Simulating the Unruh Effect on Real Quantum Hardware

The Unruh effect, a cornerstone of quantum field theory, predicts that an accelerating observer perceives a thermal bath of particles in a vacuum, bridging quantum mechanics and relativity. This study presents the first successful simulation of the Unruh effect on real quantum hardware, conducted at the Centre of Excellence for Technology, Quantum, and AI Canada (CETQAC). Using a two-qubit quantum circuit executed on IBM’s superconducting qubits via Qiskit Runtime Services, we encoded the effect’s key features: quantum superposition, Bogoliubov transformations, and thermodynamic signatures. Results demonstrate a strong concentration in the |11⟩ basis state, with metrics such as purity (0.5), entropy (1.0), entanglement entropy (1.0), fidelity (0.46), and expectation value (Z =0.0) aligning with theoretical predictions. Visualizations, including statevector plots and Q-sphere representations, confirm the simulation’s success. This work advances quantum thermodynamics and relativistic quantum physics, establishing Canada as a leader in quantum computing applications.