Analog Quantum Simulators: An Experimentalist’s view

Presented by Joseph Broz, UC Berkeley

In the future, digital quantum simulations may be one of the highest yield applications of fault-tolerant, quantum computers. However, it is unlikely that NISQ-era devices will be able to achieve the circuit depth (or perhaps even scale) required to perform simulations that can outperform those currently run on state of the art classical resources. At the expense of generality, purpose-built analog quantum simulators may be able to outperform their digital counterparts in the near-term. In fact, some historical precedent for this can be found in the development of classical computers.

In this talk, I will first provide an overview of the current state of the field of analog quantum simulation. Next, as a case study, I will consider in more detail the example of simulating a collection of spins coupled to a continuous-Bosonic bath, which, for instance, has applications in modeling of energy transfer in biological systems.