{"record":{"author":{"account_ref":null,"orcid":null},"builds_on":[],"content_schema":"pubphys.content.revision/1","content_sha256":"345c933ec4c2baf410c54a276ef135bb957d5ae2f181adabf5187345c3e45b61","created":"2026-10-03T07:18:10Z","files":[],"origin":{"assisted_by":[],"kind":"seed"},"parents":["5475cf5dc5b1a72283d26dc95dc6e00d7ea4e00096a7c6492e409a1816eeb011"],"salt":"bc5c35e26478c53e2643cb87f4b403c3f38a491137510571dc33a6809af43ae1","schema":"pubphys.record/2","site":"pubphys.com","target":null,"type":"revision"},"content":{"answer_type":"yes-no","assisted_by":[],"external_id":"qi.quantum-chemistry-algorithms.exponential-advantage-chemistry","kind":"well-posed","literature_status":"contested","n":"1","parents":[],"plain":"Quantum computers are often said to be exponentially faster for chemistry, but classical methods keep improving. Whether there is a real exponential gap for a growing family of real molecules is disputed.","posed_since":"2022","precise":"Fix a size-indexed chemical family, for example iron-sulfur clusters with $N_{\\mathrm{Fe}} = 2, 4, 8, ...$ iron centers and active spaces of N orbitals growing linearly with $N_{\\mathrm{Fe}}$, or linear transition-metal chains of length N. For ground-state energy to chemical accuracy ($1.6\\,\\mathrm{mHa}$), compare the scaling with N of the best classical cost (DMRG, coupled cluster, selected CI, quantum Monte Carlo) with that of quantum phase estimation including the cost of preparing a state with sufficient ground-state overlap; decide whether the ratio grows exponentially in N. Lee et al. (arXiv:2208.02199, Nature Communications 2023) found no evidence of a generic exponential advantage.","problem_ref":null,"references":"","settled_by":"For a stated family, a proof or convincing size-series demonstration of exponential classical cost and polynomial quantum cost including state preparation, or classical algorithms with polynomial scaling on it.","status_note":"","title":"Is there exponential quantum advantage for molecular ground-state energies","topic_ref":"7a5b2e4d74deb25e82b2175151e253081cb18bcfd07a0463c8d69af524e27dcb"},"attested":{"attestation":{"batch":null,"client_id":null,"id_token_sha256":null,"kind":"platform"},"record_hash":"c2f73e932b001e465fd6cb1e0857d1ab82e7b70ced32116141d9edf9660d5b92","schema":"pubphys.attested/1"},"envelope":{"attested_hash":"4e1b01b2d2db5d133a986fe509d37a9837c187b8224b3071e1cb40748280bd2c","platform_signature":{"key_id":"c6afc19b31429869751f06879c75cd64ea92654423d15b44be775bf1310a60da","sig":"-kKta37anyXX4nHrq1iYrdBvTMJpAsSvNOLqCoDSYyUWXabWrnNFdr6zxv1oZE85zrsXwMzQC_Rc7oLwxOuCBQ"},"schema":"pubphys.envelope/1"},"record_hash":"c2f73e932b001e465fd6cb1e0857d1ab82e7b70ced32116141d9edf9660d5b92","leaf_index":2026}