Abstract Quantum simulation has the potential to be an indispensable technique for the investigation of non-perturbative phenomena in strongly-interacting quantum field theories (QFTs). In the modern quantum era, with Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) simulators widely available and larger-scale quantum machines on the horizon, it is natural to ask: what non-perturbative QFT problems can be solved with the existing quantum hardware? We show that existing noisy quantum machines can be used to analyze the energy spectrum of several strongly-interacting 1+1D QFTs, which exhibit non-perturbative effects like ‘quark confinement’ and ‘false vacuum decay’. We perform quench experiments on IBM’s quantum simulators to compute the energy spectrum of 1+1D quantum Ising model with a longitudinal field. Our results demonstrate that digital quantum simulation in the NISQ era has the potential to be a viable alternative to numerical techniques such as density matrix renormalization group or the truncated conformal space methods for analyzing QFTs.
Abstract Quantum simulation has the potential to be an indispensable technique for the investigation of non-perturbative phenomena in strongly-interacting quantum field theories (QFTs). In the modern quantum era, with Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) simulators widely available and larger-scale quantum machines on the horizon, it is natural to ask: what non-perturbative QFT problems can be solved with the existing quantum hardware? We show that existing noisy quantum machines can be used to analyze the energy spectrum of several strongly-interacting 1+1D QFTs, which exhibit non-perturbative effects like ‘quark confinement’ and ‘false vacuum decay’. We perform quench experiments on IBM’s quantum simulators to compute the energy spectrum of 1+1D quantum Ising model with a longitudinal field. Our results demonstrate that digital quantum simulation in the NISQ era has the potential to be a viable alternative to numerical techniques such as density matrix renormalization group or the truncated conformal space methods for analyzing QFTs.
Quantum computing offers a paradigm shift in efficiently simulating quantum field theories (QFTs). In this review, we outline two new techniques for the simulation of QFTs on quantum devices. The first technique employs Hamiltonian Truncation (HT) for nonperturbative real-time QFT simulations on Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices. As a use case, we apply the HT approach to the Schwinger model. For the observables studied, HT avoids complex state preparation, reducing circuit depth and making the algorithm well suited for NISQ devices. Validated on the ibm_brisbane quantum computer with results showing good agreement with numerical simulations, HT presents an efficient alternative to lattice models. The second approach introduces a continuous-variable quantum computing (CVQC) framework for simulating the real-time dynamics of QFTs, where quantum field values are encoded directly into photonic qumodes. By avoiding the overhead of field digitization, CVQC enables scalable simulations using significantly fewer quantum resources than traditional qubit-based approaches. Classical emulation of the qumode lattice successfully reproduces scattering processes in [Formula: see text]-dimensional [Formula: see text] theory. Together, these methods demonstrate viable paths toward near-term quantum simulations of interacting field theories, offering complementary strategies to address challenges in nonperturbative studies in high-energy physics.
Matter under extreme conditions behaves as a non-equilibrium, strongly-interacting quantum system. Such systems are in the non-perturbative regime of quantum chromodynamics (QCD), where their time evolution is classically intractable. Quantum computing offers a promising alternative, but present-day devices are limited in qubit count and circuit depth, so efficient formulations and algorithms are key to scaling toward experimentally relevant QCD simulations. A scalable framework is established for simulating energy loss and hadronization in 1+1-dimensional SU(2) lattice gauge theory, in which a heavy quark traverses a lattice of light quarks. Classical lattice QCD methods are translated into physics-informed circuits to prepare the interacting ground state. The evolution is run on IBM's quantum processor ibm_pittsburgh, where the charge distribution and energy loss are measured. A further study develops the quantum simulation of the fully gauge-fixed SU(2) Hamiltonian in a mixed basis, a formulation that is expected to remain efficient at all gauge couplings. Digitizing the continuous gauge fields with as few as three qubits per plaquette reproduces low-energy observables with 10−3 precision. Scaling to larger systems is limited by resource overhead, which motivates truncations that preserve the relevant observables. Sequency Hierarchy Truncation (SeqHT) exploits the hierarchy in basis-operator contributions. Demonstrated on the adiabatic preparation of the λφ4 ground state on ibm_sherbrooke, SeqHT reduces circuit depth by ~30%, suppressing hardware noise in the extracted observables. All simulations in this dissertation are validated on quantum hardware against classical benchmarks. These studies advance quantum simulations of real-time QCD dynamics.
Approximation based on perturbation theory is the foundation for most of the quantitative predictions of quantum mechanics, whether in quantum many-body physics, chemistry, quantum field theory, or other domains. Quantum computing provides an alternative to the perturbation paradigm, yet state-of-the-art quantum processors with tens of noisy qubits are of limited practical utility. Here, we introduce perturbative quantum simulation, which combines the complementary strengths of the two approaches, enabling the solution of large practical quantum problems using limited noisy intermediate-scale quantum hardware. The use of a quantum processor eliminates the need to identify a solvable unperturbed Hamiltonian, while the introduction of perturbative coupling permits the quantum processor to simulate systems larger than the available number of physical qubits. We present an explicit perturbative expansion that mimics the Dyson series expansion and involves only local unitary operations, and show its optimality over other expansions under certain conditions. We numerically benchmark the method for interacting bosons, fermions, and quantum spins in different topologies, and study different physical phenomena, such as information propagation, charge-spin separation, and magnetism, on systems of up to 48 qubits only using an 8+1 qubit quantum hardware. We demonstrate our scheme on the IBM quantum cloud, verifying its noise robustness and illustrating its potential for benchmarking large quantum processors with smaller ones.
We investigate how to simulate a quantum many body system using near term device known as noisy intermediate scale quantum (NISQ) hardware. We explore the two different types of hardware, analog and digital device, and discuss their potential for quantum many body simulation. For instance, one of the applications is to use the analog device to simulate the slow dynamics under a strong staggered field. However, noise is a major challenge for quantum hardware. Hence, we discuss the quantum error mitigation methods which are suitable for NISQ hardware. We apply the most commonly-used quantum error mitigation techniques to our many body simulation. We simulate quantum body scar dynamics using zero noise extrapolation techniques, Pauli twirling, and dynamical decoupling. We also calculate the corresponding correlation function using direct measurement without resorting to ancilla qubits. Furthermore, we use the same error mitigation techniques to explore dynamics of energy correlators. As additional error mitigation technique, we divide the noisy correlation results by their sum, which is ideally constant due to energy conservation. By doing so, we significantly improve our result. Finally, we consider another NISQ friendly quantum algorithm for imaginary time evolution. With enough samples from minimally entangled typical thermal state algorithms, we can obtain the thermal expectation value of observable and explore their thermodynamics. In chapter 2, we provide the background knowledge for the following 4 chapters. We introduce the rydberg atom system as the analog system and their special parameter regime for interesting physics. Moreover, we introduce the digital quantum hardware and trotterization that enable one to simulate many body dynamics on the quantum hardware. We also introduce the quantum error mitigation techniques to reduce the the impact of noise from the results. Finally, we introduce the variation quantum dynamics method for the dynamics simulation. In chapter 3, we explore the Rydberg blockade regime with a strong staggered field. With the strong staggered field, any computational basis states are thermalized. Here, we investigate the slow dynamics using a Schrieffer-Wolff (SW) transformation, which is similar to perturbation theory in calculating the different-order effective Hamiltonian in terms of energy scale. As numerical result shown, the naive Schrieffer-Wolff transformation is not enough to explain the some dynamics' relaxation time. Hence, here, we also consider another conservative quantity to perform the SW transformation. The corresponding analytical result agrees with the numerical result. In chapter 4, we simulate quantum many body scarred dynamics in IBM quantum superconducting hardware. We also use custom pulse gates, quantum error mitigation techniques, and quantum error suppression methods to help us handle the noise. The error mitigated result outperforms the raw result. With the all techniques, we also explore non-trivial correlation function which also manifest the long lived oscillation in the rydberg blockade regime. In chapter 5, we use the same quantum error mitigation techniques, which we used in ch. 5, to study the energy transport properties of the mixed Ising model at infinite temperature. Here, instead of using some random state to evaluate the necessary two point energy density correlations, we use Y basis product state sampling to evaluate them. Surprisingly, few samples are enough to estimate the correlation. In addition to the quantum error mitigation techniques, we also use the fact that sum of all correlation functions is constant to renormalize the noisy results. With this trick, we are able to extract an effective dynamical exponent, which enables us to classify the transport properties. In chapter 6, we combine a variational quantum algorithm and the minimally entangled typical thermal states approach to investigate the thermodynamics of 1+1-dimensional Z2 lattice gauge theory. In particular, with a confining field, the 1+1-dimensional Z2 lattice gauge theory cannot be solved exactly. We estimate the corresponding thermal particle number density and energy density to distinguish the confined and deconfined regime. Chapter 7 provides a short review of the main results described in the thesis and a discussion of future research directions that they motivate. We mainly give insight into the recent experimental breakthrough in quantum error correction. We also clarify that quantum error mitigation methods do not become totally useless when a fault-tolerant quantum computer is realized. Finally, we also comment on variational quantum algorithms and their potential applications.
This poster is based on the recently published work titled 'Simulating Quantum Field Theories on Gate-based Quantum Computers', published in the IEEE Transactions on Quantum Engineering journal (pp. 1–14, vol. 5, 2024, DOI: 10.1109/TQE.2024.3385372). This work involves the non-perturbative simulation of the Yukawa model in 1+1 space-time dimensions on an IBM quantum computer, using the light-front formulation to control the resource requirement and complexity of the simulation. Qubit operators for the bosonic excitations were also created and were used along with the fermionic ones already available, to simulate the theory involving all of these particles. With the restriction on the number of logical qubits available on the existent gate-based Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices” the trotterization approximation is also used.
This thesis looks at how we can leverage current and near future quantum computers to effectively simulate quantum field theories. The scope of this thesis covers how to simulate the (1+1)-D Transverse Ising model on digital quantum computers and the methods to handle multiple types of machine errors to effectively extract real-time dynamic information. We leverage modifications to the transverse Ising model to study the calculation of phase shifts from scattering a particle off of simple potentials and demonstrate that these calculations are feasible on current quantum hardware. In looking toward the future we demonstrate two different state preparation algorithms. One algorithm projected cooling we show can extract information about the second order phase transition in the Transverse Ising Model and has excellent scaling properties. The second algorithm involves leveraging classical field theory simulations to circumvent quantum state preparation methods on that should prove tractable on near term quantum computing hardware. These tools together highlight the promise of quantum computing to tackle interesting problems in high energy physics.