nuclear-lattice-vqe

name

nuclear-lattice-vqe

description

Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE) framework for nuclear lattice effective field theory. Computes ground state energies of light nuclei (2H, 3H, 4He) using Gray code encoding with symmetry reduction for compact qubit representation. Keywords: nuclear physics, VQE, variational quantum eigensolver, nuclear lattice EFT, Gray code encoding, Jordan-Wigner, light nuclei, deuterium, tritium, helium-4.

Nuclear Lattice VQE

Quantum computing framework for nuclear lattice effective field theory using variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) for light nuclei calculations.

Core Concepts

Nuclear Lattice EFT

• Framework: Lattice effective field theory for nuclear physics
• Challenge: Classical implementation increasingly difficult for larger systems
• Quantum solution: VQE for nuclear many-body problems

Quantum Approach

• Algorithm: Variational Quantum Eigensolver
• Systems: Few-body nuclei (2H, 3H, 4He)
• Geometry: Three-dimensional nuclear lattice model

Technical Specifications

Encoding Comparison

Encoding	Qubits	Compactness
Jordan-Wigner	Higher	Baseline
Gray Code + Symmetry	Lower	Substantially more compact

Systems Studied

• 2H (Deuterium): Two-nucleon system
• 3H (Tritium): Three-nucleon system
• 4He (Helium-4): Four-nucleon system

Results

• Ground State Energies: Calculated on finite lattices
• Convergence: Clear approach to experimental binding energies
• Lattice Size: Increasing size improves accuracy

Implementation

VQE Framework

1. State Preparation: Prepare nuclear state ansatz
2. Hamiltonian Encoding: Map nuclear Hamiltonian to qubits
3. Variational Optimization: Minimize energy expectation
4. Result Extraction: Measure ground state energy

Encoding Strategy

Jordan-Wigner

• Standard fermionic encoding
• Higher qubit requirements

Gray Code + Symmetry Reduction

• More compact representation
• Exploits nuclear symmetries
• Substantially fewer qubits

Lattice Model

• Dimensions: 3D nuclear lattice
• Interactions: Nuclear effective field theory
• Boundaries: Finite lattice size effects

Workflow

Step 1: System Selection

Choose target nucleus (2H, 3H, 4He)

Step 2: Encoding Choice

• Compare Jordan-Wigner vs Gray Code
• Apply symmetry reduction
• Optimize qubit count

Step 3: VQE Execution

• Prepare variational ansatz
• Optimize parameters
• Measure energy

Step 4: Convergence Analysis

• Vary lattice size
• Compare with experimental values
• Extrapolate to continuum limit

Applications

Nuclear Structure

• Light nuclei binding energies
• Nuclear forces
• Three-body forces

Nuclear Reactions

• Scattering processes
• Reaction cross-sections
• Astrophysical reactions

Benchmarking

• Quantum algorithm validation
• Encoding comparison
• Noise resilience

Future Directions

System Extensions

• Heavier nuclei
• Infinite nuclear matter
• Neutron stars

Algorithm Improvements

• Error mitigation
• Better ansatz design
• Hardware-efficient implementations

References

• Paper: arXiv:2604.13430 - "Quantum computing for effective nuclear lattice model"
• Category: Quantum Chemistry / Nuclear Physics

Related Skills

• variational-quantum-eigensolver
• quantum-chemistry
• nuclear-physics-simulation