Lattice gauge theory for a quantum computer

Abstract

The quantum link [1] Hamiltonian was introduced two decades ago as an alternative to Wilson's Euclidean lattice QCD with gauge fields represented by bi-linear fermion/anti-fermion operators. When generalized this new microscopic representation of lattice field theories is referred as D-theory[2]. Recast as a Hamiltonian in Minkowski space for real time evolution, D-theory leads naturally to quantum Qubit algorithms. Here to explore digital quantum computing for gauge theories, the simplest example of U(1) compact QED on triangular lattice is defined and gauge invariant kernels for the Suzuki-Trotter expansions are expressed as Qubit circuits capable of being tested on the IMB-Q and other existing Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) hardware. This is a modest step in exploring the quantum complexity of D-theory to guide future applications to high energy physics and condensed matter quantum field theories.