We study different aspects the worldline path integrals with gauge fields using quantum computing. We use the Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) and Evolution of Hamiltonian (EOH) quantum algorithms and IBM QISKit to perform our computations. We apply these methods to the path integral of a particle moving in a Abelian and non-Abelian background gauge field associated with a constant magnetic field and the field of a chromo-magnetic field. In all cases we found excellent agreement with the classical computation. We also discuss the insertion of vertex operators into the worldline path integrals to study scattering and show how to represent them using unitary operators and quantum gates on near term quantum computers.
Path integrals represent a powerful route to quantization: they calculate probabilities by summing over classical configurations of variables such as fields, assigning each configuration a phase equal to the action of that configuration. This paper defines a universal path integral, which sums over all computable structures. This path integral contains as sub-integrals all possible computable path integrals, including those of field theory, the standard model of elementary particles, discrete models of quantum gravity, string theory, etc. The universal path integral possesses a well-defined measure that guarantees its finiteness, together with a method for extracting probabilities for observable quantities. The universal path integral supports a quantum theory of the universe in which the world that we see around us arises out of the interference between all computable structures.
Although the Hamiltonian formalism is, so far, favored for quantum computation of lattice gauge theory, the path integral formalism would never be useless. The advantages of the path integral formalism are the knowledge and experience accumulated by classical lattice simulation and manifest Lorentz invariance. In this article, we will discuss quantum computation of lattice gauge theory in the path integral formalism, utilize a quantum sampling algorithm to generate gauge configurations, and demonstrate a benchmark test of
Z2 lattice gauge theory on a four-dimensional hypercube.