Quantum algorithm for preparing the ground state of a system via resonance transition

Abstract

Preparing the ground state of a system is an important task in physics. We propose a quantum algorithm for preparing the ground state of a physical system that can be simulated on a quantum computer. The system is coupled to an ancillary qubit, by introducing a resonance mechanism between the ancilla qubit and the system, and combined with measurements performed on the ancilla qubit, the system can be evolved to monotonically converge to its ground state through an iterative procedure. We have simulated the application of this algorithm for the Afflect-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki model, whose ground state can be used as resource state in one-way quantum computation.