A near-term quantum simulation of the transverse field Ising model hints at Glassy Dynamics

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates quantum circuit simulations of the transverse field Ising model exhibiting glassy dynamics, using VQE to analyze disordered states in small lattice models, highlighting potential for quantum computational insights into complex quantum matter.

Contribution

It introduces the use of variational quantum algorithms to simulate and analyze glassy dynamics in the transverse field Ising model on small lattices, showcasing the potential of quantum computing in this domain.

Findings

Successful simulation of disordered spin configurations

Identification of glassy dynamics features

Potential for quantum tools in complex quantum matter research

Abstract

We demonstrate quantum circuit simulations of the transverse field Ising model with longitudinal fields, displaying salient features of glassy dynamics. The energy landscape and spin configurations of toy models are considered, using the Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) to obtain the ground-state energies and corresponding eigenstates for a $6 \times 6$ Ising lattice using 36 qubits and a 1-dimensional Ising chain of length 25 using 25 qubits. The former showed disordered spin configurations for a specific mixture of values of the two fields. These insights mirror catalytic processes, where disorder within a catalyst can lead to inefficient reaction mechanisms. Results obtained from our proof-of-principle implementation make the case for kick-starting more concentrated efforts in harnessing existing quantum computational tools for computationally probing complex dynamical behaviour arising in quantum matter. Our aim is to leverage tools from quantum information processing to bring about a more nuanced understanding of the dynamics and structure of glassy systems, ultimately informing the development of novel materials and technology.