Quantum computers have slowed down analog chemical reactions by a factor of 100 billion!

ICV    QUANTUM-news    Quantum computers have slowed down analog chemical reactions by a factor of 100 billion!

For the first time, scientists at the University of Sydney (UCSD) have used a quantum computer to design and directly observe a key process in a chemical reaction, slowing it down by a factor of 100 billion.

 

 

"Direct observation of geometric-phase interference in dynamics around a conical intersection."

 

 

Lead authors Vanessa Olaya Agudelo and Dr. Christophe Valahu in front of the quantum computer used for experiments at the Sydney Nanoscience Centre.

 

Co-Principal Investigator and PhD student Vanessa Olaya Agudelo said, "By understanding these fundamental processes within and between molecules, we can break new ground in materials science, drug design or solar energy harvesting.

 

"It could also help improve other processes that rely on molecules interacting with light, such as how smog is created and how the ozone layer is destroyed."

 

Specifically, the team witnessed interference patterns in individual atoms caused by "conical intersections," a common geometric structure in chemistry.

 

Conical intersections are well known throughout chemistry and are critical for fast photochemical processes such as light harvesting or photosynthesis in human vision.

 

Since the 1950s, chemists have attempted to directly observe such geometric processes in chemical kinetics, but the extremely fast time scales involved make it unfeasible to observe them directly.

 

To solve this problem, quantum researchers in the Schools of Physics and Chemistry created an experiment using a trapped-ion quantum computer in a completely new way. This allowed them to design and map this very complex problem onto a relatively small quantum device and then slow the process down by a factor of 100 billion. Their findings were published on August 28 in the journal Nature Chemistry.

 

 

 

Engineering wavepacket dynamics around conical intersections

 

Olaya Agudelo of the School of Chemistry said, "In nature, the whole process ends in a femtosecond. That's one billionth of a millionth of a second, or one quadrillionth of a second."

 

"Using our quantum computer, we have built a system that can slow down chemical kinetics from femtoseconds to milliseconds. This allows us to make meaningful observations and measurements. This has never been done before."

 

Co-first author Dr. Christophe Valahu of the School of Physics said, "Until now, we have not been able to directly observe the dynamics of the 'geometric phase'; it occurs too fast to be detected experimentally."

 

"We solved this problem using quantum technology." Valahu explains that this is akin to simulating the air patterns around an airplane wing in a wind tunnel. "Instead of a numerical approximation of the process, our experiment is a direct simulation of observing quantum dynamics unfolding at a rate we can observe."

 

In photochemical reactions such as photosynthesis, in which plants derive energy from the sun, molecules transfer energy at lightning speeds, creating regions of exchange known as conical intersections.

 

This study slows down the dynamics in a quantum computer, revealing predictive features associated with cone crossings in photochemical reactions and, moreover, features that have never been seen before.

 

--This exciting result will help us better understand ultrafast dynamics: how molecules change on the fastest time scales.

 

Dr. Tan, a co-author of the study, sees this as a wonderful collaboration between chemical theorists and experimental quantum physicists. "We are using a new approach in physics to solve a long-standing problem in chemistry."

 

Reference links:

[1] https://phys.org/news/2023-08-scientists-quantum-device-simulated-chemical.html

[2] https://www.theage.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-scientists-quantum-breakthrough-slows-time-chemically-at-least-20230828-p5dzyb. html

[3]https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/quantum-computer-slows-down-virtual-chemistry-reaction-100-billion-times/

 

 

 

2023-08-30 11:57

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