Field digitization scaling in a $\mathbb{Z}_N \subset U(1)$ symmetric model

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Main Authors: Calliari, Gabriele, Ott, Robert, Pichler, Hannes, Zache, Torsten V.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Calliari, Gabriele
Ott, Robert
Pichler, Hannes
Zache, Torsten V.
author_facet Calliari, Gabriele
Ott, Robert
Pichler, Hannes
Zache, Torsten V.
contents The simulation of quantum field theories, both classical and quantum, requires regularization of infinitely many degrees of freedom. However, in the context of field digitization (FD) -- a truncation of the local fields to $N$ discrete values -- a comprehensive framework to obtain continuum results is currently missing. Here, we propose to analyze FD by interpreting the parameter $N$ as a coupling in the renormalization group (RG) sense. As a first example, we investigate the two-dimensional classical $N$-state clock model as a $\mathbb{Z}_N$ FD of the $U(1)$-symmetric $XY$-model. Using effective field theory, we employ the RG to derive generalized scaling hypotheses involving the FD parameter $N$, which allows us to relate data obtained for different $N$-regularized models in a procedure that we term $\textit{field digitization scaling}$ (FDS). Using numerical tensor-network calculations at finite bond dimension $χ$, we further uncover an unconventional universal crossover around a low-temperature phase transition induced by finite $N$, demonstrating that FDS can be extended to describe the interplay of $χ$ and $N$. Finally, we analytically prove that our calculations for the 2D classical-statistical $\mathbb{Z}_N$ clock model are directly related to the quantum physics in the ground state of a (2+1)D $\mathbb{Z}_N$ lattice gauge theory which serves as a FD of compact quantum electrodynamics. Our study thus paves the way for applications of FDS to quantum simulations of more complex models in higher spatial dimensions, where it could serve as a tool to analyze the continuum limit of digitized quantum field theories.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_22984
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Field digitization scaling in a $\mathbb{Z}_N \subset U(1)$ symmetric model
Calliari, Gabriele
Ott, Robert
Pichler, Hannes
Zache, Torsten V.
Quantum Physics
Statistical Mechanics
High Energy Physics - Lattice
The simulation of quantum field theories, both classical and quantum, requires regularization of infinitely many degrees of freedom. However, in the context of field digitization (FD) -- a truncation of the local fields to $N$ discrete values -- a comprehensive framework to obtain continuum results is currently missing. Here, we propose to analyze FD by interpreting the parameter $N$ as a coupling in the renormalization group (RG) sense. As a first example, we investigate the two-dimensional classical $N$-state clock model as a $\mathbb{Z}_N$ FD of the $U(1)$-symmetric $XY$-model. Using effective field theory, we employ the RG to derive generalized scaling hypotheses involving the FD parameter $N$, which allows us to relate data obtained for different $N$-regularized models in a procedure that we term $\textit{field digitization scaling}$ (FDS). Using numerical tensor-network calculations at finite bond dimension $χ$, we further uncover an unconventional universal crossover around a low-temperature phase transition induced by finite $N$, demonstrating that FDS can be extended to describe the interplay of $χ$ and $N$. Finally, we analytically prove that our calculations for the 2D classical-statistical $\mathbb{Z}_N$ clock model are directly related to the quantum physics in the ground state of a (2+1)D $\mathbb{Z}_N$ lattice gauge theory which serves as a FD of compact quantum electrodynamics. Our study thus paves the way for applications of FDS to quantum simulations of more complex models in higher spatial dimensions, where it could serve as a tool to analyze the continuum limit of digitized quantum field theories.
title Field digitization scaling in a $\mathbb{Z}_N \subset U(1)$ symmetric model
topic Quantum Physics
Statistical Mechanics
High Energy Physics - Lattice
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.22984