Benincasa-Dowker causal set actions by quantum counting

Abstract

Causal set theory is an approach to quantum gravity in which spacetime is fundamentally discrete while retaining local Lorentz invariance. The Benincasa--Dowker action is the causal set equivalent to the Einstein--Hilbert action underpinning Einstein's general theory of relativity. We present a $\tilde{O}(n^{2})$ running-time quantum algorithm to compute the Benincasa--Dowker action in arbitrary spacetime dimensions for causal sets with $n$ elements which is asymptotically optimal and offers a polynomial speed up compared to all known classical or quantum algorithms. To do this, we prepare a uniform superposition over an $O(n^{2})$-size arbitrary subset of computational basis states encoding the classical description of a causal set of interest. We then construct $\tilde{O}(n)$-depth oracle circuits testing for different discrete volumes between pairs of causal set elements. Repeatedly performing a two-stage variant of quantum counting using these oracles yields the desired algorithm.