Physicists benchmark quantum simulator with hundreds of qubits

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a quantum simulator that can engineer interactions among hundreds of quantum bits (qubits). This is a remarkable advancement that involves ten times more qubits than previous devices. The simulator has recently passed a series of important benchmarking tests. Scientists are eager to study problems in material science that are impossible to model on conventional computers. More advanced computational tools are needed to understand and rationally design materials. Their properties are dependent on the collective quantum behavior of hundreds of particles. The NIST quantum simulator allows the study of quantum systems that are difficult to study in the laboratory and impossible to model with a supercomputer.