Interpretable representation learning of quantum data enabled by probabilistic variational autoencoders

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: de Schoulepnikoff, Paulin, Muñoz-Gil, Gorka, Nautrup, Hendrik Poulsen, Briegel, Hans J.
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author de Schoulepnikoff, Paulin
Muñoz-Gil, Gorka
Nautrup, Hendrik Poulsen
Briegel, Hans J.
author_facet de Schoulepnikoff, Paulin
Muñoz-Gil, Gorka
Nautrup, Hendrik Poulsen
Briegel, Hans J.
contents Interpretable machine learning is rapidly becoming a crucial tool for scientific discovery. Among existing approaches, variational autoencoders (VAEs) have shown promise in extracting the hidden physical features of some input data, with no supervision nor prior knowledge of the system at study. Yet, the ability of VAEs to create meaningful, interpretable representations relies on their accurate approximation of the underlying probability distribution of their input. When dealing with quantum data, VAEs must hence account for its intrinsic randomness and complex correlations. While VAEs have been previously applied to quantum data, they have often neglected its probabilistic nature, hindering the extraction of meaningful physical descriptors. Here, we demonstrate that two key modifications enable VAEs to learn physically meaningful latent representations: a decoder capable of faithfully reproduce quantum states and a probabilistic loss tailored to this task. Using benchmark quantum spin models, we identify regimes where standard methods fail while the representations learned by our approach remain meaningful and interpretable. Applied to experimental data from Rydberg atom arrays, the model autonomously uncovers the phase structure without access to prior labels, Hamiltonian details, or knowledge of relevant order parameters, highlighting its potential as an unsupervised and interpretable tool for the study of quantum systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_11982
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Interpretable representation learning of quantum data enabled by probabilistic variational autoencoders
de Schoulepnikoff, Paulin
Muñoz-Gil, Gorka
Nautrup, Hendrik Poulsen
Briegel, Hans J.
Quantum Physics
Statistical Mechanics
Machine Learning
Interpretable machine learning is rapidly becoming a crucial tool for scientific discovery. Among existing approaches, variational autoencoders (VAEs) have shown promise in extracting the hidden physical features of some input data, with no supervision nor prior knowledge of the system at study. Yet, the ability of VAEs to create meaningful, interpretable representations relies on their accurate approximation of the underlying probability distribution of their input. When dealing with quantum data, VAEs must hence account for its intrinsic randomness and complex correlations. While VAEs have been previously applied to quantum data, they have often neglected its probabilistic nature, hindering the extraction of meaningful physical descriptors. Here, we demonstrate that two key modifications enable VAEs to learn physically meaningful latent representations: a decoder capable of faithfully reproduce quantum states and a probabilistic loss tailored to this task. Using benchmark quantum spin models, we identify regimes where standard methods fail while the representations learned by our approach remain meaningful and interpretable. Applied to experimental data from Rydberg atom arrays, the model autonomously uncovers the phase structure without access to prior labels, Hamiltonian details, or knowledge of relevant order parameters, highlighting its potential as an unsupervised and interpretable tool for the study of quantum systems.
title Interpretable representation learning of quantum data enabled by probabilistic variational autoencoders
topic Quantum Physics
Statistical Mechanics
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.11982