Locally optimized variational evolution for quantum many-body systems — E8 Intelligence Research

Conventional quantum advantage in many-body dynamics is based on avoiding the simulation cost on a classical computer that arises from the extensive exponential complexity of the global wavefunction. Local observables, however, do not inherit this extensive complexity and may instead be governed by an intrinsic local complexity that is independent of the total system size. This distinction is particularly relevant in thermalising systems, where local observables lose memory of microscopic details and relax towards equilibrium values determined by only a few parameters. Here we introduce a variational time-evolution principle that exploits this distinction by replacing global-state fidelity with a cost function defined on local reduced density matrices. The resulting evolution retains coherent short-time dynamics while exploiting the simplification produced by thermalisation at later times. The concrete algorithm we propose is based on locally optimising matrix-product states and admits Author: Andrew Stewart Caldin, Independent Researcher, UK. Part of the E8 Intelligence Research series. Platform: e8intelligence.com