https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/s10051-025-00930-5
Regular Article - Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
Digital quantum simulation of reaction–diffusion systems on lattice
Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, 24061, Blacksburg, VA, USA
Received:
27
November
2024
Accepted:
16
April
2025
Published online:
3
May
2025
The quantum computer offers significant advantages in simulating physical systems, particularly those with exponentially large state spaces, such as quantum systems. Stochastic reaction–diffusion systems, characterized by their stochastic nature, also exhibit exponential growth in the dimension of the state space, posing challenges for simulation at a probability distribution level. We explore the quantum simulation of stochastic reaction–diffusion systems on a digital quantum computer, directly simulating the system at the master equation level. Leveraging a spin representation of the system, we employ Trotterization and probabilistic imaginary time evolution (PITE) to simulate the probability distribution directly. We illustrate this approach through four diverse examples, ranging from simple single-lattice site generation-annihilation processes to a system featuring active-absorbing phase transition.
© The Author(s) 2025
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