A new study shows that quantum error correction can help real quantum computers run chemistry algorithms, marking a step toward scalable quantum applications.

In the study, researchers at Quantinuum announce they have successfully demonstrated the first end-to-end quantum chemistry computation using quantum error correction (QEC), according to a paper posted recently on arXiv. The experiment calculated the ground-state energy of molecular hydrogen using a method called quantum phase estimation (QPE), all performed on error-corrected qubits running on the company’s H2-2 trapped-ion quantum computer. The results have significant implications, according to the team, which showed that using QEC improved the performance of their circuits despite increasing their size and complexity. This challenges a common assumption in early quantum computing — that error correction adds more noise than it removes. Instead, the study suggests that even today’s hardware can benefit from carefully designed error-corrected algorithms, particularly in the field of computational chemistry. In a blog post, the Quantinuum team writes: “This work sets key benchmarks on the path to fully fault-tolerant quantum simulations. Building such capabilities into an industrial workflow will be a milestone for quantum computing, and the demonstration reported here represents a new high-water mark as we continue to lead the global industry in pushing towards universal fault-tolerant computers capable of widespread scientific and commercial advantage.”

Full report : Quantum Chemistry Gets Error-Corrected Boost from Quantinuum’s Trapped-Ion Computer.

For more see the OODA Company Profile on Quantinuum.