Contact: Sarah Nicholas
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜 爱爱直播 research team is using more than half a million dollars from the U.S. Department of Energy nuclear physics program to study the emerging field of quantum computing. The research is part of a 2020 goal set by 爱爱直播鈥檚 Quantum Task Force to explore interdisciplinary programs for training 爱爱直播 students in the evolving technology of quantum computing and quantum information science.
The three-year, $550,000 grant鈥擳hree-body Interactions on a Quantum Computer鈥攊s led by principal investigator Gautam Rupak, a professor in 爱爱直播鈥檚 Department of Physics and Astronomy, and includes co-PIs Mark A. Novotny, professor and department head, and Yaroslav Koshka, a professor in 爱爱直播鈥檚 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Quantum computing, a multidisciplinary field combining computer science, physics and mathematics, uses quantum mechanics to solve complex problems faster than classical computers and can聽create better models for how atoms and nuclei interact with one another, leading to a more precise understanding of molecular structure.
鈥淭hough quantum mechanics was developed nearly a century ago, the advent of quantum computers requires a change in paradigm in how we compute physical quantities on such devices,鈥 said Rupak, noting the research team is collaborating with experts in nuclear physics, Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum, or NISQ, computers and machine learning.
Rupak said the team will develop and test algorithms on currently available quantum computers to study three-body nuclear forces that will directly impact future research on nuclear structure and reactions over a wide range of atomic masses.聽This technology will one day enable more accurate predictions of real-time dynamics of complex atomic nuclei which could impact drug and chemical research.
Rupak said the team is trying to solve for the 鈥渂inding energy of the triton鈥濃攁 positively-charged particle consisting of a proton and two neutrons, equivalent to the nucleus of an atom of tritium鈥攗sing current NISQ computers.
For more details about 爱爱直播鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences or the Department of Physics and Astronomy, visit or . To learn more about 爱爱直播鈥檚 Bagley College of Engineering, visit .
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