SPA Colloquium: Leyna Shackelton (MIT)

Title: Mapping the Quantum Limits of Classical Simulatability

Abstract: Quantum many-body systems are significantly more challenging to simulate than their classical counterparts. This is primarily due to the quantum sign problem, which prevents a reformulation in terms of stochastically sampling classical configurations. While many “sign problem-free” models have been discovered, which admit high-accuracy numerical simulations, many believe that certain phases of matter are intrinsically sign-problematic. In this talk, I present counterexamples to a number of no-go theorems by constructing sign problem-free models for phases of matter believed to be sign-problematic, and develop a revised perspective for how one should think about intrinsic sign problems.