The Standard Model of Particle Physics is our best understanding of quantum particles, but it’s incomplete. To explore beyond its limits, researchers must study exotic phenomena using quantum computers. Scientists at the University of Washington and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory developed techniques to simulate quantum systems on IBM’s quantum computers to reach new levels of complexity beyond classical methods.
By focusing on quantum chromodynamics (QCD), the strong force binding atomic nuclei, researchers aim to simulate high-energy collisions in particles and nuclei that occur in particle colliders like the Large Hadron Collider. These simulations are essential for uncovering new physics beyond the Standard Model. Through scalable algorithms, they aim to achieve “quantum advantage” by simulating processes inaccessible to classical computation.
Using quantum hardware, experiments like the Schwinger model help simulate quantum vacuum states and hadron wavepackets, crucial for understanding particle dynamics. The utilization of Qiskit software enabled error mitigation techniques to counter noise in quantum hardware, enabling accurate results. By leveraging Sampler primitives and optimizing circuit execution with Session mode, researchers achieved notable progress in quantum simulations, paving the way for future discoveries in particle physics.
The future of quantum simulation technology holds promise for simulating collisions between particle beams, potentially demonstrating quantum computational advantage. Despite challenges like all-to-all interactions in simulations, techniques such as confinement and approximate interactions are used to overcome obstacles. Through advancements in error mitigation techniques and software tools like Qiskit, researchers have made significant strides in performing complex simulations on current quantum hardware.
Looking ahead, the goal is to transition scalable quantum algorithms developed on current quantum processors to future error-corrected devices. By achieving quantum error correction, researchers aim to unlock the full potential of quantum computers, enabling rich three-dimensional simulations of complex physics processes that were previously impossible. With quantum technology rapidly evolving, the path to groundbreaking discoveries in particle physics is closer than ever before.
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https://www.ibm.com/quantum/blog/hadron-dynamics-simulations