Quantum Simulation of the Majorana Equation and Unphysical Operations
Abstract
A quantum simulator is a device engineered to reproduce the properties of an ideal quantum model. It allows the study of quantum systems that cannot be efficiently simulated on classical computers. While a universal quantum computer is also a quantum simulator, only particular systems have been simulated up to now. Still, there is a wealth of successful cases, such as spin models, quantum chemistry, relativistic quantum physics and quantum phase transitions. Here, we show how to design a quantum simulator for the Majorana equation, a non-Hamiltonian relativistic wave equation that might describe neutrinos and other exotic particles beyond the standard model. The simulation demands the implementation of charge conjugation, an unphysical operation that opens a new front in quantum simulations, including the discrete symmetries associated with complex conjugation and time reversal. Finally, we show how to implement this general method in trapped ions.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1102.1651,
title = {Quantum Simulation of the Majorana Equation and Unphysical Operations},
author = {J. Casanova and C. Sabin and J. Leon and I. L. Egusquiza and R. Gerritsma and C. F. Roos and J. J. Garcia-Ripoll and E. Solano},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1102.1651},
year = {2011}
}
Comments
To be published in Physical Review X