Quantum computers hold the promise of revolutionizing algorithmic approaches to some problems that are provably hard for classical computers. One such possibility is in the simulation of many-body quantum systems. Here, the exponential scaling of the Hilbert space spanned by a many-qubit system as the number of qubits grows linearly, alongside the natural way of encoding entanglement, are the key factors which make this method viable.
In this presentation, nuclear structure, as an archetypical many-body quantum problem, is explored on quantum computer. We discuss methods of encoding the nuclear Hamiltonian onto quantum computer, ways to express nuclear wave functions by their qubit proxies, algorithms for discovering ground and excited states of the nuclear system, and show some recent results of the Surrey group obtained using tens of qubits on current IBM hardware. We end with some thoughts on prospects for calculations of future generations of quantum hardware.