Resolving Spectral Gaps of the Frustrated Spin-1/2 $J_1$-$J_2$ Chain via Dual Spin-Sector Variational Quantum Eigensolver
Finding excited states and resolving spectral gaps in frustrated quantum spin systems using Variational Quantum Eigensolvers is complicated by state-ordering inversions. In the frustrated spin-1/2 $J_1$-$J_2$ Heisenberg chain, standard single-sector variational quantum deflation collapses onto intermediate triplet excitation, preventing the isolation of excited singlets and the singlet-singlet gap. To resolve these gaps, a Dual Spin-Sector Variational Quantum Eigensolver framework is introduced for near-term quantum architectures. By partitioning the search across magnetization sectors $S^z=0$ and $S^z=1$, the lowest triplet is resolved as an unconstrained ground state in $S^z=1$ with zero deflation penalty. Leveraging exact global spin-rotation symmetry, this state is mapped analytically into $S^z=0$ without ancilla overhead, unlocking dual deflation via shallow compute-uncompute circuits. Tracking both singlet-triplet and singlet-singlet gaps across coupling ratios $J_2/J_1$ from $0$ to $1$ for chains up to $16$ qubits faithfully captures all critical phenomena: the continuous Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition, exact Majumdar-Ghosh dimer degeneracy, level-ordering inversion in the gapless liquid phase, and incommensurate spiral excitations. Circuit depth scaling up to twenty layers provides an overparameterization mechanism overcoming classical local minima in strongly frustrated regimes, reducing relative energy errors below $1\%$ and elevating state fidelities above $97\%$ on $16$ qubits. Projective measurement sampling demonstrates resilience against shot noise, providing a practical blueprint for exploring frustrated quantum magnetism on near-term quantum devices.