Work

Simulating Chemistry with Fermionic Optical Superlattices

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: We show that quantum-number-preserving ansatzes for variational optimization in quantum chemistry find an elegant mapping to ultracold fermions in optical superlattices. Using native Hubbard dynamics, trial ground states of molecular Hamiltonians can be prepared and their molecular energies measured in the lattice. The scheme requires local control over interactions and chemical potentials and global control over tunneling dynamics, but foregoes the need for optical tweezers, shuttling operations, or long-range interactions. We describe a complete compilation pipeline from the molecular Hamiltonian to the sequence of lattice operations, thus providing a concrete link between quantum simulation and chemistry. Our work enables the application of recent quantum algorithmic techniques, such as double factorization and quantum tailored coupled cluster, to present-day fermionic optical lattice systems with significant improvements in the required number of experimental repetitions. We provide detailed quantum resource estimates for small nontrivial hardware experiments.

Source: PRX Quantum

DOI: 10.1103/prxquantum.6.010318

Authors: Fotios Gkritsis, Daniel Dux, Jin Zhang, Naman Jain, Christian Gogolin, Philipp M. Preiss

Institutions: Covestro (Germany), Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology

Language: English

Topic: Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,450

Funders: European Commission, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Covestro