Operator Complexity for Continuous Variable Systems
S. Shajidul Haque, Chandan Jana, Bret Underwood · arXiv (Cornell University) · 2021
We extend the method of computing operator complexity as a minimal length geodesic on a group manifold to infinite-dimensional Hilbert spaces by computing the complexity for the displacement, squeeze and rotation operators of a quantum harmonic oscillator. The resulting complexity of these operators is state-independent since this approach is independent of the particular reference and target states chosen. We show how the group manifold geometry associated with the Heisenberg generators of the displacement operator is non-compact 3-dimensional hyperbolic space, with a time-independent complexity equal to the magnitude of the coherent state parameter. A generic quadratic Hamiltonian for a quantum harmonic oscillator can be decomposed as a product of squeeze and rotation operators, parameterized by a squeezing parameter, squeezing angle, and rotation angle. The squeeze and rotation operators are elements of the group SU(1,1), and we again find an associated geometry of the group manifold that is negatively curved. The corresponding complexity of the squeezing operator is proportional to the squeezing parameter and is independent of the squeezing angle, in contrast the complexity of squeezed states found in some state-based approaches. These results are a step towards characterizing the properties of quantum information for continuous variable systems in a state-independent way.