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The Russian Quantum Center and Nissan have launched a project in the field of quantum chemistry
10 февраля 2020 г.
The Nissan Motor Company and the Russian Quantum Center (RQC) have launched a joint project in the field of quantum computing for chemical compound modeling solutions. In the future, this method will allow the creation of new materials, batteries and prediction of the most effective compounds for potential drugs or create new superconductors. This project is the first commercial project in the field of quantum computing in Russia initiated by private companies.
Atoms and molecules are quantum objects and creating mathematical models that can accurately predict their behavior is an extremely complex computational task that even the most powerful classical computers can hardly solve. For example, calculating a molecule containing 20 electrons by computer with 4,000 processors takes about a week. At the same time, as the number of atoms in the molecule increases, the calculation time increases exponentially.
The solution to the problem was proposed in 1981 by the Nobel laureate Richard Feynman, who proposed to model the behavior of quantum systems using other quantum systems, so he expressed the idea of a quantum simulator. Almost 40 years later, this idea is gradually being implemented in practice. Various physical systems can be used to build a quantum computer, such as superconducting qubits, neutral atoms in optical potentials, ions in traps, and photon chips.
Aleksey Fedorov, head of the Quantum Information Technologies group at the RQC, explains that in this case two new technologies will be used at once – quantum hardware and software based on machine learning algorithms. Many large technology companies, including Google, are currently implementing such projects. Already, research teams are working on modeling molecules. For example, IonQ has successfully modeled a water molecule using a quantum device, IBM has modeled the behavior of beryllium hydride, and launched a joint project with Daimler in January that will use quantum methods to develop next-generation batteries based on lithium and sulfur.
We started with simple molecules – hydrogen molecules, lithium and beryllium compounds. The very first task is to optimize lithium-ion batteries, which are used, in particular, in electric vehicles. We plan to integrate the developed methods into the material design system, which is used today in Nissan. It is expected that we will get the first practical results in two years.
The materials that can be created with quantum chemistry will significantly increase the power and capacity of batteries. As a result, we will get the opportunity to create highly efficient and eco-friendly transport, as well as new solutions. These technologies are the future.
We remind you that a whole series of projects has been launched in Russia to support quantum technologies, including the field of quantum computing. The new project will allow future Russian quantum devices to be loaded with practical tasks.