Analog quantum simulation of ϕ4 field theory with a superconducting transmission line
Abstract
Understanding the dynamics of interacting quantum fields remains a fundamental challenge. We propose a superconducting transmission line for analog quantum simulation of (1+1)-dimensional ϕ4 field theory. The transmission line comprises fluxonium-like circuit elements whose continuous and unbounded phase variables encode a scalar field without Hilbert-space truncation. Their anharmonic potentials provide strong interactions. Tuning the circuit parameters provides access to two distinct regimes. In the first, the transmission line emulates ϕ4 field theory with a single-well potential. We confirm this correspondence through lattice Monte Carlo calculations of the low-energy spectra of both the circuit and lattice ϕ4 theory. This regime enables scattering experiments between counter-propagating particle wave packets. The second parameter set yields a double-well potential that emulates ϕ4 theory in the symmetry-broken phase and hosts degenerate vacua. Interfaces between the two vacua form topological kinks, and the transmission line can simulate kink-antikink collisions. We present state preparation and measurement protocols for both collision experiments, enabling spatially resolved, real-time studies of particle and soliton scattering in an interacting quantum field theory.
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BibTeX
@misc{rosen2026analog,
title = {{Analog quantum simulation of $ϕ^4$ field theory with a superconducting transmission line}},
author = {Ilan T. Rosen and Neill C. Warrington and Max Hays and Christopher McNally and Joshua Lin and Stephen Sorokanich III and Julian Bender},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.11071},
eprint = {2610.11071},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.11071},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Analog quantum simulation of ϕ^4 field theory with a superconducting transmission line
AU - Ilan T. Rosen
AU - Neill C. Warrington
AU - Max Hays
AU - Christopher McNally
AU - Joshua Lin
AU - Stephen Sorokanich III
AU - Julian Bender
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/08
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.11071
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.11071
AB - Understanding the dynamics of interacting quantum fields remains a fundamental challenge. We propose a superconducting transmission line for analog quantum simulation of (1+1)-dimensional ϕ^4 field theory. The transmission line comprises fluxonium-like circuit elements whose continuous and unbounded phase variables encode a scalar field without Hilbert-space truncation. Their anharmonic potentials provide strong interactions. Tuning the circuit parameters provides access to two distinct regimes. In the first, the transmission line emulates ϕ^4 field theory with a single-well potential. We confirm this correspondence through lattice Monte Carlo calculations of the low-energy spectra of both the circuit and lattice ϕ^4 theory. This regime enables scattering experiments between counter-propagating particle wave packets. The second parameter set yields a double-well potential that emulates ϕ^4 theory in the symmetry-broken phase and hosts degenerate vacua. Interfaces between the two vacua form topological kinks, and the transmission line can simulate kink-antikink collisions. We present state preparation and measurement protocols for both collision experiments, enabling spatially resolved, real-time studies of particle and soliton scattering in an interacting quantum field theory.
ER -