Chinese Scientists Make Breakthrough in Solving Fermi-Hubbard Model with Ultracold Atomic Quantum Simulator
TapTechNews July 11th news, according to the report of the USTC News Network, a team led by Pan Jianwei, Chen Yu'ao, Yao Xingcan and Deng Youjin from the University of Science and Technology of China has successfully constructed an ultracold atomic quantum simulator for solving the Fermi-Hubbard model, and for the first time verified the antiferromagnetic phase transition in this system with the simulation ability beyond that of classical computers, taking an important first step towards obtaining the low-temperature phase diagram of the Fermi-Hubbard model and understanding the role of quantum magnetism in the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity.
The relevant research results were published online in the international academic journal Nature on July 10th.
The Fermi-Hubbard model is the most simplified model of the electron motion law in the lattice and is considered one of the representative models that may describe high-temperature superconducting materials, but its research has always faced huge challenges:
On the one hand, there is no strict analytical solution for this model in two and three dimensions;
On the other hand, the computational complexity is extremely high, and even supercomputers cannot conduct effective numerical simulation.
Quantum computing provides a brand-new solution for solving several computational problems that are difficult for classical computers. The international academic community has set three stages for the development of quantum computing:
The first is to exceed the computing power of classical supercomputers for specific problems and achieve quantum computational superiority. With the realization of quantum computing prototypes such as Google's Sycamore in the United States and Jiuzhang series and Zucongzhi series from USTC in China, this stage has been achieved;
The second is to achieve a dedicated quantum simulator to solve important scientific problems such as the Fermi-Hubbard model, which is the current main research goal;
The third is to achieve a general fault-tolerant quantum computer with the assistance of quantum error correction.
It is worth noting that theoretical studies have shown that even using a general quantum computer is difficult to accurately solve the Fermi-Hubbard model. Therefore, building a quantum simulator that can solve this model is not only an effective way to understand the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity, but also a major breakthrough in quantum computing research.
According to the introduction, the work of the University of Science and Technology of China has promoted the understanding of the Fermi-Hubbard model and laid the foundation for further solving this model and obtaining its low-temperature phase diagram, and also demonstrated for the first time the great advantage of quantum simulation in solving important scientific problems that classical computers cannot handle.
The reviewers of Nature magazine highly praised this work, saying that this work:
is expected to become a notable milestone for modern science and technology and a major breakthrough (…which could become a notable milestone for modern science and technology and a major breakthrough);
marks an important step forward for the field (…marks an important step forward for the field);
is an experimental tour de force. This is a long-awaited achievement (…is an experimental tour de force. This is a long-awaited achievement).
This research has received support from the Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Anhui Province, Shanghai City and the New Foundation Stone Science Foundation, etc.
TapTechNews attached the paper link:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07689-2