Simulation of chemical reaction dynamics on an NMR quantum computer

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that a small NMR quantum computer can simulate chemical reaction dynamics, showing promising potential for quantum chemistry applications beyond classical computational capabilities.

Contribution

First experimental demonstration of chemical reaction dynamics simulation on a small NMR quantum computer, validating its feasibility for complex quantum chemistry problems.

Findings

Experimental results agree with classical simulations

Quantum simulation surpasses classical computational limits

Feasibility of simulating complex chemical reactions with small quantum devices

Abstract

Quantum simulation can beat current classical computers with minimally a few tens of qubits and will likely become the first practical use of a quantum computer. One promising application of quantum simulation is to attack challenging quantum chemistry problems. Here we report an experimental demonstration that a small nuclear-magnetic-resonance (NMR) quantum computer is already able to simulate the dynamics of a prototype chemical reaction. The experimental results agree well with classical simulations. We conclude that the quantum simulation of chemical reaction dynamics not computable on current classical computers is feasible in the near future.