Non-Abelian String-Breaking Dynamics on a Qudit Quantum Computer

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the first quantum simulation of non-abelian string-breaking dynamics in a SU(2) lattice gauge theory using a trapped-ion quantum computer with qudits, revealing non-perturbative phenomena relevant to high-energy physics.

Contribution

It introduces a hardware-efficient qudit-based quantum simulation of non-abelian gauge theories, capturing string-breaking dynamics driven by gauge-field self-interactions without dynamical matter.

Findings

Successfully simulated non-abelian string-breaking on a trapped-ion quantum computer.

Resolved string oscillations and coherent breaking via gluonic excitations.

Showed non-perturbative string dynamics in a pure SU(2) gauge theory.

Abstract

Gauge theories form the foundation of the Standard Model of particle physics. These theories can exhibit confinement, where charged particles only occur in bound states, connected by flux strings whose energy grows linearly with separation. Simulating the real-time dynamics of such strings, including their breaking, remains a major challenge for classical computations and a promising target for quantum simulations. While recent quantum simulation experiments explored string-breaking dynamics in abelian lattice gauge theories, non-abelian theories are qualitatively distinct because gauge fields themselves carry charge. Here, we report the first quantum simulation of genuine non-abelian string-breaking dynamics in a pure SU($2$) lattice gauge theory, where gauge-field self-interactions drive string breaking even in the absence of dynamical matter. Our results are obtained on a trapped-ion quantum computer, using native qudit Hilbert spaces to encode truncated gauge fields on a ladder geometry and implement digital Trotter dynamics. We experimentally study unbreakable and breakable strings generated by fundamental and adjoint static charges, respectively. We locally resolve string oscillations and coherent string breaking through the creation of gluonic excitations driven by non-abelian plaquette interactions. Our work establishes hardware-efficient, problem-tailored qudit simulations as a promising route for accessing non-perturbative dynamics relevant to high-energy physics.