US DOE-SC Grant Awarded to Michigan State Focuses on Nuclear Physics & Could Benefit Other Disciplines

(MSU.Today) A new U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC) grant has been awarded to Michigan State University (MSU) researchers, led by physicists at Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB). Working with Los Alamos National Laboratory, the team is developing algorithms – essentially programming instructions – for quantum computers to help these machines address problems that are difficult for conventional computers. For example, problems like explaining the fundamental quantum science that keeps an atomic nucleus from falling apart.
“The aim is to improve the efficiency and scalability of quantum simulation algorithms, thereby providing new insights on their applicability for future studies of nuclei and nuclear matter,” said principal investigator Morten Hjorth-Jensen, an FRIB researcher who is also a professor in MSU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy and a professor of physics at the University of Oslo in Norway.
Although this grant focuses on nuclear physics, the algorithms it yields could benefit other fields looking to use quantum computing’s promise to more rapidly solve complicated problems. This includes scientific disciplines such as chemistry and materials science, but also areas such as banking, logistics, and data analytics.