The search for quantum advantage in differential equations

Differential equations study the mathematics of change. They describe everything from the waves crashing against a shoreline to the roiling plasma on the surface of the sun. They are immensely valuable with applications in drug discovery, financial modeling, structural engineering, and beyond. But as the systems they model grow in size and complexity, classical computing methods falter.

Recent and forthcoming work from a group led by IBM senior researcher Hari Krovi suggests that quantum computing could soon expand the scale at which we can analyze and solve certain types of differential equations. His team is developing new quantum algorithms that, in specific cases, offer potential for significant speedups over state-of-the-art classical approaches. These advances are part of a growing effort to achieve quantum advantage in solving differential equations—a long-standing goal in quantum computing.

Krovi’s group has made steady progress developing algorithms that use differential…