Scalable Quantum Simulations of Scattering in Quantum Field Theories

High-energy collisions of fundamental particles provide insights into the underlying laws of our universe. Quantum simulations of the dynamics of these collisions promise to shed light onto classically inaccessible observables that will sharpen predictions from known theories and enhance searches for new physics. Building on the recent first demonstrations of scattering in a field theory, this work leverages scalable variational algorithms to prepare particle wavepackets and implement compressed time evolution circuits. These methods are used to simulate scattering in one-dimensional lattice field theories on a quantum computer. Developments necessary to probe high-energy inelastic scattering in realistic systems are discussed.