The many-body problem is ubiquitous in the theoretical description of physical phenomena, ranging from the behaviour of elementary particles to the physics of electrons in solids. Most of our understanding of many-body systems comes from analysing the symmetric properties of Hamiltonian and states: the most striking examples are gauge theories such as quantum electrodynamics, where a local symmetry strongly constrains the microscopic dynamics. The physics of such gauge theories is relevant for the understanding of a diverse set of systems, including frustrated quantum magnets and the collective dynamics of elementary particles within the standard model. In the last few years, several approaches have been put forward to tackle the complex dynamics of gauge theories using quantum information concepts. In particular, quantum simulation platforms have been put forward for the realisation of synthetic gauge theories, and novel classical simulation algorithms based on quantum information concepts have been formulated. In this review, we present an introduction to these approaches, illustrating the basics concepts and highlighting the connections between apparently very different fields, and report the recent developments in this new thriving field of research.
The many-body problem is ubiquitous in the theoretical description of physical phenomena, ranging from the behaviour of elementary particles to the physics of electrons in solids. Most of our understanding of many-body systems comes from analysing the symmetric properties of Hamiltonian and states: the most striking examples are gauge theories such as quantum electrodynamics, where a local symmetry strongly constrains the microscopic dynamics. The physics of such gauge theories is relevant for the understanding of a diverse set of systems, including frustrated quantum magnets and the collective dynamics of elementary particles within the standard model. In the last few years, several approaches have been put forward to tackle the complex dynamics of gauge theories using quantum information concepts. In particular, quantum simulation platforms have been put forward for the realisation of synthetic gauge theories, and novel classical simulation algorithms based on quantum information concepts have been formulated. In this review, we present an introduction to these approaches, illustrating the basics concepts and highlighting the connections between apparently very different fields, and report the recent developments in this new thriving field of research.
Formulating gauge theories on a lattice offers a genuinely non-perturbative way of studying quantum field theories, and has led to impressive achievements. In particular, it significantly deepened our understanding of quantum chromodynamics. Yet, some very relevant problems remain inherently challenging, such as real time evolution, or the presence of a chemical potential, cases in which Monte Carlo simulations are hindered by a sign problem. In the last few years, a number of possible alternatives have been put forward, based on quantum information ideas, which could potentially open the access to areas of research that have so far eluded more standard methods. They include tensor network calculations, quantum simulations with different physical platforms and quantum computations, and constitute nowadays a vibrant research area. Experts from different fields, including experimental and theoretical high energy physics, condensed matter, and quantum information, are turning their attention to these interdisciplinary possibilities, and driving the progress of the field. The aim of this article is to review the status and perspectives of these new avenues for the exploration of lattice gauge theories.
Gauge theories and topological phases play a fundamental role in different areas of physics. The first ones are at the basis of the Standard Model in the field of particle physics, describing the electroweak and strong interactions through a non-Abelian gauge theory. In condensed matter and statistical physics, gauge theories arise as low-energy effective descriptions of strongly correlated phenomena, such as quantum spin liquids and quantum Hall effect. In this realm there is a strong connection with topological phases and order, as emergent gauge fermions and bosons often describe collective excitations of new exotic states of matter of spin models. The discretization on a lattice is a possible way of dealing with the strongly coupled nature of these theories, due to the fact that this formulation at finite volume provides natural regularizing cut-offs, i.e. the lattice size and spacing. This allows for the investigation of different non-perturbative properties both numerically and analytically. Despite the success of these methods, there are various aspects which remain intractable due to the sign or complex action problems, like the out of equilibrium real time evolution or the analysis of quantum chromodynamics with finite chemical potential. In this respect, quantum simulators of many-body systems to simulate high energy physics arise as promising alternatives to face these problems in the near future. They are quantum systems that can be controlled and used to simulate more complicated systems, whose properties could not be analysed with classical computational, experimental or theoretical tools. In the last decades, there has been a huge development in the fields of quantum optics and atomic physics, allowing for the realization highly precise and controllable platforms by means of trapped ions, superconducting circuits, Rydberg atoms and ultracold atoms in optical lattices. This work of Thesis is part of these fields and has different purposes, all of them connected with the study of gauge theories and topological phases. Firstly, we want to develop a reformulation of lattice gauge theories in terms of gauge invariant fields, in a way to deal solely with physical variables directly in the action. Among several possible advantages, a crucial point is that this can be particularly helpful for the construction of consistent approximation schemes, such as mean-field theories, in order to understand and capture some of the physical features of the theory and make the mean-field approximation consistent with the Elitzur theorem, stating that a local gauge symmetry can not be spontaneously broken. As a second point, we face the problem of simulating higher dimensional gauge theories with ultracold atoms. One of the challenges in more than one dimension is indeed the realization of plaquette interaction terms in the Hamiltonian of lattice gauge theories: these can be engineered through four correlated hoppings in perturbation theory, or by means of constrained hoppings in the dual formulation. In this respect, our main target is to set up an ultracold atomic platform generating the plaquette term in two dimensions using only two correlated hoppings, and protecting gauge invariance through angular momentum conservation. The last point we address in the Thesis is related to the analysis of particles moving in static background gauge potentials, i.e. when the considered gauge field has no dynamical term in the action of the system. Indeed, the dynamics of quantum particles in the presence of static gauge fields gives rise to intriguing physical phenomena. In particular, using ultracold atom setups, the realization of artificial gauge potentials can be used to investigate the physics of topological semimetals, such as Weyl or Dirac type. In the last ten years, a lot of attention has been paid to their characterization, due to the appearence of clear theoretical predictions and very well-controlled experimental techniques. We investigate here the relation between topological phase transitions and van Hove singularities, i.e. the discontinuities in the energy derivative of the density of states, in three-dimensional gapless systems. In such materials, topological phase transitions can be defined by changes of the topological invariants of the Fermi sheets, happening at specific singular points. Moreover, Fermi surface singularities result in the presence of the so-called van Hove points. We then present a general argument to relate topological phase transitions and van Hove singularities, and show observable consequences that are related to the transport properties of the system. We exemplify our argument in Weyl systems by analyzing the three-dimensional Hofstadter model for various commensurate fluxes, which offers the opportunity to consider different kinds of Weyl metals and to understand the features of their density of states.
Abstract A hallmark of the computational campaign in nuclear and particle physics is the lattice-gauge-theory program. It continues to enable theoretical predictions for a range of phenomena in nature from the underlying Standard Model. The emergence of a new computational paradigm based on quantum computing, therefore, can introduce further advances in this program. In particular, it is believed that quantum computing will make possible first-principles studies of matter at extreme densities, and in and out of equilibrium, hence improving our theoretical description of the early universe, astrophysical environments, and high-energy particle collisions. Developing and advancing a quantum-computing-based lattice-gauge-theory program, therefore, have turned into a vibrant and fast-moving area of research in theoretical nuclear and particle physics. These lecture notes introduce the topic of quantum computing lattice gauge theories in a pedagogical manner, with an emphasis on theoretical and algorithmic aspects of the program, and on the most common approaches and practices, to keep the presentation focused and useful. The Hamiltonian formulation of lattice gauge theories is introduced within the Kogut–Susskind framework, the notion of Hilbert space and physical states is discussed, and some elementary numerical methods for performing Hamiltonian simulations are discussed. Quantum-simulation preliminaries and digital quantum-computing basics are presented, which set the stage for concrete examples of gauge-theory quantum-circuit design and resource analysis. A step-by-step analysis is provided for a simpler Abelian gauge theory, and an overview of our current understanding of the cost of quantum computing quantum chromodynamics is presented in the end. Examples and exercises supplement the material, and reinforce the concepts and methods introduced throughout.
In the last decade the non-equilibrium dynamics of isolated quantum systems has raised a huge interest for both its conceptual and practical implications. Simulation of quantum dynamics represents by now a very active research effort, with highly controllable quantum devices composed of hundreds of qubits already being realized in numerous setups. These offer the unprecedented possibility to access real-time quantum dynamics and strongly correlated quantum many-body states, opening numerous avenues not only for future quantum technologies, but also for long-standing theoretical problems. One of the most sought-after applications is the computation of real-time evolution in theories of fundamental interactions. Since Wilson's proposal in 1974, the equilibrium phase diagrams of lattice gauge theories have been successfully investigated with Monte Carlo simulations in a wide range of parameters. Nonequilibrium properties, on the other hand, cannot be accessed with conventional techniques. Thanks to the recent advances in numerics (e.g. tensor networks) and experiments (quantum simulation), new promising tools are now available for tackling these questions. Remarkable works have already demonstrated that applying these techniques to simple theories, such as one-dimensional quantum electrodynamics, can help to detect the signatures of confinement and pair creation. Despite these impressive achievements, investigating the non-equilibrium dynamics of gauge theories with quantum simulators turned out to be extremely challenging. This is mostly due to the complex constrained dynamics of these theories, which make their simulation with realistic atomic platforms particularly difficult. At the same time, the dynamical constraints can play a key role in determining novel interesting phenomena and peculiar non-equilibrium properties. These phenomena -- which include, for example, quantum scars, fractons, Hilbert space fragmentation -- can lead to anomalous dynamics, eventually evading the paradigm of thermalization, which predicts the relaxation of physical observable to their thermodynamic values. The aim of this thesis is twofold: first, we want to address through a combination of numerical and analytical tools some of the open questions regarding the non-equilibrium dynamics of quantum many-body systems with constrained Hilbert spaces, including lattice gauge theories. In addition, the work reported here is part of a large effort of the community towards the quantum simulation of complex phenomena of condensed matter and high-energy physics.
Over recent years, the relatively young field of quantum simulation of lattice gauge theories, aiming at implementing simulators of gauge theories with quantum platforms, has gone through a rapid development process. Nowadays, it is not only of interest to the quantum information and technology communities. It is also seen as a valid tool for tackling hard, non-perturbative gauge theory problems by particle and nuclear physicists. Along the theoretical progress, nowadays more and more experiments implementing such simulators are being reported, manifesting beautiful results, but mostly on [Formula: see text] dimensional physics. In this article, we review the essential ingredients and requirements of lattice gauge theories in more dimensions and discuss their meanings, the challenges they pose and how they could be dealt with, potentially aiming at the next steps of this field towards simulating challenging physical problems in analogue, or analogue-digital ways. This article is part of the theme issue 'Quantum technologies in particle physics'.
A hallmark of the computational campaign in nuclear and particle physics is the lattice-gauge-theory program. It continues to enable theoretical predictions for a range of phenomena in nature from the underlying Standard Model. The emergence of a new computational paradigm based on quantum computing, therefore, can introduce further advances in this program. In particular, it is believed that quantum computing will make possible first-principles studies of matter at extreme densities, and in and out of equilibrium, hence improving our theoretical description of early universe, astrophysical environments, and high-energy particle collisions. Developing and advancing a quantum-computing based lattice-gauge-theory program, therefore, is a vibrant and fast-moving area of research in theoretical nuclear and particle physics. These lecture notes introduce the topic of quantum computing lattice gauge theories in a pedagogical manner, with an emphasis on theoretical and algorithmic aspects of the program, and on the most common approaches and practices, to keep the presentation focused and useful. Hamiltonian formulation of lattice gauge theories is introduced within the Kogut-Susskind framework, the notion of Hilbert space and physical states is discussed, and some elementary numerical methods for performing Hamiltonian simulations are discussed. Quantum-simulation preliminaries and digital quantum-computing basics are presented, which set the stage for concrete examples of gauge-theory quantum-circuit design and resource analysis. A step-by-step analysis is provided for a simpler Abelian gauge theory, and an overview of our current understanding of the quantum-computing cost of quantum chromodynamics is presented in the end. Examples and exercises augment the material, and reinforce the concepts and methods introduced throughout.