Studying quantum algorithms for particle track reconstruction in the LUXE experiment

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential of quantum algorithms to improve particle track reconstruction in the LUXE experiment, addressing computational challenges with quantum computing methods.

Contribution

It introduces a quantum computing approach to particle track reconstruction formulated as a quadratic unconstrained binary optimisation problem.

Findings

Quantum simulations show promise for track reconstruction.

Quantum algorithms compare favorably with classical methods.

Preliminary results indicate potential for quantum advantage.

Abstract

The LUXE experiment (LASER Und XFEL Experiment) is a new experiment in planning at DESY Hamburg, which will study Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) at the strong-field frontier. In this regime, QED is non-perturbative. This manifests itself in the creation of physical electron-positron pairs from the QED vacuum. LUXE intends to measure the positron production rate in this unprecedented regime by using, among others, a silicon tracking detector. The large number of expected positrons traversing the sensitive detector layers results in an extremely challenging combinatorial problem, which can become computationally very hard for classical computers. This paper presents a preliminary study to explore the potential of quantum computers to solve this problem and to reconstruct the positron trajectories from the detector energy deposits. The reconstruction problem is formulated in terms of a quadratic unconstrained binary optimisation. Finally, the results from the quantum simulations are discussed and compared with traditional classical track reconstruction algorithms.