R-R accelerates airflow simulations using quantum computing

Simulation runtimes have fallen from weeks to less than an hour as teams use hybrid quantum-classical approaches to overcome key bottlenecks.

Xanadu, Rolls-Royce and Riverlane have completed a project focused on simulating jet engine airflow using quantum computing. By combining Xanadu’s PennyLane software with Riverlane’s quantum algorithms, Rolls-Royce was able to reduce simulation runtimes from weeks to under an hour, creating new opportunities for engine prototyping.

Jet engine airflow simulations are a major bottleneck on classical supercomputers due to the number of variables involved. Quantum computing is better suited to these systems and could speed up design significantly.

Leigh Lapworth, Rolls-Royce Fellow in Computational Science, says: “This has been a hugely successful collaboration, which has significantly advanced our quantum applications capability. The single-minded focus on fault tolerant quantum algorithms has put us and our partners in a leading position as we enter the error-corrected era.”

Riverlane staff quantum scientist Christoph Sünderhauf says: “Our research, along with that of academic groups, has significantly accelerated precomputation, enabling the classical preprocessing to keep pace with the quantum computation itself.”

Xanadu CEO Christian Weedbrook says the team reduced prototyping runtimes by up to 1,000 times in some cases: “To make quantum simulations… practical for Rolls-Royce, we targeted their specific application and used our Catalyst compiler to optimize their PennyLane programs.”

The project was jointly funded by the governments of the UK and Canada. Each company contributed its area of expertise: Rolls-Royce the industrial use case, Riverlane the quantum algorithms, and Xanadu the hybrid program and compiler optimisations.

The effort also coincides with Xanadu's planned public listing, following a business combination agreement with Crane Harbor Acquisition Corp., expected to raise US$500 million for the newly formed Xanadu Quantum Technologies Limited.