Simulating real-time dynamics of gauge theories represents a paradigmatic use case to test the hardware capabilities of a quantum computer, since it can involve non-trivial input states preparation, discretized time evolution, long-distance entanglement, and measurement in a noisy environment. We implement an algorithm to simulate the real-time dynamics of a few-qubit system that approximates the Schwinger model in the framework of lattice gauge theories, with specific attention to the occurrence of a dynamical quantum phase transition. Limitations in the simulation capabilities on IBM Quantum are imposed by noise affecting the application of single-qubit and two-qubit gates, which combine in the decomposition of Trotter evolution. The experimental results collected in quantum algorithm runs on IBM Quantum are compared with noise models to characterize the performance in the absence of error mitigation.
Currently available quantum computers are prone to errors. Circuit optimization and error mitigation methods are needed to design quantum circuits to achieve better fidelity when executed on NISQ hardware. Dynamical decoupling (DD) is generally used to suppress the decoherence error and different DD strategies have been proposed. Moreover, the circuit fidelity can be improved by pulse-level optimization, such as creating hardware-native pulse-efficient gates. This paper implements all the popular DD sequences and evaluates their performances on IBM quantum chips with different characteristics …
Near-term quantum devices are subject to errors and decoherence error is one of the non-negligible sources. Dynamical decoupling (DD) is a well-known technique to protect idle qubits from decoherence error. However, the optimal approach to inserting DD sequences still remains unclear. In this paper, we identify different conditions that lead to idle qubits and evaluate strategies for DD insertion under these specific conditions. Specifically, we divide the idle qubit into crosstalk-idle or idle-idle qubit depending on its coupling with other qubits and report the DD insertion strategies for th…
We present a quantum-classical algorithm to study the dynamics of the two-spatial-site Schwinger model on IBM's quantum computers. Using rotational symmetries, total charge, and parity, the number of qubits needed to perform computation is reduced by a factor of $\sim 5$, removing exponentially-large unphysical sectors from the Hilbert space. Our work opens an avenue for exploration of other lattice quantum field theories, such as quantum chromodynamics, where classical computation is used to find symmetry sectors in which the quantum computer evaluates the dynamics of quantum fluctuations.
Two qubit density matrices, which are of X-shape, are a natural generalization of Bell Diagonal States (BDSs) recently simulated on the IBM quantum device. We generalize the previous results and propose a quantum circuit for simulation of a general two qubit X-state, implement it on the same quantum device, and study its entanglement for several values of the extended parameter space. We also show that their X-shape is approximately robust against noisy quantum gates. To further physically motivate this study, we invoke the two-spin Heisenberg XYZ system and show that for a wide class of initi…
It is hard to achieve a theoretical quantum advantage on NISQ devices. Besides the attempts to reduce error using error mitigation and dynamical decoupling, small quantum error correction and fault-tolerant schemes that reduce the high overhead of traditional schemes have also been proposed. According to the recent advancements in fault tolerance, it is possible to minimize the number of ancillary qubits using flags. While implementing those schemes is still impossible, it is worthwhile to bridge the gap between the NISQ era and the FTQC era. Here, we introduce a benchmarking method to test fa…
We present simulations of non-equilibrium dynamics of quantum field theories on digital quantum computers. As a representative example, we consider the Schwinger model, a 1+1 dimensional U(1) gauge theory, coupled through a Yukawa-type interaction to a thermal environment described by a scalar field theory. We use the Hamiltonian formulation of the Schwinger model discretized on a spatial lattice. With the thermal scalar fields traced out, the Schwinger model can be treated as an open quantum system and its real-time dynamics are governed by a Lindblad equation in the Markovian limit. The inte…
We present a phase-integral formulation of dynamically assisted Schwinger pair production of scalar charges to find the pair production density under a strong low-frequency field and a weak high-frequency field. The leading WKB action was the Schwinger formula determined by the constant field, whose corrections are determined by the Keldysh parameter for the oscillating field, $mω_{q}/qE_{q}$. We found a systematic expression of the leading WKB action as a power series in the Keldysh parameter, of which coefficients are given as integrals of the product of fields in the complex time domain. Fo…
We study massive charged particle production from the vacuum confined between two vibrating plates in the presence of a strong electric field. We analytically derive a formula for the production number based on the perturbation theory in the Furry picture, and show that the Schwinger mechanism by the strong electric field and the dynamical Casimir effect by the vibration assist with each other to dramatically enhance the production number by orders of the magnitude.
We simulate the dynamics of braiding Majorana zero modes on an IBM Quantum computer. We find the native quantum gates introduce too much noise to observe braiding. Instead, we use Qiskit Pulse to develop scaled two-qubit quantum gates that better match the unitary time evolution operator and enable us to observe braiding. This work demonstrates that quantum computers can be used for simulation, and highlights the use of pulse-level control for programming quantum computers and constitutes the first experimental evidence of braiding via dynamical Hamiltonian evolution.
Electron-positron pair production by the superposition of two laser pulses with different frequencies and amplitudes is analyzed as a particular realization of the assisted dynamic Schwinger effect. It is demonstrated that, within a non-perturbative kinetic equation framework, an amplification effect is conceivable for certain parameters. When both pulses have wavelengths longer than the Compton wavelength, the residual net density of produced pairs is determined by the resultant field strength. The number of pairs starts to grow rapidly if the wavelength of the high-frequency laser component …
The density of electron-hole pairs produced in a graphene sample immersed in a homogeneous time-dependent electrical field is evaluated. Because low energy charge carriers in graphene are described by relativistic quantum mechanics, the calculation is performed within the strong field quantum electrodynamics formalism, requiring a solution of the Dirac equation in momentum space. The latter is solved using a split-operator numerical scheme on parallel computers, allowing for the investigation of several field configurations. The strength of the method is illustrated by computing the electron m…
Hardware-Efficient Error Mitigation and Shot-Efficient Sampling on IBM Quantum Hardware
Quantum Information and Computation Centre, Department of Physics and Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur（印度焦特普尔理工学院）
We show that the elementary modes of the planar harmonic oscillator can be quantised in the framework of quantum mechanics based on pseudo-hermitian hamiltonians. These quantised modes are demonstrated to act as dynamical structures behind a new Jordan - Schwinger realization of the SU(1,1) algebra. This analysis complements the conventional Jordan - Schwinger construction of the SU(2) algebra based on hermitian hamiltonians of a doublet of oscillators.
Aiming at a better understanding of anomalous and topological effects in gauge theories out-of-equilibrium, we study the real-time dynamics of a prototype model for CP-violation, the massive Schwinger model with a $θ$-term. We identify dynamical quantum phase transitions between different topological sectors that appear after sufficiently strong quenches of the $θ$-parameter. Moreover, we establish a general dynamical topological order parameter, which can be accessed through fermion two-point correlators and, importantly, which can be applied for interacting theories. Enabled by this result, …
The kinematical foundations of Schwinger's algebra of selective measurements were discussed in a previous paper (arXiv:1905.12274) and, as a consequence of this, a new picture of quantum mechanics based on groupoids was proposed. In this paper, the dynamical aspects of the theory are analysed. For that, the algebra generated by the observables, as well as the notion of state, are dicussed, and the structure of the transition functions, that plays an instrumental role in Schwinger's picture, is elucidated. A Hamiltonian picture of dynamical evolution emerges naturally, and the formalism offers …
Anomaly, a generic feature of relativistic quantum field theory, is shown to be present in non-relativistic classical ideal fluid. A new result is the presence of anomalous terms in current algebra, an obvious analogue of Schwinger terms present in quantum field theory. We work in Hamiltonian framework where Eulerian dynamical variables obey an anomalous algebra (with Schwinger terms) that is inherited from modified Poisson brackets, with Berry curvature corrections, among Lagrangian discrete coordinates. The divergence anomaly appears in the Hamiltonian equations of motion. A generalized form…
Julian Schwinger's influence on twentieth century science is profound and pervasive. Of course, he is most famous for his renormalization theory of quantum electrodynamics, for which he shared the Nobel Prize with Richard Feynman and Sin-itiro Tomonaga. But although this triumph was undoubtedly his most heroic work, his legacy lives on chiefly through subtle and elegant work in classical electrodynamics, quantum variational principles, proper-time methods, quantum anomalies, dynamical mass generation, partial symmetry, and more. Starting as just a boy, he rapidly became the pre-eminent nuclear…
