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The simulation of fermionic systems is among the most anticipated applications of quantum computing. We performed several quantum simulations of chemistry with up to one dozen qubits, including modeling the isomerization mechanism of diazene. We also demonstrated error-mitigation strategies based on N-representability that dramatically improve the effective fidelity of our experiments. Our parameterized ansatz circuits realized the Givens rotation approach to noninteracting fermion evolution, which we variationally optimized to prepare the Hartree-Fock wave function. This ubiquitous algorithmic primitive is classically tractable to simulate yet still generates highly entangled states over the computational basis, which allowed us to assess the performance of our hardware and establish a foundation for scaling up correlated quantum chemistry simulations.

Superconducting qubits are an attractive platform for quantum computing since they have demonstrated high-fidelity quantum gates and extensibility to modest system sizes. Nonetheless, an outstanding challenge is stabilizing their energy-relaxation times, which can fluctuate unpredictably in frequency and time. Here, we use qubits as spectral and temporal probes of individual two-level-system defects to provide direct evidence that they are responsible for the largest fluctuations. This research lays the foundation for stabilizing qubit performance through calibration, design, and fabrication.

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