Researchers have for the first time utilized an IBM quantum processor to model a fundamental process in quantum electrodynamics: the creation of a particle-antiparticle pair under a strong electric field. This was reported by The Quantum Insider.
Anthony Chiavarella from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory employed 104 out of 156 qubits from the Heron processor on the IBM Quantum platform. Access to the hardware was provided through the Quantum Computer User Program.
The research focused on the breaking of a gluon string—a mechanism where the connection between quarks is severed, resulting in the birth of a new quark-antiquark pair. This process is considered a key part of hadronization.
According to the article, the quantum simulation yielded results consistent with previous calculations performed on classical supercomputers.
However, the calculation did not claim to represent full quantum chromodynamics. The simulation was intentionally simplified: it was limited to one spatial dimension—essentially a one-dimensional model—and imposed a strict limit on the number of quarks.
Chiavarella views this work as a foundation for larger quantum simulations: as hardware and algorithms advance, such approaches could help model processes related to experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN more accurately.
“In principle, we know the theory that describes hadronization, but we cannot make predictions using it because the computations are too complex for classical computers. However, with quantum hardware, we will be able to directly predict the details of the process, which will aid in the search for new physics at colliders like the LHC,” the researcher stated.
It is worth noting that in June, experts tested the IBM Nighthawk quantum processor in calculating the interaction between a nucleon and an antinucleon in a simplified model of quantum chromodynamics, QCD2.