QSL Team Advances to the Quantum XPRIZE Semifinals!

Quantum Software Lab's research team led by our faculty members, Prof. Julien Michel and Dr Petros Wallden , in collaboration with Q-CTRL, has advanced to the semi-final round of the XPRIZE Quantum Applications competition, a $5 million global challenge backed by Google Our joint team tackled the problem of simulating molecular dynamics at scales where classical approaches break down. Many such simulations can be reformulated as networks of coupled oscillators, known as Elastic Network Models (ENMs). Building on the recent quantum algorithm of Babbush et al. (PRX 2023), the team developed a Quantum Elastic Network Model (qENM) framework that simulates the dynamics of coupled oscillator based systems. We applied this framework to the case of graphene, showing that its symmetries enable the efficient construction of subroutines required by the quantum coupled oscillators algorithm and preserves the algorithm’s exponential advantage. The results outline a concrete route toward quantum-accelerated dynamics simulations for large molecular systems.