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Quantum minimal surfaces from quantum error correction
by Chris Akers, Geoff Penington
This Submission thread is now published as
Submission summary
| Authors (as registered SciPost users): | Christopher Akers |
| Submission information | |
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| Preprint Link: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.14618v3 (pdf) |
| Date accepted: | 2022-04-26 |
| Date submitted: | 2022-04-18 16:10 |
| Submitted by: | Akers, Christopher |
| Submitted to: | SciPost Physics |
| Ontological classification | |
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| Academic field: | Physics |
| Specialties: |
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| Approach: | Theoretical |
Abstract
We show that complementary state-specific reconstruction of logical (bulk) operators is equivalent to the existence of a quantum minimal surface prescription for physical (boundary) entropies. This significantly generalizes both sides of an equivalence previously shown by Harlow; in particular, we do not require the entanglement wedge to be the same for all states in the code space. In developing this theorem, we construct an emergent bulk geometry for general quantum codes, defining "areas" associated to arbitrary logical subsystems, and argue that this definition is "functionally unique." We also formalize a definition of bulk reconstruction that we call "state-specific product unitary" reconstruction. This definition captures the quantum error correction (QEC) properties present in holographic codes and has potential independent interest as a very broad generalization of QEC; it includes most traditional versions of QEC as special cases. Our results extend to approximate codes, and even to the "non-isometric codes" that seem to describe the interior of a black hole at late times.
Author comments upon resubmission
List of changes
1. We fixed typos, including a minus sign in the third paragraph of section 6.1 and in page 6.
2. We clarified Remark 2.5.
3. We added a section 6.4 about extremality, in which we discuss a natural next step towards understanding holographic dynamics in these codes.
Published as SciPost Phys. 12, 157 (2022)