New software technologies can reduce research costs by simplifying simulations of solar cells, batteries, and other materials.
One of the building blocks of quantum computer simulations is refined in a new article published in Physical Review B.
The authors are a team from Phasecraft, a spin-off company of University College London (UCL) and the University of Bristol, which hopes to improve technologies for quantum computing systems.
While quantum computers are still on the way, demos are beginning to show some of their benefits.
Focusing on quantum theory and software to improve existing computers, the Phasecraft team says that currently unsolvable problems will be solved with the right mix of hardware and software.
This is not necessarily better or worse than legacy systems, but it is a more efficient use of existing systems. Simulation of fermions is one such use.
Fermions are a type of subatomic particle determined by their spin, which have a half-integral angular momentum (the behavior predicted by Fermi Derrick statistics, hence their name) Elementary particles can be like electrons fermions, just as composite particles like protons.
“Many important fields such as chemistry and materials science are interested in the dynamics of fermion molecules in physical systems,” explained Charles Derby, a Phasecraft team member and a doctoral student at UCL.
However, modeling large fermion systems is difficult for classical computers and more suitable for quantum systems.
Une caractéristique centrale de l’informatique quantique est que, contrairement à un ordinateur classique qui utilise des bits binaires, qui peuvent être un ou zéro, un ordinateur quantique utilise des bits quantiques, ou qubitsz de é tre qui pe same time.
“One of the most interesting potential applications of quantum computing is to simulate physical systems such as materials,” said Joel Claassen of Phasecraft, who co-led the study.
The use of new tools, such as quantum computers, to better understand how the natural world works, has often led to massive technical breakthroughs. Our results reduce the resources required to perform this simulation, bringing this application closer to reality. “
According to the study, Phasecraft’s computational representation of fermions outperformed previous quantum versions in memory usage and algorithm size by at least 25 computers.
As quantum hardware becomes more prevalent, the Phasecraft team has highlighted the limitations of existing hardware, creating a gap between software resource requirements and what hardware can actually achieve. This work by Phasecraft aims to fill this computation gap.
Existing quantum devices are also prone to accumulating errors. To solve this problem, the researchers integrated an error detection system that can detect errors in their calculations as they go.
From there, Phasecraft will conduct small-scale experiments to demonstrate resource optimizations and error mitigation methods on quantum hardware. They will also work with well-established industrial partners to explore applications in simulating battery materials.
Simulating fermions on ordinary computers is known to be very difficult, so being able to effectively simulate them on a quantum device would help solve difficult problems in these areas of research more quickly, such as understanding high-temperature superconductivity or improving the efficiency of chemical reactions. Derby said.
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