Scientists used a quantum computer to calculate the exact energy of molecular hydrogen. This pioneering approach to molecular simulations could have profound implications not only for quantum chemistry, but also for a variety of scientific fields.
In an important pioneering phase of innovative technology, scientists used a quantum computer to calculate the exact energy of molecular hydrogen. This pioneering approach to molecular simulations could have profound implications not only for quantum chemistry, but also for a variety of scientific fields, from cryptography to materials science.
"One of the most serious problems facing theoretical chemists is how to get accurate simulations of chemical systems," says scientist Alán Aspuru-Guzik, professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard University. "This is the first time a quantum computer has been used to obtain these precise calculations."
The research, described in the scientific journal Nature Chemistry, is the result of a collaboration between a team of theoretical chemists from Harvard University and a group of experimental physicists from the University of Queensland in Australia. The Harvard team led the experimental design and performed key calculations, while their Australian partners built the physical computer and actually conducted the experiments. "We were the software people," says the lead researcher from Harvard, "and our partners were the hardware people."
While advanced supercomputers are able to perform approximate calculations of relatively simple molecular systems, increasing the volume of the system under consideration causes an exponential (exponential) increase in the calculation time. Quantum computing is effective thanks to its ability to solve certain types of problems that are unsolvable by ordinary computers.
Instead of using bits (binary digits, binary bits) labeled as "zero" and "one" to encrypt information, as occurs in normal computers, quantum computing stores information in the form of a qubit capable of representing "zero" and "one" at the same time (quantum bit , qubit, is used as a unit of measure for quantum information, and also to describe the smallest information storage element in a quantum computer. It is the quantum analog of the bit in classical information theory. In a quantum computer, a qubit is a 2-dimensional quantum system). When a quantum computer is running, it takes into account all possible solutions of the problem under consideration by simultaneously arranging its qubits in all the existing combinations of "zeros" and "ones".
Since a single sequence of qubits is capable of representing many different numbers, a quantum computer will perform far fewer calculations than a normal computer in solving certain problems. After the computer finishes its work, measuring its qubits provides the solution.
"Since the increasing computational efficiency of a normal computer is limited, if you simulate a system containing more than just four or five atoms - for example, a chemical reaction, or even a slightly complex atom - the problem becomes more and more complex quickly," says one of the researchers. "Approximate calculations of such systems are the best that chemists are able to achieve today."
The research group tackled this issue through an elegant conceptual idea - "If simulating a quantum system using a normal computer is too complex," says the lead researcher, "why not simulate quantum systems using another quantum system?"
This approach could, in theory, lead to highly accurate calculations while using only a fraction of the resources of regular computers.
While a number of other physical systems could serve as the core of the computer, the Australian co-scientists used the information encoded in two photons to perform their simulations for hydrogen atoms. Each calculated energy level was the result of twenty such quantum measurements, obtaining a highly accurate measure of each of the possible geometric states of molecular hydrogen.
"This calculation approach represents a completely new way of obtaining exact solutions to a multitude of problems which today are solved only at an approximate level," says the chief researcher. Eventually, the same quantum computer capable of transmitting ciphers on the Internet could also be used to calculate the lowest energy structure of complex molecules such as cholesterol.
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Registering a leading manufacturer - poor inventor, all the trouble will fall on him - sorry
See a real flying saucer on the Google website
Mirom
There are laws of nature that are laws, of course you can ignore this and call it thinking outside the box, but in my opinion, if you call that thinking outside the box, then there is no need for a quantum computer. Let's build a time machine together. Let the computer calculate something, we will travel to the future and see what the result is and then we will go back to the moment when we entered the calculation into the computer and we will know what the result is and we have solved every problem the moment we present it. Cool? So it's not, it's nonsense not thinking outside the box.
If you did not understand my intention, it is important to differentiate between technology, science and science in the media, the three are not equal. As a challenge of thinking outside the box as you call it, try to build a "top-of-the-line" machine that generates energy from nothing.
sympathetic
1. As I imagine, the speed of sound was also considered unattainable in the past. And also regarding the speed of light, he will eventually find some kind of situation that can be used to bypass this limitation. And this is called thinking outside the box!
2. The significant hack that is required in the meantime is a way to maintain the calculation unit at room temperature, but I think this too will be solved at some point.
Regarding the other ideas you brought up - they actually reinforce what I'm saying. In the past they thought X and today they think Y. This is exactly the meaning of progress and drawing conclusions.
mirom,
Indeed I am repeating the same things again but I think you are not reading them. I will try to simplify:
1. It is not clear whether the physics of a quantum computer exists. It is possible that a macroscopic quantum computer contradicts the laws of physics. Just as it is not possible to exceed the speed of light, it is possible that it is not possible to build a macroscopic quantum computer. I hope you understand that this condition also limits thinking outside the box.
2. Even if a quantum computer does not contradict the laws of physics, it is not certain that it can be technologically built. With today's technology it is quite clear that it cannot be built and as I have already written, a new scientific breakthrough is needed for the idea to become more realistic.
You brought the example of computers and indeed there was a scientific breakthrough called the transistor, without it we would not have desktop computers today. The computer is a technological success, but there were several ideas that did not pass the technological barrier:
Trains that will float on conductors at high temperatures. At the time the idea seemed promising, today it is clear that technically it is not applicable.
Personal hovercrafts that will avoid the traffic jams. A nice idea but today seems completely impractical.
In the fifties and sixties it was believed that nuclear energy would supply electricity to the whole world today the situation is completely different.
There is a huge gap between a good idea and its technological realization. And there are also beautiful ideas that contradict the laws of nature, for example the most recent Perpetum, in principle, cannot be implemented technologically
Notice that you repeat the same things.
It sounds just like those from the XNUMXs who claimed they would never be able to miniaturize a calculating machine into anything smaller than a room. Only the few pioneers thought otherwise, and with the same degree of confidence I can say that in a few decades there will be functioning quantum computing units.
Try to think outside the box
Mirom
The technological gap for a quantum computer is not between what is available and what is desired. There is currently no theory that explains how the classical world of classical physics grows out of quantum reality. Therefore there is no assurance that it is even possible in principle to produce a quantum computer. Beyond the theoretical questions, the gap you call quantitative technology is sometimes a bridge that cannot be crossed. I know of several cases of ideas that were successfully implemented on a small scale (in the laboratory) but failed the quantitative test. In my opinion, despite the heroic attempts of scientists in the last fifteen years, a quantum computer of any kind is not in sight. A scientific breakthrough is needed to move from the production of about ten qubits (quantum bits) to the production capacity of thousands. A quantum computer needs thousands of qubits to be able to correct errors!
sympathetic
Note that the technological gap between what is desired and what is found, as you describe, is one of quantity and not quality. True, there are still some difficulties on the way, but from what I've seen so far, a quantum computer is something that doesn't seem so far away anymore.
refreshed
A quantum computer is a theoretical idea. It originates, among other things, from a Nobel Prize-winning scientist (not in this context)
Richard Feynman. Since 1995 when Shor proposed his algorithm for factoring large numbers
Quickly there was tremendous motivation to try to build a quantum computer in the lab. To this day it is not clear whether it is technologically possible to produce a quantum computer and there are also doubts about the essential possibility of building such a calculation system.
The challenges facing the experimentalists trying to create a quantum computer in the laboratory are enormous. Today, the status quo is that they managed to produce a "quantum computer" with about 10 quantum bits. In order for the system to be called a quantum computer in the laboratory, about 1000 (simplified estimate) quantum bits are needed, this is so that error correction algorithms can be run on it.
Is a quantum computer something that already exists today?
On the history of the idea:
The idea of quantum computing was born by Feynman when he realized that calculating quantum systems using a "regular" computer (based on classical physics) is a complex and probably impossible task due to
The current calculation, Feynman thought why not turn the problem upside down. Why not calculate a classical system by
A quantum computing machine? The first to think theoretically about the idea of calculating quantum systems using a quantum computer are: Christopher Zalka, and Shef Lloyd (1996).
Shaked, what will you do with it, calculate the energy on the right?
No problem, just leave your credit card number here and we'll send you one right away.
I want a computer like that in my study.
Small correction:
"In order to encrypt information" (in the middle of the article approximately) CEL "In order to encode information"
For those who want, here is a link to the article
doi:10.1038/nchem.483
If I understand correctly, the innovation is in the 'approach' - that is - simulating one quantum system by another quantum system. The innovation is in the application of the principle of measurement using a quantum system.
The innovation is not a breakthrough in quantum computer technology per se.
Amazing, if I'm not mistaken this is the first time a quantum computer has been used in practical applications. It's a shame that there is no more in-depth explanation about the structure of the experimental system itself and how the output is decoded.