Quantum simulation of quantum field theory using continuous variables

Abstract

Much progress has been made in the field of quantum computing using continuous variables over the last couple of years. This includes the generation of extremely large entangled cluster states (10,000 modes, in fact) as well as a fault tolerant architecture. This has lead to the point that continuous-variable quantum computing can indeed be thought of as a viable alternative for universal quantum computing. With that in mind, we present a new algorithm for continuous- variable quantum computers which gives an exponential speedup over the best known classical methods. Specifically, this relates to efficiently calculating the scattering amplitudes in scalar bosonic quantum field theory, a problem that is known to be hard using a classical computer. Building on this, we give an experimental implementation based on cluster states that is feasible with today's technology.