Abstract
We propose that finite cutoff regions of holographic spacetimes represent quantum circuits that map between boundary states at different times and Wilsonian cutoffs, and that the complexity of those quantum circuits is given by the gravitational action. The optimal circuit minimizes the gravitational action. This is a generalization of both the “complexity equals volume” conjecture to unoptimized circuits, and path integral optimization to finite cutoffs. Using tools from holographic \( T\overline{T} \), we find that surfaces of constant scalar curvature play a special role in optimizing quantum circuits. We also find an interesting connection of our proposal to kinematic space, and discuss possible circuit representations and gate counting interpretations of the gravitational action.
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ArXiv ePrint: 2101.01185
On leave of absence from: National Centre for Nuclear Research, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland (Michal P. Heller)
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Chandra, A.R., de Boer, J., Flory, M. et al. Spacetime as a quantum circuit. J. High Energ. Phys. 2021, 207 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP04(2021)207
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP04(2021)207