Toward Quantum Simulations of Z₂ Gauge Theory in 1+1-Dimensions Without State Preparation

Preparing strongly-coupled states on quantum computers requires large resources. In this work, we show how classical sampling coupled with projection operators can be used to compute Minkowski matrix elements on a quantum computer without explicitly preparing these strongly-coupled states on the quantum computer. We demonstrate this for the 2+1d Z₂ lattice gauge theory.