Pasqal’s 256-Qubit Simulation Guides Quantum Material Study at CERN

From July 10-12, 2026, students and researchers convened at CERN’s IdeaSquare for the Quantum Materials Hackathon, tackling an ambitious goal for a short-form competition: creating a “Quantum Twin of a real material.” Pasqal supported the event by providing cloud access, dedicated training on its software, and on-site mentorship, enabling participants to explore quantum simulation with a practical scientific question. The hackathon focused on TmMgGaO₄, a frustrated magnetic material, and utilized Pasqal’s recent demonstration of a one-to-one quantum simulation with 256 qubits as an example of its work. “We framed the exercise in two steps,” explains Tiago Mendes Santos, Senior Quantum Algorithm Developer at Pasqal, who shaped the challenge; the hackathon aimed to demonstrate how quantum simulation can explore real questions in materials science. The…