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BQP-completeness of Scattering in Scalar Quantum Field Theory

Published

Author(s)

Stephen P. Jordan, Keith S. Lee, John Preskill

Abstract

Recent work has shown that quantum computers can in polynomial time compute scattering probabilities in massive quantum field theories. One can translate this task into a corresponding formal problem in computational complexity theory. Here, we establish that this is a BQP-hard problem. In other words, by solving it, one can solve any problem that can be solved in polynomial time by a quantum computer. Hence, these scattering probabilities cannot be obtained by any classical polynomial-time algorithm unless BQP=BPP. Our construction works by encoding a quantum circuit into a spacetime-varying source term in the quantum field theory’s Lagrangian.
Citation
Quantum Information & Computation
Volume
14
Issue
11&12

Keywords

quantum information, computational complexity

Citation

Jordan, S. , Lee, K. and Preskill, J. (2014), BQP-completeness of Scattering in Scalar Quantum Field Theory, Quantum Information & Computation (Accessed April 17, 2024)
Created September 1, 2014, Updated February 19, 2017