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arXiv · 2604.04205

Three Hamiltonians are Sufficient for Unitary $k$-Design in Temporal Ensemble

Abstract

Unitary $k$-designs are central to quantum information and quantum many-body physics, as they provide efficient proxies for Haar-random dynamics. We study how chaotic Hamiltonian evolution can generate unitary $k$-designs using the frame potential (FP). Unlike standard approaches based on independently sampled Hamiltonians or fine-tuned evolution times, we consider a quenched temporal ensemble in which the Hamiltonians are sampled once and then held fixed, while randomness enters only through the evolution times. We compare a two-step protocol (2SP), with evolution under two fixed Hamiltonians, to a three-step protocol (3SP) with one additional quench, with three evolution times sampled independently. Analytically and numerically, we show that the 2SP fails to realize general unitary $k$-designs, whereas the 3SP realizes them for arbitrary $k$. The random phases in the 3SP impose stronger index-matching constraints in the FP, eliminating the independent permutation degrees of freedom that still remain in the 2SP. Even with imperfect time averaging, the 3SP reaches a given accuracy within a parametrically shorter time window. These results hold universally across different symmetry classes and persist in both all-to-all and local models with random interactions.

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BibTeXRIS

Yi-Neng Zhou, Tian-Gang Zhou, Julian Sonner. 2026-09-10. Three Hamiltonians are Sufficient for Unitary $k$-Design in Temporal Ensemble. https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.04205

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