Scalable cold-atom quantum simulator of a $3+1$D U$(1)$ lattice gauge theory with dynamical matter

The stated overarching goal of the highly active field of quantum simulation of high-energy physics (HEP) is to achieve the capability to study \textit{ab-initio} real-time microscopic dynamics of $3+1$D quantum chromodynamics (QCD). However, existing experimental realizations and theoretical proposals for future ones have remained restricted to one or two spatial dimensions. Here, we take a big step towards this goal by proposing a concrete experimentally feasible scalable cold-atom quantum simulator of a U$(1)$ quantum link model of quantum electrodynamics (QED) in three spatial dimensions, employing \textit{linear gauge protection} to stabilize gauge invariance. Using tree tensor network simulations, we benchmark the performance of this quantum simulator through near- and far-from-equilibrium observables, showing excellent agreement with the ideal gauge theory. Additionally, we introduce a method for \textit{analog quantum error mitigation} that accounts for unwanted first-order tunneling processes, vastly improving agreement between quantum-simulator and ideal-gauge-theory results. Our findings pave the way towards realistic quantum simulators of $3+1$D lattice gauge theories that can probe regimes well beyond classical simulability.

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