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arXiv:2111.03038 · Physical review. D/Physical review. D.

Quantum variational solving of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation

Grzegorz Czelusta, Jakub Mielczarek A B

Published Jun 2, 2022• 3 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

One of the central difficulties in the quantization of the gravitational interactions is that they are described by a set of constraints. The standard strategy for dealing with the problem is the Dirac quantization procedure, which leads to the Wheeler-DeWitt equation. However, solutions to the equation are known only for specific symmetry-reduced systems, including models of quantum cosmology. Novel methods, which enable solving the equation for complex gravitational configurations, are therefore worth seeking. Here, we propose and investigate a new method of solving the Wheeler-DeWitt equation for minisuperspace models (with a finite number of classical degrees of freedom). The approach employs variational quantum algorithms and is possible to implement on quantum computers. For this purpose, the gravitational system is regularized, by performing spherical compactification of the phase space. This makes the system's Hilbert space finite dimensional and allows to use $SU(2)$ variables, which are easy to handle in quantum computing. The validity of the method is examined in the case of the flat de Sitter universe. Both an emulator of a quantum computer and the IBM superconducting quantum computer have been used. The advantages and limitations of the approach are discussed.

DOI
10.1103/physrevd.105.126005

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One of the central difficulties in the quantization of the gravitational interactions is that they are described by a set of constraints. The standard strategy for dealing with the problem is the Dirac quantization procedure, which leads to the Wheeler-DeWitt equation. However, solutions to the equation are known only for specific symmetry-reduced systems, including models of quantum cosmology. Novel methods, which enable solving the equation for complex gravitational configurations, are therefore worth seeking. Here, we propose and investigate a new method of solving the Wheeler-DeWitt equation for minisuperspace models (with a finite number of classical degrees of freedom). The approach employs variational quantum algorithms and is possible to implement on quantum computers. For this purpose, the gravitational system is regularized, by performing spherical compactification of the phase space. This makes the system's Hilbert space finite dimensional and allows to use SU(2)SU(2)SU(2) variables, which are easy to handle in quantum computing. The validity of the method is examined in the case of the flat de Sitter universe. Both an emulator of a quantum computer and the IBM superconducting quantum computer have been used. The advantages and limitations of the approach are discussed.
Cosmology is in an era of rapid discovery especially in areas related to dark energy, dark matter and inflation. Quantum cosmology treats the cosmology quantum mechanically and is important when quantum effects need to be accounted for, especially in the very early Universe. Quantum computing is an emerging new method of computing which excels in simulating quantum systems. Quantum computing may have some advantages when simulating quantum cosmology, especially because the Euclidean action of gravity is unbounded from below, making the implementation of Monte Carlo simulation problematic. In this paper we present several examples of the application of quantum computing to cosmology. These include a dark energy model that is related to Kaluza-Klein theory, dark matter models where the dark sector is described by a self interacting gauge field or a conformal scalar field and an inflationary model with a slow roll potential. We implement quantum computations in the IBM QISKit software framework and show how to apply the Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) and Evolution of Hamiltonian (EOH) algorithms to solve the Wheeler-DeWitt equation that can be used to describe the cosmology in the mini-superspace approximation. We find excellent agreement with classical computing results and describe the accuracy of the different quantum algorithms. Finally we discuss how these methods can be scaled to larger problems going beyond the mini-superspace approximation where the quantum computer may exceed the performance of classical computation.
Recent results on the decoherent histories quantization of simple cosmological models (minisuperspace models) are described. The most important issue is the construction, from the wave function, of a probability distribution answering various questions of physical interest, such as the probability of the system entering a given region of configuration space at any stage in its entire history. A standard but heuristic procedure is to use the flux of (components of) the wave function in a WKB approximation as the probability. This gives sensible semiclassical results but lacks an underlying operator formalism. Here, we supply the underlying formalism by deriving probability distributions linked to the Wheeler-DeWitt equation using the decoherent histories approach to quantum theory, building on the generalized quantum mechanics formalism developed by Hartle. The key step is the construction of class operators characterizing questions of physical interest. Taking advantage of a recent decoherent histories analysis of the arrival time problem in non-relativistic quantum mechanics, we show that the appropriate class operators in quantum cosmology are readily constructed using a complex potential. The class operator for not entering a region of configuration space is given by the SSS-matrix for scattering off a complex potential localized in that region. We thus derive the class operators for entering one or more regions in configuration space. The class operators commute with the Hamiltonian, have a sensible classical limit and are closely related to an intersection number operator. The corresponding probabilities coincide, in a semiclassical approximation, with standard heuristic procedures.
In the quantization of simple cosmological models (minisuperspace models) described by the Wheeler-DeWitt equation, an important step is the construction, from the wave function, of a probability distribution answering various questions of physical interest, such as the probability of the system entering a given region of configuration space at any stage in its entire history. A standard but heuristic procedure is to use the flux of (components of) the wave function in a WKB approximation. This gives sensible semiclassical results but lacks an underlying operator formalism. In this paper, we address the issue of constructing probability distributions linked to the Wheeler-DeWitt equation using the decoherent histories approach to quantum theory. The key step is the construction of class operators characterizing questions of physical interest. Taking advantage of a recent decoherent histories analysis of the arrival time problem in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, we show that the appropriate class operators in quantum cosmology are readily constructed using a complex potential. The class operator for not entering a region of configuration space is given by the SSS matrix for scattering off a complex potential localized in that region. We thus derive the class operators for entering one or more regions in configuration space. The class operators commute with the Hamiltonian, have a sensible classical limit, and are closely related to an intersection number operator. The definitions of class operators given here handle the key case in which the underlying classical system has multiple crossings of the boundaries of the regions of interest. We show that oscillatory WKB solutions to the Wheeler-DeWitt equation give approximate decoherence of histories, as do superpositions of WKB solutions, as long as the regions of configuration space are sufficiently large. The corresponding probabilities coincide, in a semiclassical approximation, with standard heuristic procedures. In brief, we exhibit the well-defined operator formalism underlying the usual heuristic interpretational methods in quantum cosmology.
Quantum computers are promising candidates to radically expand the domain of computational science by their increased computing power and more effective algorithms. In particular, quantum computing could have a tremendous impact on the field of quantum cosmology. The goal of quantum cosmology is to describe the evolution of the universe through the Wheeler-DeWitt equation or path integral methods without having to first formulate a full theory of quantum gravity. The quantum computer provides an advantage in this endeavor because it can perform path integrals directly in Lorentzian space and does not require constructing contour integrations in Euclidean gravity. Also, quantum computers can provide advantages in systems with fermions which are difficult to simulate on classical computers. In this study, we first employed classical computational methods to analyze a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker mini-superspace with a scalar field and visualize the calculated wavefunction of the universe for a variety of different values of the curvature of the universe and the cosmological constant. We then used IBM's Quantum Information Science Kit Python library and the variational quantum eigensolver algorithm to study the same systems on a quantum computer. The framework was extended to the world line approach to quantum field theory.
Dirac-Bergmann algorithm and canonical quantization of kkk-essence cosmology
We develop a general canonical quantization scheme for kkk-essence cosmology in scalar-tensor theory. Utilizing the Dirac-Bergmann algorithm, we construct the Hamiltonian associated with the cosmological field equations and identify the first- and second-class constraints. The introduction of appropriate canonically conjugate variables with respect to Dirac brackets, allows for the canonical quantization of the model. In these new variables, the Hamiltonian constraint reduces to a quadratic function with no potential term. Its quantum realization leads to a Wheeler-DeWitt equation reminiscent of the massless Klein-Gordon case. As an illustrative example, we consider the action of a tachyonic field and investigate the conditions under which a phantom crossing can occur as a quantum tunneling effect. For the simplified constant potential case, we investigate the consequences of different boundary conditions on the singularity avoidance and to the mean expansion rate.
We give an explicit, rigorous framework for calculating quantum probabilities in a model theory of quantum gravity. Specifically, we construct the decoherence functional for the Wheeler-DeWitt quantization of a flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmology with a free, massless, minimally coupled scalar field, thus providing a complete decoherent histories formulation for this quantum cosmological model. The decoherence functional is applied to study predictions concerning the model's Dirac (relational) observables; the behavior of semiclassical states and superpositions of such states; and to study the singular behavior of quantum Wheeler-DeWitt universes. Within this framework, rigorous formulas are given for calculating the corresponding probabilities from the wave function when those probabilities may be consistently defined, thus replacing earlier heuristics for interpreting the wave function of the universe with explicit constructions. It is shown according to a rigorously formulated standard, and in a quantum-mechanically consistent way, that in this quantization these models are generically singular. Independent of the choice of state we show that the probability for these Wheeler-DeWitt quantum universes to ever encounter a singularity is unity. In addition, the relation between histories formulations of quantum theory and relational Dirac observables is clarified.