Analog Quantum Hardware Tackles Unsolvable Physics Problems

Researchers have developed an analog hardware approach to model physics problems that quantum simulation software running on even the most powerful digital classical supercomputer cannot.

The scientists, from University College Dublin (UCD) and Stanford University, said their ‘quantum simulator’ can simulate interactions between two quantum objects, and can be scaled for more complicated systems.

The new tool could be used to investigate materials that are superconducting at room temperature. The superconducting materials currently used in MRI machines, high-speed trains and long-distance, energy-efficient power networks can only operate at extremely low temperatures.

The findings were published in the journal Nature Physics.

“Certain problems are simply too complex for even the

“The accurate simulation of complex quantum materials such as the high-temperature superconductors is a really important example. That kind of computation is far beyond current capabilities because of the exponential computing time and memory requirements needed to simulate the properties of realistic models.”

He added that the analog quantum simulators the team developed solve specific models in quantum physics by using the inherent quantum mechanical properties of its nanoscale components.

"We're always making mathematical models that we hope will capture the essence of phenomena we’re interested in, but even if we believe they're correct, they're often not solvable in a reasonable amount of time,” said David Goldhaber-Gordon, creator of the device at Stanford’s Experimental Nanoscience Group.