Quantum computing for effective nuclear lattice model

TL;DR

This paper develops a quantum computing framework for nuclear lattice models, demonstrating its potential through numerical studies of small nuclei and comparing encoding schemes.

Contribution

It introduces a variational quantum eigensolver approach with Gray code encoding and symmetry reduction for nuclear lattice simulations.

Findings

Gray code encoding yields more compact qubit representations.

Numerical results approach experimental binding energies as lattice size increases.

Framework provides a proof-of-principle for future quantum nuclear simulations.

Abstract

Nuclear lattice effective field theory has become an important framework for quantum many-body calculations in nuclear physics, yet its classical implementation remains increasingly challenging for more general interactions and larger systems. In this work, we develop a quantum-computing framework for a three-dimensional nuclear lattice model. We construct a variational quantum eigensolver framework and systematically compare the Jordan-Wigner and Gray code encodings. Our analysis shows that for the few-body systems considered here, Gray code combined with symmetry reduction yields a substantially more compact qubit representation. Based on this framework, we perform numerical studies for $^{2}\mathrm{H}$, $^{3}\mathrm{H}$, and $^{4}\mathrm{He}$ on finite lattices. The calculated ground-state energies exhibit a clear approach toward the corresponding experimental binding energies as the lattice size increases. These results provide a proof-of-principle foundation for future quantum simulations of nuclear many-body problems.