Isolated zero mode in a quantum computer from a duality twist

Sutapa Samanta; Derek S. Wang; Armin Rahmani; Aditi Mitra

doi:10.22331/q-2025-12-30-1957

Isolated zero mode in a quantum computer from a duality twist

Sutapa Samanta¹, Derek S. Wang², Armin Rahmani^1,3, and Aditi Mitra⁴

¹Department of Physics and Astronomy, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington 98225, USA
²IBM Quantum, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598, USA
³Advanced Materials Science and Engineering Center, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington 98225, USA
⁴Center for Quantum Phenomena, Department of Physics, New York University, 726 Broadway, New York, New York 10003, USA

Published:	2025-12-30, volume 9, page 1957
Editor:	Alioscia Hamma
Eprint:	arXiv:2308.02387v6
Doi:	https://doi.org/10.22331/q-2025-12-30-1957
Citation:	Quantum 9, 1957 (2025).

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Abstract

Investigating the interplay of dualities, generalized symmetries, and topological defects beyond theoretical models is an important challenge in condensed matter physics and quantum materials. A simple model exhibiting this physics is the transverse-field Ising model, which can host a topological defect that performs the Kramers-Wannier duality transformation. When acting on one point in space, this duality defect imposes the duality twisted boundary condition and binds a single zero mode. This zero mode is unusual as it lacks a localized partner in the same $\mathbb{Z}_2$ sector and has an infinite lifetime, even in finite systems. Using Floquet driving of a closed Ising chain with a duality defect, we generate this zero mode in a digital quantum computer. We detect the mode by measuring its associated persistent autocorrelation function using an efficient sampling protocol and a compound strategy for error mitigation. We also show that the zero mode resides at the domain wall between two regions related by a Kramers-Wannier duality transformation. Finally, we highlight the robustness of the isolated zero mode to integrability- and symmetry-breaking perturbations. Our findings provide a method for exploring exotic topological defects, associated with noninvertible generalized symmetries, in digitized quantum devices.

Popular summary

In this work, we use an IBM quantum computer to study an unusual and remarkably stable quantum mode created by a special kind of defect, known as a duality twist, in a periodically driven quantum spin chain. Crossing this defect transforms the system into a dual version of itself. We generate the mode through precise time-dependent control and detect it using measurements that reveal long-lived, persistent quantum behavior. Our results demonstrate how modern quantum devices can be used to explore exotic behaviors of quantum matter, particularly generalized symmetries that are of broad interest in both high-energy and condensed-matter physics.

► BibTeX data

@article{Samanta2025isolatedzeromodein,
  doi = {10.22331/q-2025-12-30-1957},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.22331/q-2025-12-30-1957},
  title = {Isolated zero mode in a quantum computer from a duality twist},
  author = {Samanta, Sutapa and Wang, Derek S. and Rahmani, Armin and Mitra, Aditi},
  journal = {{Quantum}},
  issn = {2521-327X},
  publisher = {{Verein zur F{\"{o}}rderung des Open Access Publizierens in den Quantenwissenschaften}},
  volume = {9},
  pages = {1957},
  month = dec,
  year = {2025}
}

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[1] Akash Sinha, Pramod Padmanabhan, and Vladimir Korepin, "Noninvertible Kramers-Wannier duality symmetries for the discrete-time quantum Ising chain", Physical Review B 113 23, 235141 (2026).

[2] Arun Debray, Weicheng Ye, and Matthew Yu, "Global Structure in the Presence of a Topological Defect", Communications in Mathematical Physics 407 8, 159 (2026).

[3] Yabo Li and Aditi Mitra, "Non-invertible symmetries out of equilibrium: Eigenstate order and Floquet physics", Physical Review B 114 1, 014303 (2026).

[4] Vedant Motamarri, Campbell McLauchlan, and Benjamin Béri, "SymTFT out of equilibrium: from time crystals to braided drives and Floquet codes", arXiv:2312.17176, (2023).

[5] Mao Tian Tan, Yifan Wang, and Aditi Mitra, "Topological defects in Floquet circuits", SciPost Physics 16 3, 075 (2024).

[6] Yoshiki Fukusumi, "Protected edge modes based on the bulk and boundary renormalization group: A relationship between duality and generalized symmetry", arXiv:2312.12887, (2023).

[7] Hsiu-Chung Yeh, Gabriel Cardoso, Leonid Korneev, Dries Sels, Alexander G. Abanov, and Aditi Mitra, "Slowly decaying zero mode in a weakly nonintegrable boundary impurity model", Physical Review B 108 16, 165143 (2023).

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