Chemistry Mathematical chemistry

Researchers have developed a general quantum algorithm that can directly calculate the energy difference of an atom and molecule using a quantum computer. By avoiding the need to calculate the total molecular energies, the general algorithm is expected to be applied not only to quantum chemical calculations but also to various physical and mathematical problems, which are intractable with nowadays classical computers.

Researchers at Osaka City University use quantum superposition states and Bayesian inference to create a quantum algorithm, easily executable on quantum computers, that accurately and directly calculates energy differences between the electronic ground and excited spin states of molecular systems in polynomial time.