Perturbative quantum simulation
Approximations based on perturbation theory are the basis for most of the quantitative predictions of quantum mechanics, whether in quantum field theory, many-body physics, chemistry or other domains. Quantum computing provides an alternative to the perturbation paradigm, but the tens of noisy qubits currently available in state-of-the-art quantum processors are of limited practical utility. In this article, we introduce perturbative quantum simulation, which combines the complementary strengths of the two approaches, enabling the solution of large practical quantum problems using noisy intermediate-scale quantum hardware. The use of a quantum processor eliminates the need to identify a solvable unperturbed Hamiltonian, while…