Quantum gate sets for lattice QCD in the strong-coupling limit: $N_{f}=1$

Abstract

We derive the primitive quantum gate sets to simulate lattice quantum chromodynamics (LQCD) in the strong-coupling limit with one flavor of massless staggered quarks. This theory is of interest for studies at non-zero density as the sign problem can be overcome using Monte Carlo methods. In this work, we use it as a testing ground for quantum simulations. The key point is that no truncation of the bosonic Hilbert space is necessary as the theory is formulated in terms of color-singlet degrees of freedom (“baryons” and “mesons”). The baryons become static in the limit of continuous time and decouple, whereas the dynamics of the mesonic theory involves two qubits per lattice site. Lending dynamics also to the “baryons” simply requires to use the derived gate set in its controlled version.