Truncation errors in quantum simulations now more predictable

Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and collaborating institutions have developed a method for more accurately estimating errors in quantum simulations of the strong nuclear force. The work addresses a fundamental challenge: representing gauge fields, which can theoretically hold an unbounded amount of electric flux, using a finite number of qubits. By using a property called Hilbert space fragmentation, the team demonstrates the error decreases factorially with each additional field value retained in the simulation. These results suggest quantum simulations of gauge theories may require significantly fewer qubits than previously estimated. The encoding of lattice gauge theories onto quantum computers…