Stabilizer Statistical Mechanics: A Framework for Efficient Quantification and Classification of Magic States

Quantum Physics arXiv:2608.14798 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 14 Aug 2026] Title:Stabilizer Statistical Mechanics: A Framework for Efficient Quantification and Classification of Magic States Authors:William E. Salazar, Gaurav Saxena, Jack S. Baker, Leong Chuan Kwek, Thi Ha Kyaw View a PDF of the paper titled Stabilizer Statistical Mechanics: A Framework for Efficient Quantification and Classification of Magic States, by William E. Salazar and 4 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:The partition function is statistical mechanics' answer to an exponentially large spectrum, distilling it into a single analytic object whose temperature dependence resolves the full structure of the underlying ensemble. We show that magic, the resource separating universal quantum computation from classically simulable stabilizer dynamics, admits precisely such a description. Mapping the Pauli spectrum of a quantum state onto the energy levels of a fictitious many-body system, the Pauli gas, we construct its canonical partition function, the stabilizer partition function, and from its associated free energy a magic monotone that we call the stabilizer work. Both these objects are analytic functions of an inverse-temperature-like parameter and are efficiently estimable via Bell sampling. The framework is analytically tractable. We derive exact ensemble-averaged partition functions for Haar-random, $\nu$-compressible, and pseudomagic states, together with concentration guarantees. We show that for every value of its parameter, the stabilizer work is a faithful, Subadditive magic monotone, while remaining efficiently accessible on quantum hardware and admitting an operational interpretation. Unlike measures that probe a single moment of the Pauli distribution, the stabilizer work is intrinsically moment-generating. As the temperature is tuned from high to low, it interpolates continuously between the stabilizer 2-Rényi entropy and the stabilizer nullity, revealing two previously disconnected monotones as limiting cases of a single object. We demonstrate the framework on low-rank stabilizer simulation, resource interconversion, molecular ground states, and quantum many-body systems. A thermodynamics of magic is therefore not merely an analogy but a working toolkit, opening a statistical-mechanical route to magic properties of quantum systems that no single measure can access. Comments: Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph) Cite as: arXiv:2608.14798 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2608.14798v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2608.14798 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Submission history From: Gaurav Saxena [view email] [v1] Fri, 14 Aug 2026 18:09:19 UTC (7,395 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Stabilizer Statistical Mechanics: A Framework for Efficient Quantification and Classification of Magic States, by William E. Salazar and 4 other authorsView PDFHTML (experimental)TeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2026-08 References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate (What is Replicate?) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs. Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)