VW Uses D-Wave for Quantum Chemistry

VW Solves Quantum Chemistry Problems on a D-Wave Machine 

IEEE Spectrum   By Mark Anderson

VW Solves Quantum Chemistry Problems on a D-Wave Machine

Scientists say their work offers a proof of principle for using D-Wave’s quantum computers to tackle even tougher chemistry problems  .... 

 " ... D-Wave computers are known as “quantum annealers,” running complex circuits using the machine’s 128,000 superconducting Josephson junctions. The integrated superconducting circuit, cooled down to thousandths of a degree above absolute zero, contains 2,048 quantum bits (qubits) and 6,016 interconnections (a.k.a. couplers) between qubits. It is called an annealer because the circuit begins in one state and then slowly transitions through to its final state, with its individual qubits representing distillations of an answer. ... "

Researchers at Volkswagen in Germany and the U.S. have used a D-Wave 2000Q quantum computer to solve rudimentary quantum chemistry problems. The researchers ran D-Wave computations that identified the ground-state energies of molecular hydrogen and lithium hydride. Although both molecules are well known and well studied, the Volkswagen researchers established an increasingly computational route to exploring chemistry in the quantum realm. The researchers also enumerated a list of quantum chemistry simulation goals that sufficiently robust quantum computation should address, such as: designing next-generation batteries; optimizing solar cells via detailed study of photosynthesis, and faithfully simulating complex molecules without restoring to approximations that conventional computers use to make such simulations tractable.  .... "