Quantum simulator for the O(3) nonlinear sigma model

We propose a design for the construction of a laboratory system based on present-day technology which reproduces and thereby simulates the quantum dynamics of the O(3) nonlinear sigma model. Apart from its relevance in condensed-matter theory, this strongly interacting quantum field theory serves as an important toy model for quantum chromodynamics (QCD) since it reproduces many crucial properties of QCD. The proposed design is therefore a feasibility and proof-of-principle study for more general analogue quantum simulators. (C) 2005 Pleiades Publishing, Inc.