A multi-institutional team became the first to generate accurate results from materials science simulations on a quantum computer that can be verified with neutron scattering experiments and other practical techniques.
Researchers from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory; the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Purdue University and D-Wave Systems harnessed the power of quantum annealing, a form of quantum computing, by embedding an existing model into a quantum computer.
“The underlying method behind solving materials science problems on quantum computers had already been developed, but it was all theoretical,” said Paul Kairys, a student at UT Knoxville’s Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education who led ORNL’s contributions to the project. “We developed new solutions to enable materials simulations on real-world quantum devices.”
This unique approach proved that quantum resources are capable of studying the magnetic structure and properties of these materials, which could lead to a better understanding of spin liquids, spin ices and other novel phases of matter useful for data storage and spintronics applications. The researchers published the results of their simulations — which matched theoretical predictions and strongly resembled experimental data — in PRX Quantum.