FSU physicists receive funding through Department of Energy’s $7.3M Quantum Technology Outposts research initiative

Three Florida State University theoretical physicists are part of a major national initiative exploring how quantum computing could help answer fundamental questions in high energy physics.

Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Physics Laura Reina, Professor of Physics Fernando Febres Cordero and Research Faculty member Herschel Chawdhry, all from the Department of Physics, will lead one of eight projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s $7.3 million Quantum Outposts in Fundamental Physics initiative under the DOE Office of Science’s High Energy Physics program.

Their project, “Seeking Quantum Advantage in High-Energy QCD,” has received $755,000 and aims to apply quantum computing to theoretical predictions in high energy physics and identify rare physical phenomena emerging in particle physics collider experiments.

“For years, Drs. Reina and Febres Cordero have been a powerhouse team in the field of theoretical high energy physics, and their newer teammate, Dr. Chawdhry, multiplies the discovery potential this team will have going forward,” said Paul Cottle, Department of Physics chair. “Their new DOE grant will connect high energy physics with quantum computing and demonstrates their continued physics leadership.”

As theorists, the team aims to understand the universe at its fundamental level by studying particle collision analyses and providing predictions for the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator housed by CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, near Geneva. Much of their research improves the precision of LHC calculations based on the Standard Model of particle physics, which explains how fundamental forces of nature dictate particle interactions.

“Our work helps make the most of data collected in LHC experiments, and we’re always seeking to use the best technologies and algorithms to extract the information we need to probe the Standard Model and possibly identify signals of new physics beyond it,” said Febres Cordero, the study’s principal investigator. “Now, based on what Herschel found in a previous paper, we’re exploring what quantum computers can offer to this work on top of what’s already provided by classical computers.”

One of Chawdhry’s previous papers showed hints that quantum computers have the potential to provide more precise theoretical predictions or complete more complex calculations than traditional computers and even supercomputers — because it’s a quantum system, it can exploit patterns, or use unique quantum rules to solve problems or perform tasks much faster, that can’t be exploited in standard numerical calculations.

“The idea is that we’ll be able to do the same calculation faster, extend the reach of calculations, and hopefully even open up a whole new class of processes for us to study,” Chawdhry said. “Doing so will improve our sensitivity to new physics by increasing our ability to detect small discrepancies that maximize our chance of discovering new physics beyond the Standard Model in the future.”

Expanding quantum computing

To explore how quantum computing can expand theoretical capabilities, the team is applying the technology to quantum chromodynamics, or QCD — the theory that explains the interaction holding quarks and gluons together inside protons and other particles. The LHC is a proton-proton collider, meaning the strong force has a major influence on LHC measurements. However, the technology the team is developing could have potential applications in other quantum field theories, not just QCD.

“The sizes of some of the computations we’re doing are quite large and often reach the limit of current computing capabilities,” Reina said. “The natural question arising from the revolution we’re seeing in quantum computing and information asks if we can use quantum computing to explore how to make our theoretical predictions and calculations even more efficient and precise.”

In addition to aligning with the FSU Initiative in Quantum Science and Engineering, this project contributes to multiple U.S. national priorities including the Quantum Genesis Initiative in the Genesis Mission, which seeks to deliver scientifically relevant quantum computing to the nation by 2028.

“I’m so pleased that the DOE has expressed confidence that the research we’ve done so far and will conduct in the future is contributing to this fast-moving field,” Chawdhry said. “This also gives our group the opportunity to contribute to the U.S. workforce needs because the country wants to expand in quantum information science, an area in which FSU has longstanding expertise due to its decades of fundamental physics research.” 

For more on research conducted in FSU’s Department of Physics, visit physics.fsu.edu.