In September 2020, at the Qubits Worldwide User Conference, researcher Jaka Vodeb presented a talk titled Simulating Quantum Configurational Tunneling Using Machine Learning-Assisted Quantum Computation. The presentation focused on one of the first practical applications of quantum computing—simulating quantum tunneling between different electronic configurations.
The research centers on the material 1T-TaS₂ in its metastable state, where electrons organize into a mosaic of charge domains separated by domain walls. The team developed a strongly correlated model describing electronic configuration ordering, specifically tailored for execution on the D-Wave quantum computer. All implementation details for running the model on a quantum computer have been developed, and the team is now working on the actual simulation, which could become one of the first practical uses of quantum computing.
Watch the lecture recording at this link.