Three theorists, of which one was from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, have shown how it will be possible to simulate high-energy complex collisions of subatomic particles using future quantum computers.
It is expected that the algorithm can solve some important physical problems that cannot be done by even powerful supercomputers.
One of the most significant frontiers of modern physics is high-energy particle collisions, however the complicated interactions involved cannot be determined using present models. However, it will not be difficult for a quantum computer to model these collisions. These quantum computers will take benefit from quantum mechanics, which are the laws that control subatomic particle interaction. These laws enable quantum switches to be present in both on and off states at the same time, so that a number of solutions to a single problem can be reached instantly.
Helping Quantum Computers Study the Physics of the Universe
NIST Theorist Stephen Jordan said that a theoretical model of a quantum computer is now available and a question that remains is which physical processes occurring in nature can be represented effectively using the model. It is possible that particle collisions, the early universe after the Big Bang are some of the processes and one needs to understand whether a quantum computer can be used for simulation and help in predictions.
These kinds of questions involve tracking the interaction of a number of elements, a scenario that will become too complex for today’s highly powerful computers. An algorithm was developed by the team that could be run on any operational quantum computer, regardless of the technology that would finally be used for construction. All the interactions possible between two elementary particles in collision with each other will be simulated by the algorithm, an operation that presently requires a large accelerator and years of effort to study.
A significant amount of work on the algorithm was done at the California Institute of Technology while Jordan was doing his post doctorate. Fellow postdoc Keith S.M.Lee and the Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics, Caltech’s John Preskill are the co-authors.
Source: http://www.nist.gov