CondMat for Dummies: Introduction to ZX-calculus

Date

Aug 28, 2026

Time

5:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Speaker

Marcin Szyniszewski

Affiliation

University of Oxford

Language

en

Main Topic

Physik

Other Topics

Physik

Description

Abstract: Diagrammatic methods closely related to tensor networks have recently become important tools for understanding quantum processes. In particular, ZX-calculus has proven useful for quantum circuit compilation, verification, and simplification. This framework is extremely flexible, allowing proofs of quantum identities and exposing underlying physics of quantum systems, suggesting ZX-calculus as a useful design and reasoning language for condensed matter physics. In this talk, I will introduce ZX-calculus, which is composed of graphical notation representing the quantum system (ZX-diagrams), and rewrite rules that allow deformations of the diagrams. I will show how familiar objects (quantum circuits, entangled states, and measurements) can be represented and manipulated diagrammatically, and briefly connect this perspective to tensor-network methods. Finally, I will turn to recent applications in quantum many-body physics, specifically by looking at how ZX-calculus can reveal entanglement transitions in systems under repeated measurements, and how graphical identities can be used to construct local parent Hamiltonians.

Last modified: Aug 21, 2026, 7:38:52 AM