Quantinuum and HQS Simulate 21-Spin NMR Spectrum on 42 Qubits With 1,400+ Two-Qubit Gate Circuits
AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication
Quantinuum and German software firm HQS Quantum Simulations have completed an end‑to‑end digital NMR spectroscopy simulation on Quantinuum’s System Model H2‑1 trapped‑ion quantum computer. The benchmark reproduced the liquid‑state proton NMR spectrum of 1,2‑di‑tert‑butyl‑diphosphane, a 22‑spin heteronuclear molecule containing two ³¹P and twenty ¹H nuclei. By projecting the phosphorus pair into a singlet‑triplet subspace, the team reduced the effective Hamiltonian to 21 spins and cut two‑qubit gate count per Trotter step from 69 to 20 native ZZ‑Phase gates. The H2‑1 device, leveraging all‑to‑all ion connectivity and low idle‑memory errors, resolved the molecule’s subtle double‑peak structure with ~0.07 ppm spectral resolution. Although classical tools like Spinach remain faster for routine high‑field NMR, the experiment validates deep digital Hamiltonian simulation for zero‑ to ultralow‑field NMR and solid‑state material studies.
💡 Why It Matters
- · Demonstrating high‑resolution NMR spectra on 42 qubits shows trapped‑ion platforms can tackle chemically relevant problems beyond the reach of current superconducting devices.
- · This breakthrough opens a pathway for quantum computers to assist in specialized spectroscopy and materials research where classical methods struggle.
