Deloitte Tohmatsu, Classiq, and Mitsubishi Chemical Compress Quantum Circuits by Up to 97%

11 December, 2024

Deloitte Tohmatsu Group (hereinafter referred to as “Deloitte Tohmatsu”), a pioneer in the demonstration of quantum computing use cases in industry, quantum computing platform Classiq Technologies (hereinafter referred to as “Classiq”), and Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (hereinafter referred to as “Mitsubishi Chemical”) are working together to explore materials development in the chemical field, including new organic electroluminescent (EL) materials. Deloitte Tohmatsu successfully conducted a demonstration experiment (hereinafter referred to as "this demonstration") to shorten the quantum circuit (calculation logic of the algorithm used on a quantum computer) during development.
 

Successful quantum circuit compression suggests early commercial use of quantum computers

Deloitte Tohmatsu announced that one of the two quantum algorithms achieved circuit compression of up to 97 percent, and the other achieved circuit compression of up to 54 percent. To run an algorithm on a quantum computer, it must be written as a quantum circuit, and the longer the circuit, the greater the risk of errors occurring during calculation. This demonstration showed the possibility of improving calculation accuracy when developing new materials using efficient quantum circuit design technology. This result indicates that the circuit compression method used in this demonstration can be applied to various quantum circuits, not only in the chemical field. It is also relevant for the early practical application of quantum computers in a wide range of fields such as drug discovery, AI, finance, manufacturing and logistics. Recent advances in error correction technology are expected to improve the reliability of quantum computers, making it possible to execute longer, more complex quantum algorithms. Therefore, Classiq, Deloitte Tohmatsu and Mitsubishi Chemical see compression of quantum circuits becoming an increasingly important issue for the practical application of quantum computers.
 

Shortening the time and cost reduction of new material development by utilizing quantum computers

Deloitte Tohmatsu, well-versed in global trends in the quantum field, used real data owned by Mitsubishi Chemical. Mitsubishi Chemical has been conducting research in anticipation of using quantum computers in the chemical field for material exploration, and this demonstration leveraged Classiq’s technology to demonstrate it is possible to compress quantum circuits to better develop new materials.
Mitsubishi Chemical has long been developing Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithms (QAOA) for the development of advanced organic electroluminescence materials (Intell. Comput. 2023;2:Article 0037). One problem has been that calculation accuracy could not be guaranteed due to the accumulation of noise that affected the state of the quantum computer. Therefore, the three companies jointly conducted this demonstration, believing that if quantum circuits could be compressed sufficiently, the practical application of quantum computers in the chemical field would benefit.

In addition, in recent years, remarkable progress has been made in error correction technology for quantum computers, and Quantum Phase Estimation (QPE) has indicated its true value in error-tolerant hardware.

Overview of the demonstration

• Implementation
  • Overall project planning and implementation: Deloitte Tohmatsu
  • Demonstration support: Classiq
  • Data and advice on experiments: Mitsubishi Chemical
• Technique
  The algorithms for QAOA, which Mitsubishi Chemical used in the demonstration process of organic EL material development, and QPE, which are particularly important in the era of fault-tolerant quantum computers (FTQC), were functionally described in Qmod (Quantum Modeling Language) developed by Classiq. We generated a more efficient quantum circuit based on the model using the Classiq platform.
• Result
  In this demonstration, compared to the quantum circuit that Mitsubishi Chemical had generated using conventional technology, it was possible to achieve significant quantum algorithm compression while maintaining calculation accuracy. A maximum of 54 percent circuit compression was achieved for QAOA, whereas a maximum 97 percent compression was attained for QPE. This demonstrated the possibility of improving the actual machine's calculation accuracy and discovering promising materials with a higher probability on an actual machine.

Figures: Depth of quantum circuit required for implementing two types of quantum algorithms: [Left] QAOA (NISQ) and [Right] QPE (FTQC): Compared to conventional technology, Classiq platform reduced circuitry length by up to 54% in QAOA and up to 97% in QPE.
 

Growing expectations for the use of quantum computers in the development of new materials

In the chemical field, instead of the traditional R&D approach that relies heavily on the knowledge, experience and experiments of researchers, materials informatics and information technology such as simulation data, machine learning algorithms and AI prediction are increasingly being used.  While it is possible to significantly reduce the time and cost required for development, there is a need to perform very demanding calculations with high precision, and the required computational resources are becoming an issue. Therefore, there are high expectations for the application of quantum computers, which have strengths in processing complex calculations when compared to conventional computers.
 

[Deloitte Tohmatsu's Quantum Initiatives]

Deloitte Tohmatsu is focused on quantum technology, which is expected to create a new future, and aims to be the first in the world to promote its implementation in business with Japanese industries and companies. In 2023, we welcomed Masayoshi Terabe, a leading expert in the quantum field, and with 50 people in Japan, we are actively developing initiatives in the quantum field, including technology demonstration, in cooperation with 700 overseas experts of Deloitte. By utilizing the expertise of industry professionals in developing use cases, we enable support for the business implementation of quantum technologies across various fields.