Efficiently simulating many-body quantum systems with Coulomb interactions is a fundamental question in quantum physics, quantum chemistry, and quantum computing, yet it presents unique challenges: the Hamiltonian is an unbounded operator; its Hilbert space dimension grows exponentially with particle number; and the Coulomb potential is singular, long-ranged, and non-smooth, violating the regularity assumptions of many prior state-of-the-art many-body simulation analyses. In this work, we establish rigorous error bounds for Trotter formulas applied to these systems. Our first main result shows that for general initial conditions in the domain of the Hamiltonian, second-order Trotter achieves a $1/4$ convergence rate with explicit polynomial dependence of the error prefactor on the particle number. The polynomial dependence on system size suggests that the algorithm remains quantumly efficient, even without introducing any regularization of the Coulomb singularity. Such a worst-case rate has been observed in prior work for the hydrogen ground state, demonstrating its physical relevance. We further establish one-step local error lower bounds of order $5/4$ for both formulas, showing that the local exponent is sharp. Our second main result identifies a set of physically meaningful conditions on the initial state under which the convergence rates improve, with the full first-order and second-order rates recovered at sufficiently high angular momentum. Our theoretical findings are consistent with prior numerical observations. Our third main result establishes improved convergence rates for many-body fermionic Coulomb systems with initial data of different Sobolev regularity. In particular, even without imposing any additional regularity beyond the natural domain of the Hamiltonian, both the first- and second-order Trotter formulas converge with rate $1/2$ , rather than the general $1/4$ rate.Efficiently simulating many-body quantum systems with Coulomb interactions is a fundamental question in quantum physics, quantum chemistry, and quantum computing, yet it presents unique challenges: the Hamiltonian is an unbounded operator; its Hilbert space dimension grows exponentially with particle number; and the Coulomb potential is singular, long-ranged, and non-smooth, violating the regularity assumptions of many prior state-of-the-art many-body simulation analyses. In this work, we establish rigorous error bounds for Trotter formulas applied to these systems. Our first main result shows that for general initial conditions in the domain of the Hamiltonian, second-order Trotter achieves a $1/4$ convergence rate with explicit polynomial dependence of the error prefactor on the particle number. The polynomial dependence on system size suggests that the algorithm remains quantumly efficient, even without introducing any regularization of the Coulomb singularity. Such a worst-case rate has been observed in prior work for the hydrogen ground state, demonstrating its physical relevance. We further establish one-step local error lower bounds of order $5/4$ for both formulas, showing that the local exponent is sharp. Our second main result identifies a set of physically meaningful conditions on the initial state under which the convergence rates improve, with the full first-order and second-order rates recovered at sufficiently high angular momentum. Our theoretical findings are consistent with prior numerical observations. Our third main result establishes improved convergence rates for many-body fermionic Coulomb systems with initial data of different Sobolev regularity. In particular, even without imposing any additional regularity beyond the natural domain of the Hamiltonian, both the first- and second-order Trotter formulas converge with rate $1/2$, rather than the general $1/4$ rate.

quant-pharXiv:2604.07704Apr 10, 20260 citations

Improved Grid-Based Simulation of Coulombic Dynamics

Xiaoning Feng, Hans Hon Sang Chan, David P. Tew

Accurate time-dependent quantum dynamics of Coulombic systems on grid-based representations remains computationally demanding due to the singularity of the Coulomb potential, which necessitates extremely fine spatial grids to mitigate discretisation errors. We propose two complementary correction schemes that, under identical resource budgets, consistently outperform the uncorrected counterparts. The first scheme modifies the potential operator to incorporate grid-basis structure into its representation, while the second introduces a corrected initial wavefunction inspired by analytical solutions of softened Coulomb potentials. Applied to hydrogenic systems, these corrections deliver improved energy accuracy and time fidelity across long evolutions. Beyond classical simulations, the proposed framework aligns naturally with quantum computing architectures, where the corrected operators and states can be encoded through truncated Walsh and Fourier series expansions. A resource analysis for the representative 2D hydrogen system yields a circuit depth of $1.5\times10^{8}$ gates over 6,000 Trotter steps. This study thus establishes practical strategies toward high-accuracy Coulombic dynamics on both classical and emerging quantum platforms.Accurate time-dependent quantum dynamics of Coulombic systems on grid-based representations remains computationally demanding due to the singularity of the Coulomb potential, which necessitates extremely fine spatial grids to mitigate discretisation errors. We propose two complementary correction schemes that, under identical resource budgets, consistently outperform the uncorrected counterparts. The first scheme modifies the potential operator to incorporate grid-basis structure into its representation, while the second introduces a corrected initial wavefunction inspired by analytical solutions of softened Coulomb potentials. Applied to hydrogenic systems, these corrections deliver improved energy accuracy and time fidelity across long evolutions. Beyond classical simulations, the proposed framework aligns naturally with quantum computing architectures, where the corrected operators and states can be encoded through truncated Walsh and Fourier series expansions. A resource analysis for the representative 2D hydrogen system yields a circuit depth of $1.5\times10^{8}$ gates over 6,000 Trotter steps. This study thus establishes practical strategies toward high-accuracy Coulombic dynamics on both classical and emerging quantum platforms.

quant-pharXiv:2603.02954Mar 4, 20260 citations

Dynamics of Quantum Many-Body Systems from Monte Carlo simulations

Francesco Pederiva

Jan 1, 20120 citations

Quantum dynamics simulation of few body Coulomb systems

Lijun Zhang

Computer Physics CommunicationsDec 1, 19940 citations

Monte carlo methods in quantum many-body problems

Malvin H. Kalos

Nuclear Physics AOct 1, 197911 citations

Quantum simulation costs for Suzuki-Trotter decomposition of quantum many-body lattice models

Nathan M. Myers, Ryan Scott, Kwon Park +1 more

Quantum computers offer the potential to efficiently simulate the dynamics of quantum systems, a task whose difficulty scales exponentially with system size on classical devices. To assess the potential for near-term quantum computers to simulate many-body systems we develop a formalism to straightforwardly compute bounds on the number of Trotter steps needed to accurately simulate the time evolution of fermionic lattice models based on the first-order commutator scaling. We apply this formalism to two closely related many-body models prominent in condensed matter physics, the Hubbard and t-J models. We find that, while a naive comparison of the Trotter depth first seems to favor the Hubbard model, careful consideration of the model parameters and the allowable error for accurate simulation leads to a substantial advantage in favor of the t-J model. These results and formalism set the stage for significant improvements in quantum simulation costs.Quantum computers offer the potential to efficiently simulate the dynamics of quantum systems, a task whose difficulty scales exponentially with system size on classical devices. To assess the potential for near-term quantum computers to simulate many-body systems we develop a formalism to straightforwardly compute bounds on the number of Trotter steps needed to accurately simulate the time evolution of fermionic lattice models based on the first-order commutator scaling. We apply this formalism to two closely related many-body models prominent in condensed matter physics, the Hubbard and t-J models. We find that, while a naive comparison of the Trotter depth first seems to favor the Hubbard model, careful consideration of the model parameters and the allowable error for accurate simulation leads to a substantial advantage in favor of the t-J model. These results and formalism set the stage for significant improvements in quantum simulation costs.

arXiv:2302.04698Physical Review ResearchJun 28, 20235 citations

1/4

convergence rate with explicit polynomial dependence of the error prefactor on the particle number. The polynomial dependence on system size suggests that the algorithm remains quantumly efficient, even without introducing any regularization of the Coulomb singularity. Such a worst-case rate has been observed in prior work for the hydrogen ground state, demonstrating its physical relevance. We further establish one-step local error lower bounds of order

5/4

for both formulas, showing that the local exponent is sharp. Our second main result identifies a set of physically meaningful conditions on the initial state under which the convergence rates improve, with the full first-order and second-order rates recovered at sufficiently high angular momentum. Our theoretical findings are consistent with prior numerical observations. Our third main result establishes improved convergence rates for many-body fermionic Coulomb systems with initial data of different Sobolev regularity. In particular, even without imposing any additional regularity beyond the natural domain of the Hamiltonian, both the first- and second-order Trotter formulas converge with rate

1/2

, rather than the general

1/4

rate.

1.5\times10^{8}

gates over 6,000 Trotter steps. This study thus establishes practical strategies toward high-accuracy Coulombic dynamics on both classical and emerging quantum platforms.