Event Generation using Quantum Devices

Zane Ozzello & Blake Senseman

Event generators are a crucial tool for connecting theory with experiment when other calculational methods fail. Software packages like PYTHIA, HERWIG, and SHERPA use unique mixes of phenomenological models and Monte Carlo methods to simulate high energy particle collisions and decay events. However, to accomplish Feynman's vision of quantum simulation for quantum problems, we investigate methods accessible to current quantum hardware that could replace components of event generation packages. The current work focuses on confinement and hadronization. These features of QCD are currently modeled using an iterative algorithm on classical strings, but recent work has demonstrated these features through low-dimensional lattice simulations. We endeavor to apply these techniques to a broader class lattice models to identify fruitful places for the development of hybrid quantum/classical event generation algorithms.