Integrating Classical and Quantum Software for Enhanced Simulation of Realistic Chemical Systems

Abstract

We demonstrate the feasibility of quantum computing for large-scale, realistic chemical systems through the development of a new interface using a quantum circuit simulator and CP2K, a highly efficient first-principles calculation software. Quantum chemistry calculations using quantum computers require Hamiltonians prepared on classical computers. Moreover, to compute forces beyond just single-point energy calculations, one- and two-electron integral derivatives and response equations are also to be computed on classical computers. Our developed interface allows for efficient evaluation of forces with the quantum-classical hybrid framework for large chemical systems. We performed geometry optimizations and first-principles molecular dynamics calculations on typical condensed-phase systems. These included liquid water, molecular adsorption on solid surfaces, and biological enzymes. In water benchmarks with periodic boundary conditions, we confirmed that the cost of preparing second-quantized Hamiltonians and evaluating forces scales almost linearly with the simulation box size. This research marks a step towards the practical application of quantum-classical hybrid calculations, expanding the scope of quantum computing to realistic and complex chemical phenomena.