Abstract
Difficult problems described in terms of interacting quantum fields evolving in real time or out of equilibrium are abound in condensed-matter and high-energy physics. Addressing such problems via controlled experiments in atomic, molecular, and optical physics would be a breakthrough in the field of quantum simulations. In this work, we present a quantum-sensing protocol to measure the generating functional of an interacting quantum field theory and, with it, all the relevant information about its in or out of equilibrium phenomena. Our protocol can be understood as a collective interferometric scheme based on a generalization of the notion of Schwinger sources in quantum field theories, which make it possible to probe the generating functional. We show that our scheme can be realized in crystals of trapped ions acting as analog quantum simulators of self-interacting scalar quantum field theories.
Highlights
Some of the most complicated problems of theoretical physics arise in the study of quantum systems with a large, sometimes even infinite, number of coupled degrees of freedom (d.o.f.)
We show that our scheme can be realized in crystals of trapped ions acting as analog quantum simulators of self-interacting scalar quantum field theories
These complex problems arise in our effort to understand certain observations in condensed-matter [1] or high-energy physics [2], which one tries to model with the unifying language of quantum field theories (QFTs)
Summary
Some of the most complicated problems of theoretical physics arise in the study of quantum systems with a large, sometimes even infinite, number of coupled degrees of freedom (d.o.f.). The relevant symmetries of the high-energy QFT, such as Lorentz invariance, must emerge as one takes the continuum or low-energy limit in the AMO quantum simulator This occurs trivially for free fermionic QFTs [12], which underlies the schemes for the AQS of Dirac QFTs with ultracold atoms in optical lattices [14]. This is the standard situation in lattice-field theories [19], where the continuum limit is obtained by letting the lattice spacing a → 0, removing the natural UV cutoff of the lattice, while maintaining a finite renormalized mass or gap m describing the physical mass of the particles in the corresponding QFT This requires setting the bare parameters close to a critical point of the lattice model, where the dimensionless correlation length, measured in lattice units, diverges ξ~ → ∞. Our scheme is devised for analog quantum simulators, such that the resource requirements are lower than those of a DQS using a fault-tolerant quantum computing hardware
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