EAGER: QSA: Accelerating Lattice Quantum Field Theory Calculations Via Interpolator Optimization Using NISQ-Era Quantum Computing

物理量子系统的模拟是量子计算最有前途和自然潜力的应用之一。目前，人们正致力于为量子物理开发量子算法。作为对量子计算的完全补充，通过将近期量子设备集成到现有的经典工作流中，可以获得巨大的量子优势，就像过去几十年将图形处理单元作为加速器集成到高性能计算系统中所实现的那样。本项目通过在经典计算机上使用量子计算加速数值量子场理论计算，研究了一种这样的途径。开发的算法有可能实现物质结构的第一性原理研究，而这些结构通过经典方法是计算困难的。本项目的主要目标是实现一个量子算法，通过有效识别量子态的表示来加速晶格场理论的计算。所采用的方法对在量子设备上执行的计算中的错误具有明显的健壮性，并且使得能够在经典设备而不是量子设备上进行更大的希尔伯特空间的缩放。在超导量子比特器件和真实的模拟器上探索和实现了该算法的实现策略。一项关键任务是量化该方法的扩展和实施成本。这项开发工作的成功有可能解决描述自然的量子场论的数值研究中的指数信噪比挑战。该项目更广泛的影响集中在培训下一代科学家，他们的专业知识将架起量子计算与算法和物理之间的桥梁。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Simulations of physical quantum systems are one of the promising and natural potential applications of quantum computing. At the present time, significant effort is being devoted to developing quantum algorithms for quantum physics. Complementing exclusively quantum calculations, there is great potential for quantum advantages to be obtained by integrating near-term quantum devices into existing classical workflows, much as has been achieved by the integration of graphical processing units as accelerators into high-performance computing systems in the last decades. This project investigates one such pathway via the acceleration of numerical quantum field theory calculations on classical computers using quantum computing. The developed algorithms have the potential to enable first-principles studies of the structure of matter that are computationally intractable via classical means.The primary goal of this project is to implement a quantum algorithm to accelerate lattice field theory calculations via the efficient identification of representations of quantum states. The approach taken is demonstrably robust to errors in the calculations performed on quantum devices, and enables scaling to larger Hilbert spaces to be undertaken on classical rather than quantum devices. Strategies to realize the algorithm are pursued and implemented on superconducting qubit devices, as well as on realistic simulators. A key task is to quantify the scaling and implementation costs of the approach. Success in this development effort has the potential to address the exponential signal-to-noise challenge in numerical studies of the quantum field theories which describe nature. The broader impacts of this project are focused on training the next generation of scientists whose expertise will bridge the intersection of quantum computing and algorithms and physics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.