Title: Programmable Quantum Matter at the Frontier of Classical Computation

Abstract:

Quantum computers have begun to achieve the scale and precision required to simulate condensed matter models in regimes that push the limits of classical supercomputers, offering a fully programmable platform for simulating quantum materials. This talk will explore two recent experiments at the frontier of quantum advantage for materials modeling using Quantinuum’s latest generations of trapped-ion quantum processors: System Model H2 (56 qubits), and Helios (98 qubits). First, on H2 we show that discrete quantum circuit dynamics can simulate energy-conserving dynamics of quantum magnets at scales beyond the reach of state-of-the-art classical computational methods, and demonstrate these capabilities by simulating the dynamics of Ising ferromagnets near a phase transition, and resonating valence bond states in geometrically frustrated Ising ferromagnets. Second, with Helios, we develop efficient encodings of fermions into qubits and approximate ground-state preparation schemes to measure superconducting pairing correlations in regimes of Fermi-Hubbard models relevant to experiments on non-equilibrium light-induced superconductivity in cuprates and equilibrium pairing in recently discovered bilayer nickelates. By performing extensive comparisons to a variety of state-of-the-art classical computational techniques, we provide evidence that these calculations are beginning to exceed the capabilities of even the most advanced classical computers.