Ewin Tang - A Dobrushin condition for quantum Markov chains - IPAM at UCLA
Presenter
January 13, 2026
Abstract
Recorded 13 January 2026. Ewin Tang of the University of California, Berkeley, presents "A Dobrushin condition for quantum Markov chains" at IPAM's New Frontiers in Quantum Algorithms for Open Quantum Systems Workshop.
Abstract: A major barrier to understanding open quantum systems is that we lack the tools to bound the mixing times of their associated dynamics. This lack stands in stark contrast to the analogous classical literature, where there is a rich theory of such techniques.
I will describe how to lift the "classic" parts of this classical theory to the quantum world. Quantum Wasserstein distance plays a key role here; upon defining it and developing its properties, it leads us naturally to quantum versions of path-coupling, Dobrushin conditions, and disagreement percolation. This allows us to recover existing results on rapid mixing at high temperature. If time permits, I will touch on our application of this theory to clustering of CMI at high temperature.
Joint work with Ainesh Bakshi, Allen Liu, and Ankur Moitra.
Learn more online at: https://www.ipam.ucla.edu/programs/workshops/new-frontiers-in-quantum-algorithms-for-open-quantum-systems/