Quantum Computer Models How Particles ‘pop’ Into Existence From Energy

Researchers led by Christopher Monroe at Duke have, for one of the first times in quantum physics, observed string-breaking dynamics, a process where connected building blocks of matter stretch and create particles, on a quantum simulator. The Duke Quantum Center team used a chain of 13 trapped ions to emulate conditions similar to the Big Bang, offering a new way to study high-energy physics without recreating the event itself.

“Quantum computer simulations provide the best platform to investigate complex questions like matter formation, short of having witnessed the big bang itself,” said Monroe, the Gilhuly Family Presidential Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics. This study joins two similar published findings from other research teams, validating the use of quantum computers to simulate this phenomenon on different platforms.

Trapped-Ion Quantum Simulation Models Quark-Antiquark String Breaking

The Duke Quantum Center team used a chain of 13 trapped ions to perform the simulation, recreating conditions mirroring the extreme energies present immediately after the Big Bang. Researchers used precisely controlled laser beams to tune interactions between these ions, effectively manipulating the energy within the system and mimicking the stretching and eventual breaking of a string of fundamental particles. By preparing the system in an out-of-equilibrium state, they tracked the evolution of the simulated string and observed the emergence of effective charges, reconstructing the resulting dynamics with high fidelity.