Dissertation
Quantum computing for field and gauge theories in the NISQ era
University of Iowa
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
Spring 2021
DOI: 10.17077/etd.006129
Abstract
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.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Quantum computing for field and gauge theories in the NISQ era
- Creators
- Erik Gustafson
- Contributors
- Yannick Meurice (Advisor)Wayne Polyzou (Committee Member)Vincent Rodgers (Committee Member)Craig Pryor (Committee Member)Stephen Jordan (Committee Member)
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
- Degree in
- Physics
- Date degree season
- Spring 2021
- DOI
- 10.17077/etd.006129
- Publisher
- University of Iowa
- Number of pages
- xxii, 261 pages
- Copyright
- Copyright 2021 Erik Gustafson
- Language
- English
- Description illustrations
- illustrations (some color)
- Description bibliographic
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 245-261).
- Public Abstract (ETD)
Computational high energy physics has brought many exciting results since its infancy in the 1980s. However progress has been stunted in many areas such as the scattering of particles in quantum field theory. Richard Feynman proposed that quantum problems should be simulated with things that exhibit quantum behavior, in this case a computer that is a quantum mechanical system. The recent developments and boom in quantum computing has made the Feynman’s original proposal more feasible than at the time he proposed it.
In this thesis I develop the mathematical, statistical, and computational tools necessary to simulate quantum field theories using current and near future digital quantum computers. These tools are applied to several simple and related models in quantum field theories and will help develop a road map to studying more complex quantum field theories in the coming years.
- Academic Unit
- Physics and Astronomy
- Record Identifier
- 9984096977002771
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