Physicists have shown that an ordinary laptop can handle a complex quantum simulation previously claimed to require a quantum computer. Researchers at the Flatiron Institute and Boston University used advanced mathematical techniques to model hundreds of interacting qubits. Their results matched those from earlier quantum hardware experiments.
The team at the Center for Computational Quantum Physics developed tensor network methods to compress the massive wave functions that describe entangled quantum systems. These tools allowed simulations of qubits arranged in square, cubic and diamond lattices to run efficiently on standard hardware.
Joseph Tindall, the study's first author, noted that the approach acted like a zip file for the wave function. Many calculations were completed using the ITensor software library on a personal laptop. The findings were published in the journal Science in 2026.
The work directly tested a March 2025 claim that only quantum computers could perform such calculations. The new classical results aligned with both theoretical predictions and the earlier quantum simulations. Researchers said the two computing approaches can complement each other rather than compete.