To break, or not to break: Symmetries in adaptive quantum simulations, a case study on the Schwinger model

We investigate the role of symmetries in constructing resource-efficient operator pools for adaptive variational quantum eigensolvers. In particular, we focus on the lattice Schwinger model, a discretized model of $1+1$ dimensional electrodynamics, which we use as a proxy for spin chains with a continuum limit. We present an extensive set of simulations comprising a total of $11$ different operator pools, which all systematically and independently break or preserve a combination of discrete translations, the conservation of charge (magnetization) and the fermionic locality of the excitations. Circuit depths are the primary bottleneck in current quantum hardware, and we find that the most efficient ansätze in the near-term are obtained by pools that $\textit{break}$ translation invariance, conserve charge, and lead to shallow circuits. On the other hand, we anticipate the shot counts to be the limiting factor in future, error-corrected quantum devices; our findings suggest that pools $\textit{preserving}$ translation invariance could be preferable for such platforms.