arXiv subjects

James Benstead

Publications and source records attributed to James Benstead.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Fault-tolerant quantum algorithms for simulating atomic nuclei

To maximize the value of fault-tolerant quantum computers, it is essential to develop concrete applications beyond well-established domains such as chemistry and condensed-matter physics. Here we construct and compile quantum algorithms to simulate the structure of atomic nuclei -- a topic that has received relatively little attention from the quantum computing community despite its similarities to the electronic structure problem in chemistry -- via effective shell-model Hamiltonians and no-core-shell-model Hamiltonians with three-body interactions derived from chiral effective field theory. Furthermore, we provide quantum resource estimates, in terms of Toffoli gate and qubit counts, for these algorithms, which, to our knowledge, are the first such estimates for fault-tolerant quantum simulation of atomic nuclei. Notably, the estimates for $^{32}$Mg and $^{219}$At shell-model Hamiltonians are comparable to recent estimates of Femoco simulations, a standard benchmark in chemistry. For no-core-shell-model Hamiltonians suitable for light nuclei (up to $^{40}$Ca or so), we find that resource requirements are significantly higher, suggesting that more bespoke strategies are required to make such simulations practicable. Throughout this work, we draw upon the similarities between nuclear and electronic structure problems, while also highlighting challenges that are specific to the former. We hope this work will spur long-term collaborations between the nuclear and quantum computing community with the ultimate goal of realizing useful nuclear simulations on quantum computers.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Variance Minimisation of the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick Model on a Quantum Computer

Quantum computing can potentially provide advantages for specific computational tasks. The simulation of fermionic systems is one such task that lends itself well to quantum computation, with applications in nuclear physics and electronic systems. Here we present work in which we use a variance minimisation method to find the full spectrum of energy eigenvalues of the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model; an exactly-solvable nuclear shell model-type system. We perform these calculations using both quantum simulators and real quantum hardware accessed via IBM cloud-based quantum computers. Using these IBM quantum computers we are able to obtain all eigenvalues for the cases of three and seven fermions (nucleons) in the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Variance minimisation on a quantum computer for nuclear structure

Quantum computing opens up new possibilities for the simulation of many-body nuclear systems. As the number of particles in a many-body system increases, the size of the space if the associated Hamiltonian increases exponentially. This presents a challenge when performing calculations on large systems when using classical computing methods. By using a quantum computer, one may be able to overcome this difficulty thanks to the exponential way the Hilbert space of a quantum computer grows with the number of quantum bits (qubits). Our aim is to develop quantum computing algorithms which can reproduce and predict nuclear structure such as level schemes and level densities. As a sample Hamiltonian, we use the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model. We use an efficient encoding of the Hamiltonian onto many-qubit systems, and have developed an algorithm allowing the full excitation spectrum of a nucleus to be determined with a variational algorithm capable of implementation on today's quantum computers with a limited number of qubits. Our algorithm uses the variance of the Hamiltonian, $\langle H^2\rangle - \langle H\rangle ^2$, as a cost function for the widely-used variational quantum eigensolver (VQE). In this work we present a variance based method of finding the excited state spectrum of a small nuclear system using a quantum computer, using a reduced-qubit encoding method.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Quantum Computing Calculations for Nuclear Structure and Nuclear Data

Model calculations of nuclear properties are peformed using quantum computing algorithms on simulated and real quantum computers. The models are a realistic calculation of deuteron binding based on effective field theory, and a simplified two-level version of the nuclear shell model known as the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model. A method of reducing the number of qubits needed for practical calculation is presented, the reduction being with respect to the number needed when the standard Jordan-Wigner encoding is used. Its efficacy is shown in the case of the deuteron binding and shell model. A version of the variational quantum eigensolver in which all eigenstates in a spectrum are targetted on an equal basis is shown. The method involves finding the minima of the variance of the Hamiltonian. The method's ability to find the full spectrum of the simplified shell model is presented.

nucl-th↗