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Algorithms · Variational quantum eigensolver

Projection-based embedding for VQE-in-DFT

Simulate strongly correlated chemical systems on near-term quantum hardware, whose noise and limited size otherwise confine such simulations to small chemical systems, by embedding a quantum treatment of a strongly correlated fragment within a larger classical calculation.

Attested & literatureUpdated

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  • Record typeLiterature reference
  • Reference implementationprojection_based_embedding
  • Reported costNot stated by the sources read
  • Papers1

A part this method uses, worked through

This page says combine the variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) with density functional theory — here is a concrete, runnable instance of it.

VQE on a 2-qubit transverse-field Ising Hamiltonian

2 qubits, H = Z⊗Z + 0.5*(X⊗I + I⊗X), a stated toy Hamiltonian (not a molecule), minimised with a hardware-efficient ansatz.

q0q1RY(π/2)RY(5π/4)CXRY(0)RY(0)

Where it ends up

  • 1043%
  • 0143%
  • 007%
  • 117%

At these angles the ansatz's energy ⟨H⟩ reaches E0 = −√2, the Hamiltonian's exact ground energy; a real VQE run reaches these angles by repeating measure-the-energy then update-the-angles, not by a closed-form solution.

Open this part in Studio

Rossmannek, Pavošević, Rubio and Tavernelli combine the variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) with density functional theory (DFT) through a quantum embedding approach, using the projection-based embedding method to couple the two — a method the authors state is not limited to VQE. The resulting VQE-in-DFT method treats a strongly correlated fragment of a chemical system with VQE while treating the remainder with DFT, addressing the current limitation of near-term quantum devices to small chemical systems. The authors report implementing the method efficiently on a real quantum device and applying it to simulate the triple-bond breaking process in butyronitrile. They present the results as showing that the developed method is a promising approach for simulating systems with a strongly correlated fragment on a quantum computer, and state that the developments and their implementation will benefit chemical areas including computer-aided drug design and the study of metalloenzymes with a strongly correlated fragment. The sources read state no complexity bound for this record (The abstract of arXiv:2302.03052, the only source read for this record, states no cost, running time, qubit count, gate count or speedup bound anywhere in it. Its claims are architectural and qualitative: it says quantum computing "has emerged as a promising platform for simulating strongly correlated systems in chemistry" while near-term hardware limitations mean "their application is currently limited only to small chemical systems", and that the developed VQE-in-DFT method "is then implemented efficiently on a real quantum device" without stating what that efficiency consists of in qubits, gates, or time. The demonstration this record covers states no bound either. The complexity field is therefore left empty on purpose rather than filled with a bound written from memory.).

References

  • Quantum Embedding Method for the Simulation of Strongly Correlated Systems on Quantum Computers

    Max Rossmannek, Fabijan Pavošević, Angel Rubio, Ivano Tavernelli · 2023

    Primary source: it states the projection-based embedding method for combining VQE with DFT, the resulting VQE-in-DFT method, its implementation on a real quantum device, and its use to simulate triple-bond breaking in butyronitrile. Consult it for the device used, the number of qubits, the accuracy achieved, and how the strongly correlated fragment was selected, none of which the abstract states.

Attested & literature
  • Peer-reviewed paper
Method
Curation only. This record documents the algorithm a published reference implementation demonstrates, not the demonstration itself: nothing in Leona runs Qmod. The primary reference's title, authors and submission year were read from its arXiv abs page, and the complexity claim taken from a clause of that paper's abstract (The abstract of arXiv:2302.03052, the only source read for this record, states no cost, running time, qubit count, gate count or speedup bound anywhere in it. Its claims are architectural and qualitative: it says quantum computing "has emerged as a promising platform for simulating strongly correlated systems in chemistry" while near-term hardware limitations mean "their application is currently limited only to small chemical systems", and that the developed VQE-in-DFT method "is then implemented efficiently on a real quantum device" without stating what that efficiency consists of in qubits, gates, or time. The demonstration this record covers states no bound either. The complexity field is therefore left empty on purpose rather than filled with a bound written from memory.). No circuit was constructed, simulated or run.
Result
Pass · the record's problem statement and primary reference agree with the sources named above.
Caveat
This is a literature record. Nothing was built, compiled, simulated or run for it, and no molecule was simulated; the record documents the algorithm as its abstract states it and does not reproduce or verify the demonstration. The index entry read for this record, applications/chemistry/projection_based_embedding, gives that directory path and a single file, projected_based_embedding_tutorial.ipynb, and nothing about what it contains. The abstract states no cost, running time, qubit count, gate count or speedup bound for the projection-based embedding method, for VQE-in-DFT, or for the reported real-device run, so none is recorded above; this record makes no efficiency or scaling claim of its own for the method. The triple-bond-breaking simulation of butyronitrile on a real quantum device is the paper's own reported experiment; the abstract does not state the device used, the number of qubits, the accuracy achieved, or how the strongly correlated fragment was chosen or sized, and none of that was checked or repeated for this record. The description of VQE-in-DFT as a promising approach, and the claim that the developments will benefit drug design and the study of metalloenzymes, are the authors' own framing and expectation for future work, not a demonstrated result for either application; nothing here establishes that the method has been applied to drug design or to a metalloenzyme system. Projection-based embedding is stated to combine VQE with DFT and to not be limited to VQE, but the abstract does not say what else it composes with, so this record makes no claim about any other combination.
Quantum Embedding Method for the Simulation of Strongly Correlated Systems on Quantum Computers ↗
Kind
curated reference
Reviewed by
Leona Quantum curation pass
License
Citation metadata only; source publication terms apply
variational quantum eigensolverquantum embeddingdensity functional theorystrongly correlated systemsquantum chemistry

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