5 September 2024

ERC Starting Grant for Jad C. Halimeh: Proposing the next generation of quantum simulators of gauge theories

Dr. Jad C. Halimeh, MCQST member and group leader at LMU München and at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, has won a prestigious 2024 Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). With this funding, the theorist and his group intend to advance current concepts of quantum simulation, particularly for higher-dimensional gauge theories and their far-from-equilibrium quantum many-body dynamics.

The scope and success of Halimeh’s project hinges on a two-pronged approach, addressing both technological and phenomenological aspects: Gauge theories, a fundamental framework of modern physics, have been notoriously hard to probe out of equilibrium because of the challenges posed by entanglement. Continuing his previous scientific work, Halimeh and his team aim to propose the next generation of experimentally feasible and reliable large-scale quantum simulators of gauge theories in higher spatial dimensions and with non-Abelian gauge groups. In addition, the research project will include extensive collaboration with experimental groups to implement these proposals on existing quantum hardware.

Studying far-from-equilibrium quantum many-body dynamics presents significant challenges, especially when the underlying models are so-called gauge theories. These theories are fundamental to modern physics, describing the interactions between elementary particles through gauge bosons. Their key property, gauge symmetry, establishes an intrinsic relationship between the distribution of charged matter and the configurations of gauge fields.

However, probing the far-from-equilibrium dynamics of gauge theories, especially in higher spatial dimensions, is difficult due to the ensuing buildup of quantum entanglement – a quintessentially quantum feature where two different parts of the system cannot be described separately. Despite these challenges, understanding such dynamics could provide valuable insight into condensed matter and high-energy physics, including the evolution of the early universe or the nature of quantum thermalisation.

Jad C. Halimeh’s ERC Starting Grant project – “Quantum simulation of far-from-equilibrium gauge theories” (QuSiGauge) – will take a step towards answering such open questions through a two-pronged approach that encompasses a technological and a phenomenological pillar. In the technological part of QuSiGauge, he and his team will elaborate theoretical concepts for experimentally feasible and reliable quantum simulators of tunable gauge theories in higher spatial dimensions and with non-Abelian gauge groups. This pillar builds on the theorist’s previous work, specifically his innovative gauge-protection method, which has allowed the robust stabilisation of the underlying gauge symmetry on the quantum simulator. “My linear gauge protection idea facilitated the realisation of the currently largest-scale quantum simulators of toy-model Abelian gauge theories and I am looking forward to further advance and experimentally employ this method”, Halimeh explains.

The phenomenological pillar of the project, in contrast, will aim to discover, enhance, and classify new exotic far-from-equilibrium gauge-theory dynamics that can be observed in current and near-term state-of-the-art quantum simulation platforms. The results could shed light on the nature of equilibration in isolated quantum many-body systems, with potential applications in quantum sensing and metrology.

“The two pillars of the project have the potential to create a complete paradigm shift in how we study quantum-many dynamics. Additionally, they can provide a unique complementary venue for studying high-energy physics”, Jad C. Halimeh comments.

“The ERC Starting Grant provides me with the necessary resources to push the technology of quantum simulation of gauge theories in two spatial dimensions and beyond, and to further unravel the origin of the plethora of far-from-equilibrium phenomena emerging in these models”, the physicist further adds.

The Starting Grant from the European Research Council is the latest of several highly prestigious awards Dr. Jad C. Halimeh has received. Previously, he was awarded the free-floating Max Planck Research Group Leader grant (2 million euros, October 2023) and the Emmy Noether Research Group Leader grant (1.5 million euros, August 2023).

Source: MPQ website