Preparations for quantum simulations of quantum chromodynamics in 1+1 dimensions. I. Axial gauge

Tools necessary for quantum simulations of 1 + 1 dimensional quantum chromodynamics are developed. When formulated in axial gauge and with two flavors of quarks, this system requires 12 qubits per spatial site with the gauge fields included via nonlocal interactions. Classical computations and D-wave's quantum annealer Advantage are used to determine the hadronic spectrum, enabling a decomposition of the masses and a study of quark entanglement. Color edge states confined within a screening length of the end of the lattice are found. IBM's seven-qubit quantum computers, ibmq_jakarta and ibm_perth, are used to compute dynamics from the trivial vacuum in one -flavor QCD with one spatial site. More generally, the Hamiltonian and quantum circuits for time evolution of 1 + 1 dimensional SU(Nc) gauge theory with Nf flavors of quarks are developed, and the resource requirements for large-scale quantum simulations are estimated.

Automated summary

Tools necessary for quantum simulations of 1 + 1 dimensional quantum chromodynamics are developed. Classical computations and D-wave's quantum annealer Advantage are used to determine the hadronic spectrum and study quark entanglement. IBM's seven-qubit quantum computers are used to compute dynamics in one-flavor QCD with one spatial site, and resource requirements for large-scale simulations are estimated for SU(Nc) gauge theory with Nf flavors of quarks.