Medium induced jet broadening in a quantum computer

Abstract: QCD jets provide one of the best avenues to extract information about the quark-gluon plasma produced in the aftermath of ultra relativistic heavy ions collisions. The structure of jets is determined by multiparticle quantum interference hard to tackle using perturbative methods. When jets evolve in a QCD medium this interference pattern is modified, adding another layer of complexity. By taking advantage of the recent developments in quantum technologies, such effects might be better understood via direct quantum simulation of jet evolution. In this work, we introduce a precursor to such simulations. Based on the light-front Hamiltonian formalism, we construct a digital quantum circuit that tracks the evolution of a single hard probe in the presence of a stochastic color background. In terms of the jet quenching parameter $\hat q$, the results obtained using classical simulators of ideal quantum computers agree with known analytical results. With this study, we hope to provide a baseline for future in-medium jet physics studies using quantum computers.