Complex Nitrogenase Reaction Solved With Classical Methods

After decades of work, chemist Garnet Chan and colleagues at the California Institute of Technology have solved a key mystery surrounding nitrogenase, the enzyme responsible for making life on Earth possible, and they did it using conventional computers. The achievement challenges a growing expectation within the quantum computing field that certain complex chemical reactions, specifically those involving numerous linked electrons, would require quantum machines to decipher. Nitrogenase had become a proof-of-concept target for quantum computing researchers, who believed its large number of possible configurations demanded a quantum solution. However, Chan argues, “My main interest is in solving chemical problems. If classical computers are the right tool to do it, we should,” and this result demonstrates that, at least in this instance, they are. “I think it’s important to clarify that this is not an impossible task where you have to first build a quantum computer to say anything about the problem,” he…