Quanscient and Haiqu ran a 15-step nonlinear quantum fluid simulation

This article was published on April 2, 2026 A new quantum algorithm ran a 15-step nonlinear fluid simulation around a solid obstacle on real quantum hardware, the most physically complex publicly documented demonstration of its kind. The technique reduces qubit requirements and circuit depth, bringing industrial CFD applications closer to feasibility. Finnish simulation company Quanscient and quantum middleware developer Haiqu have demonstrated what they describe as the most physically complex quantum computational fluid dynamics simulation run to date on real hardware. The two companies ran a 15-step nonlinear fluid simulation around a solid obstacle, fluid flowing around a shape, the kind of problem relevant to aircraft wing design or vehicle aerodynamics, on IBM’s Heron R3 quantum computer, using a new algorithm they developed together called the One-Step Simplified Lattice Boltzmann Method (OSSLBM). Computational fluid dynamics, or CFD, is one of the most resource-intensive branches of engineering simulation. Modelling how fluids behave around complex shapes requires enormous classical computing power, and the demands grow non-linearly as simulations become more detailed. Quant