1998/10/31 by Barbara M. Terhal, David P. DiVincenzo · 1 citation
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Algorithm #Computation #Computer science #Parallel computing #Physics #Quantum #Quantum Computing Algorithms and Architecture #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum algorithm #Quantum computer #Quantum many-body systems #Quantum mechanics #Speedup #State (computer science) #Statistical physics #Thermal equilibrium #cond-mat #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreva.61.022301
published as Phys.Rev. A61 (2000) 22301 · 25 pages LaTex + 8 figures; various additional comments, results and corrections
arxiv created 1999/05/04 · openalex publication_date 2000/01/04 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We address the question of how a quantum computer can be used to simulate experiments on quantum systems in thermal equilibrium. We present two approaches for the preparation of the equilibrium state on a quantum computer. For both approaches, we show that the output state of the algorithm, after long enough time, is the desired equilibrium. We present a numerical analysis of one of these approaches for small systems. We show how equilibrium (time-)correlation functions can be efficiently estimated on a quantum computer, given a preparation of the equilibrium state. The quantum algorithms that we present are hard to simulate on a classical computer. This indicates that they could provide an exponential speedup over what can be achieved with a classical device.