The quantum imaginary time evolution (QITE) algorithm is a direct implementation of the classical imaginary time evolution algorithm on quantum computer. We implement the QITE algorithm for the case of nuclear Hartree-Fock equations in a formalism equivalent to nuclear density functional theory. We demonstrate the algorithm in the case of the helium-4 nucleus with a simplified effective interaction of the Skyrme kind and demonstrate that the QITE, as implemented on simulated quantum computer, gives identical results to the classical algorithm.
@article{arxiv.2308.15425,
title = {A Quantum Simulation Approach to Implementing Nuclear Density Functional Theory via Imaginary Time Evolution},
author = {Yang Hong Li and Jim Al-Khalili and Paul Stevenson},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2308.15425},
year = {2024}
}