Simon Williams (Durham)

Quantum Computing for Particle Physics

Abstract: With the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider around the corner, and the Future Circular Collider on the horizon, particle physics stands on the brink of a new computational frontier. Coping with the large data output from experiments, and accurately generating precise high-energy physics simulations necessitates the exploration of novel computational methods. Quantum computing, with its rapid and continuous advancements, offers a paradigm shift in information science and promises to fundamentally revolutionise modern computational techniques. Particle physics is set to benefit from both speed enhancements and the unique capability of the quantum device to handle highly entangled quantum systems, calculating in a regime never before accessible. In this talk, I will present two quantum algorithms for particle physics applications. The first uses Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices to simulate parton showers in high-energy collisions. The algorithm leverages a Discrete QCD model and employs an elegant quantum walk implementation to achieve a data comparison with experimental data from the Large Electron Positron collider. The quantum parton shower is the first quantum algorithm capable of simulating realistic, high-energy particle collision events on a NISQ device. The second algorithm utilises a quantum template matching algorithm for charge-particle track finding. By abstracting Quantum Amplitude Amplification and utilising a unique oracle construction, the algorithm can efficiently match input data with hit-pattern templates, even in the presence of missing hit information. Our findings propose quantum methodologies tailored for real-world applications and underscore the potential of quantum computing in collider physics.