Undecidability of the spectral gap in rotationally symmetric Hamiltonians

The problem of determining the existence of a spectral gap in a lattice quantum spin system was previously shown to be undecidable for one [] or more dimensions []. In these works, families of nearest-neighbor interactions are constructed whose spectral gap depends on the outcome of a Turing machine halting problem, therefore making it impossible for an algorithm to predict its existence. While these models are translationally invariant, they are not invariant under the other symmetries of the lattice, a property which is commonly found in physically relevant cases. This poses the question of whether the spectral gap problem could be decidable for Hamiltonians with stronger symmetry constraints. We give a negative answer to this question, in the case of models with four-body (plaquette) interactions on the square lattice satisfying rotation, but not reflection, symmetry: rotational symmetry is not enough to make the problem decidable.

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Publication Details

Journal
Physical Review Research
Published
2025-12-04
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/5lrn-h3cg
Primary Topic
Quantum many-body systems
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Undecidability of the spectral gap in rotationally symmetric Hamiltonians

Karl J. Friston
Physical Review Research
Quantum many-body systems
article

Undecidability of the spectral gap in rotationally symmetric Hamiltonians

Karl J. Friston
article en

Abstract

The problem of determining the existence of a spectral gap in a lattice quantum spin system was previously shown to be undecidable for one [] or more dimensions []. In these works, families of nearest-neighbor interactions are constructed whose spectral gap depends on the outcome of a Turing machine halting problem, therefore making it impossible for an algorithm to predict its existence. While these models are translationally invariant, they are not invariant under the other symmetries of the lattice, a property which is commonly found in physically relevant cases. This poses the question of whether the spectral gap problem could be decidable for Hamiltonians with stronger symmetry constraints. We give a negative answer to this question, in the case of models with four-body (plaquette) interactions on the square lattice satisfying rotation, but not reflection, symmetry: rotational symmetry is not enough to make the problem decidable.

Physical Review ResearchVol. 8(1)
Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES), Institute of Mathematical Sciences (ES), Politecnico di Milano (IT)
Openalex Percentile: Top 68%
Quantum many-body systems
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