Thermalization and Many-Body Zeno Effect in monitored Hamiltonian Dynamics

Abstract: Random quantum states are essential for various applications in quantum information science. Prior approaches of generating genuine random states rely on a large bath to thermalize the system, such that a subsequent measurement on the bath post-selects a random state for the system. To reduce the size of the required bath, we propose an alternative approach based on holographic deep thermalization driven by Hamiltonian evolution, combined with mid-circuit measurements. By trading spatial and time resources, our approach achieves genuine randomness with a bath of constant size that is independent of the system size. We quantify randomness with the frame potential and analyze its dynamics throughout the evolution. Given a total evolution time, as we increase the number of mid-circuit measurements, the frame potential initially decreases exponentially with the number of measurements, due to the mechanism of holographic deep thermalization. Past a critical number of mid-circuit measurements, the frame potential rises again, signaling the onset of the quantum Zeno effect. We provide analytical results for the asymptotic behavior of the frame potential, which are in good agreement with the numerical simulations. Our findings offer practical guidance for generating Haar-random ensembles through Hamiltonian evolution and controlled measurement.