Abstract
The quantum imaginary time evolution (QITE) algorithm is a direct
implementation of the classical imaginary time evolution algorithm on quantum
computer. We implement the QITE algorithm for the case of nuclear Hartree-Fock
equations in a formalism equivalent to nuclear density functional theory. We
demonstrate the algorithm in the case of the helium-4 nucleus with a simplified
effective interaction of the Skyrme kind and demonstrate that the QITE, as
implemented on simulated quantum computer, gives identical results to the
classical algorithm.