Hybrid quantum computers could finally get to grips with light and matter

Image caption: Hybrid quantum computers could enable simulations of fermion-boson interactions across numerous fields of research. Image credit: Eleanor Crane et al. CC BY 4.0 (resized to fit). Article by Sam Jarman. Phys.org – October 12, 2026. Research article: Physical Review X.

Many of nature’s most important processes depend on how particles of matter interact with light and other force-carrying particles. So far, however, it has proven difficult for conventional computers to determine how individual particles behave in these interactions. Now, a team led by Eleanor Crane at MIT has developed a digital toolkit for simulating these interactions using quantum computing hardware, which could allow such machines to outperform their classical counterparts without the need for extensive error correction. […]

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