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For a nonzero closed subspace of a Hilbert space $V$ and a closed subspace of a Hilbert space $W$, this angle measures the worst loss under projection from $V$ to $W$. Its positive cosine is a uniform lower bound for $P_W{|}_V$. The order of the subspaces matters in general. This is distinct from the smallest angle between two subspaces, whose cosine is a supremum. For equal finite dimensions the cosine is the smallest singular value of the cross Gram matrix of orthonormal bases. When $V$ is zero, the infimum is over an empty unit sphere and does not define an angle in $[0,\pi /2]$; use a lower-bound formulation instead.

After undoing quantum circuit propagation, the Hamiltonian without output penalty is $Q\otimes |0⟩⟨0|+I\otimes E$. The common kernel is the valid input space times the uniform clock vector. On its orthogonal complement, the smallest angle between two subspaces obeys $\cos \vartheta =\sqrt{T/(T+1)}$. The Kitaev geometrical lemma and path gap $2/(T+1{)}^2$ give $\Delta \ge (T+1{)}^{-3}$. Degenerate valid quantum witnesses must be removed together when computing this angle.

Suppose positive operators $A,B$ have positive eigenvalues at least $\gamma$ and their nullspaces meet only at zero. If $\vartheta$ is their smallest angle between two subspaces, then $A+B\ge 2\gamma {\sin }^2(\vartheta /2)I$. Indeed $A+B\ge \gamma (2I-P-Q)$, while $(P+Q{)}^2\le (1+\cos \vartheta )(P+Q)$ gives $P+Q\le (1+\cos \vartheta )I$. With a common nullspace, apply the same proof on its orthogonal complement to bound the positive spectral gap.

Interpret the angle as the directed subspace angle defined by the infimum of projected unit vectors; it is different from the smallest angle between two subspaces. WriteConsider the bounded linear operator $T:W⟶V^{\perp }$ given by $Tw=P_{V^{\perp }}w$. Its adjoint operator, between these two Hilbert spaces, is $T^{\ast }u=P_{W}u$: for $w\in W$ and $u\in V^{\perp }$, the orthogonal projections give $⟨Tw,u⟩=⟨w,u⟩=⟨w,P_{W}u⟩$. The two positive directed subspace angle cosines yieldThe first bound makes $T$ injective and gives a closed range. Explicitly, if $T{w}_j$ converges, then $\Vert w_j-w_k\Vert \le a^{-1}\Vert T{w}_j-T{w}_k\Vert$, so $(w_j)$ is a Cauchy sequence. The closed subspace of a Hilbert space $W$ is complete, and its limit maps to the proposed range limit. The second bound gives $\ker T^{\ast }=\{0\}$. A vector $u\in V^{\perp }$ orthogonal to the range has $T^{\ast }u=0$, so it must be zero. The range is therefore dense as well as closed in $V^{\perp }$, and $T$ is onto. This is the mechanism of invertibility from lower bounds on an operator and its adjoint.

For any $f\in H$, choose the unique $w\in W$ with $Tw=P_{V^{\perp }}f$. Then $P_{V^{\perp }}(f-w)=0$, so $f-w\in V$. Moreover, if $w\in W\cap V$, then $Tw=0$ and hence $w=0$. Every vector has a unique decomposition, andThe direct sum is a topological one as well: the component $w=T^{-1}{P}_{V^{\perp }}f$ depends boundedly on $f$, with operator norm at most $a^{-1}$.

For precision, the quoted equality of the norms of complementary oblique projections needs both summands nonzero. For example, with $H=\mathbb{R}$, $V=H$ and $W=\{0\}$, the oblique projection is $I$, so $\Vert I\Vert =1$ but $\Vert I-I\Vert =0$. The secant function has value one here, so the second equality in the quoted formula fails. With nonzero complementary summands its intended version is valid. The proof above does not use that formula. The angle itself is undefined on a zero source space because it has no unit vectors; expressing the hypotheses as the two lower bounds handles zero spaces without ambiguity.

Use the unitary change of basis from part (b). It reduces the Feynman-Kitaev Hamiltonian to $A+B$, whereThe positive eigenvalues of $Q$ are positive integers, since its commuting ancilla projectors act on different qubits. The positive spectral gap of $B$ is $1-\cos (\pi /(T+1))\ge 2/(T+1{)}^2$. Thus both positive spectra are bounded below by $\mu \ge 2/(T+1{)}^2$, for $T\ge 1$.

Let $|u⟩=(T+1{)}^{-1/2}{\sum }_t|t⟩$, and split the work space into $G=\ker Q$ and $G^{\perp }$. The common ground space is $K=G\otimes |u⟩$. A unit vector in $\ker B$ orthogonal to $K$ has the form $|z⟩|u⟩$, where $z\in G^{\perp }$. Its orthogonal projection onto $\ker A$ simply removes its time-zero component, so the projected norm is $\sqrt{T/(T+1)}$. Consequently the smallest angle between two subspaces, after removing their common intersection, satisfiesThe Kitaev geometrical lemma now givesHere $1-\sqrt{1-x}\ge x/2$ supplies the penultimate step. HenceIf there are no input constraints, $Q=0$ and the propagation gap is already $\Omega (T^{-2})$, which is stronger.

The printed geometric-lemma notation needs a correction: the maximum overlap defines $\cos \vartheta$, not $\vartheta$, and is taken over normalized vectors in the two kernels, with the common ground space removed. The ground space restriction is essential when many quantum witnesses are allowed.

Here is a finite-dimensional form of the Kitaev geometrical lemma. Let $A,B$ be positive operators, with nullspaces $S_A,S_B$ and all positive eigenvalues at least $\gamma >0$. First assume $S_A\cap S_B=\{0\}$. Let $P,Q$ be the orthogonal projections onto those nullspaces, and define their smallest angle between two subspaces byIf either nullspace is zero, set $\cos \vartheta =0$. Then

To prove it, spectral decomposition gives $A\ge \gamma (I-P)$ and $B\ge \gamma (I-Q)$. Write $C=P+Q$ and $c=\cos \vartheta$. For every vector $z$,Thus $C^2\le (1+c)C$. Since $C$ is positive semidefinite, each of its eigenvalues lies in $[0,1+c]$, so $2I-C\ge (1-c)I$. Consequentlyas claimed.

If there is a common nullspace $S=S_A\cap S_B$, restrict to $S^{\perp }$ and define the angle between $S_A\cap S^{\perp }$ and $S_B\cap S^{\perp }$ there. The same proof bounds the smallest positive eigenvalue of $A+B$ by $2\gamma {\sin }^2(\vartheta /2)$, while $S$ is its zero-energy subspace. This version gives a spectral gap above a possibly degenerate ground state space.