Speaker
Description
Descriptions of atomic nuclei involve highly-complex many-body interactions, stemming from Quantum Chromodynamics. In the context of High Energy Physics, the experimental pursuit of new physics calls for increasingly precise simulations, testing the limits of classical computing. Quantum computing offers a first-principles-based approach to exploring phenomena such as neutrino-nucleus scattering by describing nuclear responses.
In view of recent developments in ground-state energy estimation algorithms suited for the Early Fault-Tolerant era, we perform an initial study of their application to nuclear models. Our goal is to demonstrate the applicability of these methods to problems of importance to experimental physics. We consider the nuclear pionless Effective Field Theory in 1D and 2D lattices for several system sizes. This theory is well understood, and suitable for the study of light nuclei, making it an appropriate vehicle for early evaluation of nuclear physics applications of quantum computing.
An initial approximation of the ground state and its energy was obtained classically using the Hartree-Fock method, to providing a larger initial state overlap through cheap classical estimation. The Lin and Tong algorithm for ground state energy was then implemented. In this talk I will share promising results for the cases tested, showing a marked improvement in Hartree-Fock estimates. The resource requirements suggest this approach is a viable candidate for medium-term application in light nuclei.