Statistical Mechanics of Heteropolymers from Lattice Gauge Theory
Year: 2025
Authors: Panizza V., Roggero A., Hauke P., Faccioli P.
Autors Affiliation: Univ Trento, Phys Dept, Via Sommar 14, I-38123 Trento, Italy; Pitaevskii BEC Ctr, CNR INO, Via Sommar 14, I-38123 Trento, Italy; INFN TIFPA, Trento Inst Fundamental Phys & Applicat, Via Sommar 14, I-38123 Trento, Italy; Univ Milano Bicocca, Phys Dept, Piazza Sci 3, I-20126 Milan, Italy; INFN, Piazza Sci 3, I-20126 Milan, Italy.
Abstract: Lattice models are valuable tools to gain insight into the statistical physics of heteropolymers. We rigorously map the partition function of these models into a vacuum expectation value of a Z2 lattice gauge theory (LGT), with both fermionic and bosonic degrees of freedom. Because the associated path integral expression is not affected by a sign problem, it is amenable to Monte Carlo (MC) sampling in both the sequence and structure space, unlike conventional polymer field theory. At the same time, since the LGT encoding relies on qubits, it provides a framework for future efforts to capitalize on the development of quantum computing hardware. We discuss two illustrative applications of our formalism: first, we use it to characterize the thermodynamically stable sequences and structures of small heteropolymers consisting of two types of residues. Next, we assess its efficiency to sample ensembles of compact structures, finding that the MC decorrelation time scales only linearly with the chain length.
Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
Volume: 134 (15) Pages from: 158101-1 to: 158101-9
More Information: We acknowledge useful discussions with Henri Orland, Julius Mildenberger, and Luca Spagnoli. We are very grateful to Cristian Micheletti for codeveloping the binary encoding of polymer thermodynamics, making important comments, and pointing out relevant literature. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101080086 NeQST, from the QuantERA II Programme through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 101017733, and Q@TN, the joint lab between the University of Trento, FBK-Fondazione Bruno Kessler, INFN-National Institute for Nuclear Physics, and CNR-National Research Council. This project has further been supported by the Provincia Autonoma di Trento.KeyWords: Quantum; Algorithm; Simulations; Invariance; Polymers; Dynamics; ModelsDOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.158101Citations: 1data from “WEB OF SCIENCE” (of Thomson Reuters) are update at: 2025-10-12References taken from IsiWeb of Knowledge: (subscribers only)
