Prospects for calculating plasma transport properties on quantum computers

Quantum computers might eventually be used to simulate quantum systems more accurately than classical computers. But it isn't yet clear how large or reliable such a machine would need to be to be scientifically useful for many applications in plasma physics. We begin to address these questions for calculations of transport properties like stopping power and conductivity in the degenerate limit, as these transport calculations are among the most computationally expensive on classical computers and the attendant errors are difficult to quantify in the absence of experiments. We will describe quantum algorithms for implementing these calculations and provide estimates for the size and error rates of quantum computers that would outperform classical computers at scientifically useful calculations. We will also discuss implications for the ultimate limits of accuracy in calculating these properties on classical computers.