"It is not the strongest of tensor networks that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change". Two related preprints today: On the origin of entanglement scaling arxiv.org/abs/2607.15124 and Implicit differentiation of tensor network algorithms arxiv.org/abs/2607.15030

On the origin of finite entanglement scaling

The concept of finite entanglement scaling forms one of the pillars on which the tensor network ecosystem is built. In this paper, we resolve the open problem of determining the actual perturbations i...

arxiv.org

Applications are now open for the four-month programme Mathematics of Many-Body Entanglement at the Isaac Newton Institute this fall: www.newton.ac.uk/event/mmb/

Mathematics of many-body entanglement - Isaac Newton Institute

Quantum information theory has exploded recently as a central topic at the intersection of mathematics, physics and theoretical computer science, driven by the...

newton.ac.uk

Chiral fermions on the lattice and the opening up of a gap in the 3450 model: MPOs come to the rescue, again arxiv.org/abs/2606.24713

Symmetric mass generation of interacting chiral fermions on a one-dimensional lattice without fermion doubling

Symmetric mass generation is the interaction-induced opening of a fermion gap without spontaneous symmetry breaking. The anomaly-free 3-4-5-0 model of Wang and Wen provides a minimal one-dimensional s...

arxiv.org

The paperback!

An uncomfortable fact is that it is impossible to write down a translationally invariant Hamiltonian for a lattice many-body system in a classical and constant magnetic field. Infinite PEPS with gauge tensors can counteract this magnetic translation symmetry: arxiv.org/abs/2604.24574

A long-standing folklore result in the field of tensor networks now has a proof: arxiv.org/abs/2603.28349

Dualities relating equilibrium and non-equilibrium processes: MPOs are everywhere! arxiv.org/abs/2603.09928

Intertwining Markov Processes via Matrix Product Operators

Duality transformations reveal unexpected equivalences between seemingly distinct models. We introduce an out-of-equilibrium generalisation of matrix product operators to implement duality transformat...

arxiv.org

Headlines fade, but the wavefunction flows on! Happy that the book "Why Nobody Understands Quantum" is available in the US as of today. www.panmacmillan.com/authors/fran...

Why Nobody Understands Quantum Physics by Frank Verstraete

Find out more about Why Nobody Understands Quantum Physics by Frank Verstraete

panmacmillan.com

Although 2025 was absolutely shocking in terms of the cruelty of powerful people, science can still be a refuge from it. A highlight for me was retreating to the mountains to teach at the Les Houches Summer School. Here are my lecture notes: arxiv.org/abs/2512.24390

Les Houches Lectures Notes on Tensor Networks

Tensor networks provide a powerful new framework for classifying and simulating correlated and topological phases of quantum matter. Their central premise is that strongly correlated matter can only b...

arxiv.org

One of my favourite tensor-network diagrams keeps on giving (from arxiv.org/abs/2511.04674 ):

Perfect Particle Transmission through Duality Defects arxiv.org/abs/2510.26780 : manifestations on the lattice of one of the most intriguing results in conformal field theory.

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics, awarded for macroscopic quantum mechanical tunneling, is a perfect example of emergent phenomena in action. It’s also one of the key reasons we wrote our book www.panmacmillan.com/authors/fran... — because no other popular science book talks about this.

Gauging versus dualities: equivalent up to constant depth quantum circuits. arxiv.org/abs/2509.22051

phys.org/news/2025-09...

New tensor network-based approach could advance simulation of quantum many-body systems

The quantum many body problem has been at the heart of much of theoretical and experimental physics over the past few decades. Even though we have understood the fundamental laws that govern the behav...

phys.org

The simpler the physics, the more non-simple the math: new insights into the structure of MPO symmetries arxiv.org/abs/2509.03600

Trading Mathematical for Physical Simplicity: Bialgebraic Structures in Matrix Product Operator Symmetries

Despite recent advances in the lattice representation theory of (generalized) symmetries, many simple quantum spin chains of physical interest are not included in the rigid framework of fusion categor...

arxiv.org

Ground states in (topological) phases of quantum spin chains have unique dual descriptions in terms of much less entangled completely symmetry broken ones: a synergy of fusion category and physics. rdcu.be/eAVWm

Entanglement and the density matrix renormalization group in the generalized Landau paradigm

Nature Physics - Quantum spin chains can be represented in several ways, and eigenstates in these dual models have different entanglement structures. By characterizing the dual theories, the...

rdcu.be

Was fun to record a podcast for @intelligence2.bsky.social with the wonderful host Shini Somara on our book "Why nobody understands quantum physics": scientists and writers, unite! open.spotify.com/episode/6sBG...

Why does nobody understand quantum physics? With Frank Verstraete and Céline Broeckaert

open.spotify.com

Finally, a book that does justice to the hidden heroes of #quantum physics: Landau, Anderson, Wilson i.e., cond. mat. physics community. Symmetry breaking & renormalization, concepts which unite #physics. It includes key papers from many-body physics (see timeline). Looking forward to reading it!!

Frank Verstraete@fverstraete.bsky.social · last yr.

Happy to see our book "Why Nobody Understands Quantum Physics" published in English www.panmacmillan.com/authors/fran.... Unlike other popular science books, we explain quantum and its applications in the way working physicists use and understand them, without shying away from the many-body problem.

Happy to see our book "Why Nobody Understands Quantum Physics" published in English www.panmacmillan.com/authors/fran.... Unlike other popular science books, we explain quantum and its applications in the way working physicists use and understand them, without shying away from the many-body problem.