sign problem and can never be realized in a local sign problem-free Hamiltonian due to the non-positivity of the wavefunction. We show that this is not the case. Despite failing to be stoquastic - the standard criteria for the existence of a sign problem - the double semion model as well as all twisted quantum double phases of matter for finite groups G\mathcal{G} can be realized in local Hamiltonians that are sign problem-free within a stochastic series expansion. The lack of a sign problem is not fine-tuned and does not require the Hamiltonian to be exactly solvable, with sign problem-free perturbations allowing access to a variety of topological phase transitions.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2509.03708,
  title  = {Twisted quantum doubles are sign problem-free},
  author = {Leyna Shackleton},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.03708},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

9 pages, feedback or references are welcome

R2 v1 2026-07-01T05:20:01.656Z