Computational fluid dynamics lies at the heart of many issues in science and engineering, but solving the associated partial differential equations remains computationally demanding. With the rise of quantum computing, new approaches have emerged to address these challenges. In this work, we investigate the potential of quantum algorithms for solving the shallow water equations, which are, for example, used to model tsunami dynamics. By extending a linearization scheme previously developed in [Phys. Rev. Research 7, 013036 (2025)] for the Navier-Stokes equations, we create a mapping from the nonlinear shallow water equation to a linear system of equations, which, in principle, can be solved exponentially faster on a quantum device than on a classical computer. To validate our approach, we compare its results to an analytical solution and benchmark its dependence on key parameters. Additionally, we implement a quantum linear system solver based on quantum singular value transformation and study its performance in connection to our mapping. Our results demonstrate the potential of applying quantum algorithms to fluid dynamics problems and highlight necessary considerations for future developments.
Computational fluid dynamics lies at the heart of many issues in science and engineering, but solving the associated partial differential equations remains computationally demanding. With the rise of quantum computing, new approaches have emerged to address these challenges. In this work, we investigate the potential of quantum algorithms for solving the shallow water equations, which are, for example, used to model tsunami dynamics. By extending a linearization scheme previously developed in [Phys. Rev. Research 7, 013036 (2025)] for the Navier-Stokes equations, we create a mapping from the nonlinear shallow water equation to a linear system of equations, which, in principle, can be solved exponentially faster on a quantum device than on a classical computer. To validate our approach, we compare its results to an analytical solution and benchmark its dependence on key parameters. Additionally, we implement a quantum linear system solver based on quantum singular value transformation and study its performance in connection to our mapping. Our results demonstrate the potential of applying quantum algorithms to fluid dynamics problems and highlight necessary considerations for future developments.
We focus on the electromagnetic fluid dynamics governing plasmas and develop a quantum algorithm for nonlinear partial differential equations. Specifically, we apply Koopman-von Neumann (KvN) linearization to transform the electromagnetic fluid dynamics into a Schrödinger equation. The time evolution of this system is then computed using Hamiltonian simulation via Quantum Singular Value Transformation (QSVT). The proposed quantum algorithm has the potential to significantly reduce computational complexity compared to an ideal classical high-precision scheme, which scales asO(Nx4)whereNxis the number of grid points per direction. By leveraging quantum computation, this complexity is reduced toO(NxlogNx)offering a potential advantage in large-scale simulations. To assess the feasibility and performance of quantum computing in plasma simulations, we implement the proposed quantum algorithm and conduct numerical validations. Specifically, we present results for two test cases: one with a linear solution and the other with a nonlinear solution. As a result, the behavior of composite numerical errors arising from discretization, KvN, and QSVT is elucidated, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed quantum algorithm. The novelty of this study lies in the application of a promising quantum algorithm for nonlinear partial differential equations to plasma simulations, along with a concrete numerical evaluation of its computational performance. Furthermore, this work presents a novel direction by identifying a nonlinear, high- degree-of-freedom physical system that can be efficiently solved by a quantum algorithm under theoretical guarantees.
To approximate solutions of complex nonlinear partial differential equations remains a computational challenge, especially for sets of equations relevant in industry, such as Euler or Navier-Stokes equations. Even the most sophisticated computational fluid dynamic algorithms coupled with powerful supercomputers can not find approximate solutions for several design challenges in both adequate time and scale-resolving accuracy. One difficulty arises from solving high dimensional, strongly nonlinear partial differential equations, such as the Navier-Stokes equations, which capture the underlying physics. For nearly all classical algorithms, methods closely related to Newton's method are used to approximate a solution to the problem. Approximately solving the large-scale linear systems of equations occurring in this iterative scheme is generally a main contributor to the total computational complexity. In this paper a new quantum linear system solver supporting Newton's classical method to solve nonlinear partial differential equations is introduced. We present a new variant of the HHL algorithm, requiring less apriori information regarding the eigenvalues of the corresponding matrix. We apply this quantum linear system solver in a hybrid quantum-classical fashion to solve nonlinear partial differential equations. Moreover, a resource estimation for advanced use-cases of practical relevance is provided. Our results demonstrate how quantum computation may improve existing classical methodologies for solving nonlinear partial differential equations. This approach provides another promising application of quantum computers and presents a possible way forward for handling nonlinearities on inherently linear quantum systems.
Partial differential equations (PDEs) present important computational challenges in several scientific disciplines. Classical numerical methods, while effective, often encounter scalability issues and high computational costs, particularly for complex problems. Quantum computing seems to address these challenges, offering a potential exponential speedup over classical methods. The presented work studies the application of quantum computing, specifically Quantum Annealing, to the computational complexities inherent in solving the Navier-Stokes equations within Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Our study examines the quantum annealing methodology, conducting two different experiments and analyzing the error between the simulation and the analytical solution. The results obtained demonstrate that quantum annealing paradigm can solve this problems and the errors obtained are acceptable in comparison with other methods in the state of the art. By combining theoretical insights with practical implementation, this research clarifies the potential of quantum annealing, providing a comprehensive overview of the simulation framework, analyzing the obtained results, and suggesting future research avenues.
We present a comprehensive review of quantum approaches for solving partial differential equations (PDEs) arising in computational fluid dynamics (CFD). We examine fully quantum approaches, including quantum linear system algorithms (QLSAs), ranging from the Harrow--Hassidim--Lloyd (HHL) algorithm to quantum singular value transformation (QSVT), Hamiltonian simulation, and quantum lattice Boltzmann methods (QLBMs), while emphasizing hybrid quantum--classical approaches, including quantum physics-informed neural networks (QPINNs) and amplitude-encoded variational PDE solvers. We focus on hardware-agnostic algorithms compatible with present noisy processors and emerging fault-tolerant architectures. For each framework, we analyze the mathematical formulation, algorithmic structure, and principal limitations. We also examine tensor-network (TN) representations, since CFD fields, differential operators, and geometrical information can often be encoded efficiently in low-rank form. The TN formalism bridges CFD discretizations and quantum states, operators, and circuits, enabling compact representations to be translated into tensor-programmable variational quantum algorithms (TP-VQAs). We further review benchmark problems, including Poisson, reaction, diffusion, and nonlinear model equations, and assess how well quantum algorithms capture key features of fluid dynamics. Our analysis highlights that potential quantum advantage is highly problem dependent and governed by condition number, representational complexity, state preparation, and measurement constraints. We outline capabilities, limitations, and challenges toward scalable quantum algorithms for CFD.
As the energy sector transitions towards more sustainable forms of energy production, classical Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) increasingly struggles with the bottle- necks of simulating high complexity turbulent flows. While quantum computing (QC) theoretically offers an exponential speedup for large-scale linear systems, current Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) hardware lacks the error correction required for deep and complex circuits that mathematically ideal algorithms require. Furthermore, the inherent linearity of quantum mechanics seriously impedes the solving non-linear partial differential equations (PDEs), which are critical for fluid modeling. To bridge thisgap, thisthesisevaluatestheVariationalQuantumLinearSolver(VQLS),a shallow- circuit, hybrid algorithm, applied to the 1D viscous Burgers’ equation while utilizing the Cole-Hopf transformation to analytically linearize the equation. In both simulated and actual hardware, the VQLS algorithm is implemented across increasingly scaled topographies (2, 4, and 8 qubits). This work intends to identify the limitations of implementing quantum fluid dynamics in near-term quantum hardware.
Many computational fluid dynamics (CFD) algorithms solve partial differential equations by discretization, resulting in large and sparse systems of linear equations. While iterative methods are widely used to solve these systems classically, most existing quantum linear system solvers target the solution through matrix inversion rather than approximating it using an iterative procedure. In this work, we develop a quantum implementation of the Jacobi method based on quantum singular value transformation (QSVT). By reformulating the Jacobi iteration as a polynomial transformation of a block-encoded operator, the algorithm requires only a constant ancilla overhead with respect to the number of iterations while maintaining a circuit depth that scales linearly with the iteration number. We demonstrate the algorithm for one- and two-dimensional Poisson problems, including the pressure Poisson equation arising in Chorin's projection method for the lid-driven cavity flow. The proposed algorithm provides a promising building block for future quantum implementations of multigrid methods and preconditioning techniques, bringing quantum algorithms closer to established CFD solution strategies.