Quantum chemistry, modeling molecular and atomic systems quantum mechanically, is a natural application for quantum computers. The molecular structure calculations demonstrated show progress toward practical quantum chemistry.
Classical computational chemistry uses approximations to make quantum mechanical calculations tractable. Quantum computers could reduce or eliminate some approximations, improving accuracy.
Drug discovery could benefit tremendously from accurate quantum chemical calculations. Predicting molecular interactions more precisely would accelerate pharmaceutical development.
Materials design also depends on quantum chemistry for understanding electronic properties. Better quantum chemical modeling could enable design of materials with specific desired characteristics.
Current demonstrations address small molecules, but realistic applications require modeling much larger systems. Scaling quantum chemistry algorithms to practical molecules remains challenging.
As quantum computers grow more capable, increasingly relevant quantum chemistry problems become addressable. This progression toward practical utility drives quantum computing investment.