Simulating unsteady flows on a superconducting quantum processor
Recent advancements of quantum technologies have triggered tremendous interest in exploring practical quantum advantage. The simulation of fluid dynamics, a highly challenging problem in classical physics but vital for practical applications, emerges as a potential direction. Here, we report an experiment on the digital simulation of unsteady flows with a superconducting quantum processor. The quantum algorithm is based on the Hamiltonian simulation using the hydrodynamic formulation of the Schrödinger equation. With the median fidelities of 99.97% and 99.67% for parallel single- and two-qubit gates respectively, we simulate the dynamics of a two-dimensional (2D) compressible diverging flow and a 2D decaying vortex with ten qubits. Note that the former case is an inviscid potential flow, and the latter one is an artificial vortical flow with an external body force. The experimental results well capture the temporal evolution of averaged density and momentum profiles, and qualitatively reproduce spatial flow fields with moderate noises. This work demonstrates the potential of quantum computing in simulating more complex flows, such as turbulence, for practical applications. Fluid dynamics simulation, a complex challenge in classical physics, is relevant for real-world applications and highlights the potential of quantum computing. The authors report an experiment for the digital simulation of unsteady flows on a superconducting quantum processor, and show that the results effectively capture the evolution of flow fields.
Authors
- Ziqi Tan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-8858-2193)
- Yiren Zou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-2838-9552)
- Aosai Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0599-5361)
- Zhaoyuan Meng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0933-4272)
- Shiying Xiong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0468-4249)
- Yue Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9969-7431)
- Chao Song (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1853-9392)
- Tingting Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6589-3706)
- Hekang Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3914-4979)
- Hui Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9972-2019)
- Yaozu Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1137-4660)
- Ning Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1745-1425)
- Qiujiang Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1093-3405)
- Zehang Bao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-9164-714X)
- Feitong Jin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0789-8207)
- Fanhao Shen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-5289-419X)
- Xuhao Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1318-8367)
- Jiarun Zhong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3631-6774)
- Zitian Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8219-2311)
- Yu Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6132-3792)
- Ke Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0307-5457)
- Zhengyi Cui (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5534-5167)
- Chuanyu Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5539-5079)
- Shibo Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8546-4255)
- Pengfei Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0977-0605)
- Zhen Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4357-7171)
- Jiachen Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1342-6314)
Institutions
- Peking University (CN)
- Zhejiang University (CN)
- Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Communications Physics
- Published
- 2024-10-25
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-024-01845-w
- Citations
- 14
- Primary Topic
- Quantum Computing Algorithms and Architecture
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 4.86
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province