This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A research team led by faculty at the Duke Quantum Center (DQC) has observed string-breaking dynamics related to particle-antiparticle formation on a quantum simulator, among the first such observations in quantum physics. The approach, described in the journal Nature Physics, shows that trapped-ion quantum computers can be used to probe fundamental questions about the universe.
The experiment emulates string-breaking, a phenomenon in which two connected fundamental building blocks of matter stretch apart, building up enough energy that new particles "pop into existence" when the connection snaps. "Quantum computer simulations provide the best platform to investigate complex questions like matter formation, short of having witnessed the Big Bang itself," said Christopher Monroe, the Gilhuly Family Presidential Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics at Duke, who led the research. "These findings signal a marked development in the quantum science field and open new avenues for us to understand string-breaking dynamics." The research was conducted by an international collaboration including the University of Maryland (UMD), Oxford University, California Institute of Technology, Cornell University and KU Leuven.
The results join two similar published findings, led by other research teams, that simulated the same phenomenon on different quantum computer platforms. Quarks, fundamental building blocks of matter, exist only when bound together inside particles such as protons and neutrons. They are about a billion times smaller than an atom and can't currently be observed directly.
You can imagine pairs of quarks like two tiny, charged particles connected by a taut string; they want to stick together, so it takes quite a bit of energy to pull them apart. But once they are forced apart, the energy built up in their connection can be enough to create more charged particles, since mass and energy are directly related through Einstein's famous equation E=mc2. When this happens, the string snaps, leaving two or more pairs of particles rather than one.
This process requires so much energy, however, that it happens only in extreme environments like the Large Hadron Collider or the aftermath of the Big Bang. In the new study, the team led by DQC observed analogous string-breaking dynamics on a trapped-ion quantum platform. Quantum simulators, with their high degree of controllability, can be programmed to recreate real-world processes occurring at atomic or even subatomic scales.
"Working at the intersection of quantum simulation and high-energy physics is incredibly exciting," said Arinjoy De, first author of the paper, a former Ph.D. student in Monroe's lab and now production machine lead at QuEra Computing. "By simulating quark confinement and string-breaking phenomena in a controlled lab environment, we're opening up new pathways for experimental investigations into the behavior of matter at its most fundamental level." To perform the simulation, the team encoded a string-breaking model into a chain of 13 trapped ions. Using precisely controlled laser beams, researchers tuned the interactions among the ions.
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