Quantinuum chip simulates magnetic monopole scattering in a spin chain

[Urban Phoebe]

Quantum computers are being used to explore exotic physics that is hard to study any other way. Quantum Zeitgeist reports that researchers from Ghent, Quantinuum and Cambridge simulated an analogue of magnetic monopole scattering using a spin chain on Quantinuum's H2 processor

The team, including Ueda, Granet, Dreyer and Frank Verstraete, used structures called duality defects to create the analogue of monopoles, hypothetical particles with a single magnetic pole. The approach turns abstract theory into something measurable

Magnetic monopoles have never been observed in nature, but they appear in many theories of physics. Simulating how analogue versions scatter off each other lets physicists test ideas that would otherwise stay on paper

The paper is on arXiv and has not yet been peer reviewed. It appeared early on Saturday, just before the latest news window

This is the kind of scientific simulation many people expect quantum computers to excel at first, well before business applications. Frank Verstraete is one of the leading figures in quantum many body physics, which adds weight to the work. It is a lovely example of quantum hardware acting as a laboratory for theoretical physics

Will scientific simulation be quantum computing's first real success? And do you think magnetic monopoles will ever be found in nature?

Physicists Simulate Magnetic Monopoles On A Quantum Spin Chainquantumzeitgeist.com