Quantum simulation of lattice gauge theories

by Saverio Pascazio (BA)

Tuesday 5 Nov 2019, 10:00 → 11:00 Europe/Rome

1G09

The difference between a quantum simulator and a quantum computer has become more and more difficult to define, during the last few years. Both can solve fundamental problems that are untractable by classical hardware. 

In general, quantum simulators are more focused than quantum computers, and easier to control. Like quantum computers, simulators simultaneously perform a number of computations by exploiting the superposition principle and entanglement. This is known as quantum parallelism and can lead to an exponential speedup of performance. 

We consider the example of a discrete Abelian gauge theory, towards the realization of a quantum simulator for QED in one dimension. We analyze the role of the finiteness of the gauge fields and the properties of physical states, satisfying Gauss’s law. We show evidence of a phase transition.