Efficient Tensor-Network Simulations of Weakly-Measured Quantum Circuits

We present a tensor-network-based method for simulating a weakly-measured quantum circuit. In particular, we use a Markov chain to efficiently sample measurements and contract the tensor network, propagating their effect forward along the spatial direction. As a demonstration of our algorithm, we consider a (1+1)-dimensional brickwall circuit of Haar-random unitaries, interspersed with generalized single-qubit measurements of variable strength. We simulate the dynamics for tens to hundreds of qubits if the circuit exhibits area-law entanglement (under strong measurements), and tens of qubits if it exhibits volume-law entanglement (under weak measurements). We observe signatures of a measurement-induced phase transition between the two regimes as a function of measurement strength.