YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y.,
Sept. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/
-- IBM (NYSE: IBM) scientists have developed a new approach to
simulate molecules on a quantum computer that may one day help
revolutionize chemistry and materials science. The scientists
successfully used a seven-qubit quantum processor to address the
molecular structure problem for beryllium hydride (BeH2) – the
largest molecule simulated on a quantum computer to date. The
results demonstrate a path of exploration for near-term quantum
systems to enhance our understanding of complex chemical reactions
that could lead to practical applications.
The team implemented a novel algorithm that is efficient with
respect to the number of quantum operations required for the
simulation. Using six qubits of a seven-qubit processor they were
able to measure BeH2's lowest energy state, a key measurement for
understanding chemical reactions. While this model of BeH2 can be
simulated on a classical computer, IBM's approach has the potential
to scale towards investigating larger molecules that would
traditionally be seen to be beyond the scope of classical
computational methods, as more powerful quantum systems get built.
The results were published today as the cover of the peer-reviewed
journal Nature*.
To help showcase how quantum computers are adept to simulating
molecules, developers and users of the IBM Q experience are now
able to access a quantum chemistry Jupyter Notebook. The open
source quantum chemistry Jupyter Notebook (available through the
open access QISKit github repo) allows users to explore a method of
ground state energy simulation for small molecules such as hydrogen
and lithium hydride. Over a year ago, IBM launched the IBM Q
experience by placing a robust five-qubit quantum computer on the
cloud for anyone to freely access, and most recently upgraded to a
16-qubit processor available for beta access.
The interplay of atoms and molecules is responsible for all
matter that surrounds us in the world. However, even today's most
powerful supercomputers cannot exactly simulate the interacting
behavior of all the electrons contained in a simple chemical
compound such as caffeine. The goal is that we will have the
ability to use quantum computers to wholly analyze molecules and
chemical reactions, which could help accelerate research and lead
to the creation of novel materials, development of more
personalized drugs, or discovery of more efficient and sustainable
energy sources.
"Thanks to Nobel laureate Richard Feynman, if the public knows
one thing about quantum, it knows that nature is quantum
mechanical. This is what our latest research is proving – we have
the potential to use quantum computers to boost our knowledge of
natural phenomena in the world," said Dario
Gil, vice president of AI research and IBM Q, IBM Research.
"Over the next few years, we anticipate IBM Q systems' capabilities
to surpass what today's conventional computers can do, and start
becoming a tool for experts in areas such as chemistry, biology,
healthcare and materials science."
"The IBM team carried out an impressive series of experiments
that holds the record as the largest molecule ever simulated on a
quantum computer," said Alán Aspuru-Guzik, professor of chemistry
and chemical biology at Harvard
University. "When quantum computers are able to carry out
chemical simulations in a numerically exact way, most likely when
we have error correction in place and a large number of logical
qubits, the field will be disrupted. Exact predictions will result
in molecular design that does not need calibration with experiment.
This may lead to the discovery of new small-molecule drugs or
organic materials."
Instead of forcing previously known classical computing methods
onto quantum hardware, the scientists reversed the approach by
building an algorithm suited to the capability of the current
available quantum devices. This allows for extracting the maximal
quantum computational power to solve problems that grow
exponentially more difficult for classical computers. To
characterize the computational power, IBM has adopted a new
metric, Quantum Volume. It accounts for the number and quality
of qubits, circuit connectivity, and error rates of operations. You
can learn more here: https://ibm.biz/BdiaQe.
Chemistry is one example of a broader set of problems that
quantum computers are potentially well-suited to tackle. Quantum
computers also have the potential to explore complex optimization
routines, as might be found in transportation, logistics or
financial services. They could even help advance machine learning
and artificial intelligence, which relies on optimization
algorithms. Earlier this year, IBM scientists and collaborators
demonstrated there is a defined advantage to run a certain type of
machine learning algorithm on a quantum computer.
For future quantum applications, IBM anticipates certain parts
of a problem to be run on a classical machine while the most
computationally difficult tasks might be off-loaded to the quantum
computer. This is how businesses and industries will be able to
adopt quantum computing into their technology infrastructure and
solutions. To get started today, developers, programmers and
researchers can run quantum algorithms, work with individual
quantum bits, and explore tutorials and simulations on the IBM Q
experience. As well, IBM has commercial partners exploring
practical quantum applications through the IBM Research Frontiers
Institute.
*Abhinav Kandala, Antonio Mezzacapo, Kristan Temme, Maika
Takita, Jerry M. Chow, and
Jay M. Gambetta. "Hardware-efficient
Variational Quantum Eigensolver for Small Molecules and Quantum
Magnets." Nature. doi:10.1038/nature23879
To read more on the methodology of IBM's new approach to quantum
chemistry, please visit: http://ibm.biz/Bdjjg5.
About IBM Q
For more information on IBM's quantum
computing efforts, please visit www.ibm.com/ibmq.
About IBM Research
For more than seven decades,
IBM Research has defined the future of information technology with
more than 3,000 researchers in 12 labs located across six
continents. Scientists from IBM Research have produced six Nobel
Laureates, 10 U.S. National Medals of Technology, five U.S.
National Medals of Science, six Turing Awards, 19 inductees in the
National Academy of Sciences and 20 inductees into the U.S.
National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Chris Nay
IBM Media Relations-Research
cnay@us.ibm.com
512-286-7727
Christine Vu
IBM Media Relations-Research
914-945-2755
vuch@us.ibm.com
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SOURCE IBM