Long-range order (source code)

= Long-range order
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<Long-range order> means that an appropriate order-sensitive <correlation function> remains nonzero as the separation becomes arbitrarily large in the thermodynamic limit. In a ferromagnet, a spin-spin correlation can approach a positive constant, indicating a persistent relation between distant <spins>. An antiferromagnet requires an alternating sign convention, captured by <staggered magnetization>, to reveal its corresponding order.

The choice of average matters. A finite zero-field equilibrium sample can preserve <symmetry> and have zero mean <magnetization>, while distant <spin> correlations still diagnose the approach to an ordered thermodynamic phase. Within a selected symmetry-broken state, the disconnected contribution can carry the order and the connected correlation can instead decay. One must therefore state the observable, state and order of limits before applying a nonzero-correlation criterion.

This also explains a locality constraint: a circuit with bounded depth and bounded-range gates cannot generate arbitrary-distance connected correlations from a product state. Its finite propagation range limits which separated regions can share correlations.