Researchers simulate particle collisions on 104-qubit IBM quantum processor

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology and the University of Washington developed a method that lets quantum computers prepare the initial wavepackets — localized disturbances linked to moving particles — for particle-collision simulations more efficiently. The approach appeared in a paper published in Nature Physics. It was used to simulate particle collisions on a quantum processor containing 104 qubits, the basic units of quantum information. Phys.org reported the work on 7 October 2026.

Roland C. Farrell, first author of the paper, told Phys.org the team wants to predict what happens shortly after particles are smashed together in colliders like the LHC. He said the particles that emerge from these collisions provide insights into the laws of nature. Farrell said simulating such collisions is widely considered intractable on a classical computer but is believed to be efficient on a quantum computer.

One aim of the study was to observe, in real time, the conversion of some colliding particles' energy into the mass of newly produced particles, according to the paper. Phys.org reported that this conversion is a direct manifestation of Einstein's equation E = mc², which links energy (E) and mass (m), with c the speed of light. Farrell said the first step is to prepare two high-energy particles, or wavepackets, moving toward each other. He said existing approaches made this infeasible on current hardware.

The simulations were rooted in a simplified model of particle interactions called one-dimensional Ising field theory. Co-author Nikita A. Zemlevskiy told Phys.org that after the initial state is prepared, the system is evolved in time by applying quantum gates that approximate Hamiltonian evolution. He said particle production is identified by measuring properties of the post-collision state, such as its energy density.

Using the new approach, the researchers simulated a collision between two wavepackets with light particles on a quantum computer developed by IBM, Phys.org reported. At low energies, the collision produced no new particles, and the two light particles moved apart.