Quantum Computing R&D Collaboration Shell with Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam & Leiden University

(AAIMS) Shell has entered a 5-year collaboration with VU Amsterdam and Leiden University to discover how to use quantum computers across Shell’s business. Shell will collaborate with VU Amsterdam and Leiden University on the research and use of quantum computing for computational chemistry which is of great interest to Shell’s fuel retail, chemicals, catalysis and New Energies businesses.
‘As at he­o­ret­i­cal chemist I am eager to adopt quan­tum com­put­ing’, says Lucas Viss­cher, VU pro­fes­sor The­o­ret­i­cal Chem­istry, ‘as this pro­vides a unique op­por­tu­nity to un­der­stand what elec­trons re­ally do in the key re­ac­tions of na­ture.’
Quan­tum com­put­ing has the po­ten­tial to sim­u­late chem­i­cal in­ter­ac­tions at a speed and scale fun­da­men­tally ex­ceed­ing what is pos­si­ble today. Mol­e­cules are quan­tum me­chan­i­cal sys­tems and solv­ing the un­der­ly­ing equa­tions is im­pos­si­ble on today’s su­per­com­put­ers for even small mol­e­cules with­out crude ap­prox­i­ma­tions. Quan­tum com­put­ing will be a crit­i­cal en­abler to sim­u­late com­plex chem­i­cal sys­tems at in­dus­trial scale, such as catal­y­sis in petro­chem­i­cal op­er­a­tions, or pho­to­catal­y­sis for cap­tur­ing and stor­ing solar en­ergy.