Using quantum computing to design fuel efficient Airbus products

Digital Catapult’s first Quantum Technology Access Programme (QTAP) raised awareness, educated end users, and fostered industry partnerships to drive the future adoption and commercialisation of quantum computing. During this first-of-a-kind programme, quantum experts from Digital Catapult and the programme partners ORCA Computing and Riverlane supported participants to explore novel quantum computing use cases.

Photo credit: Airbus

How could quantum computing help design fuel efficient products?

The accurate prediction of aerodynamic flows is of paramount importance for designing quieter and more fuel efficient aircraft. The central challenge lies in the effective solution of partial differential equations governing the flow of air (e.g. Navier-Stokes or Lattice Boltzmann) through the utilisation of state-of-the-art, High-Performance Computing. These equations govern complex multi-scale phenomena, often entailing many millions of degrees of freedom. Precise predictions reduce the need for very expensive physical testing and prototyping, and allows engineers to explore many design options more effectively within tight timeframes. Therefore, Airbus actively seeks innovative solutions in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to streamline processes and improve simulation accuracy.

In order to extend the capabilities of CFD beyond the barriers set by classical HPC , Airbus is exploring quantum-based approaches for CFD. Discovering a quantum advantage could potentially revolutionise modelling capabilities. Ensuring reliable simulations in demanding conditions involves resolving various scales, a task beyond traditional computing. Airbus eagerly anticipates the transformative potential of quantum computing in enhancing CFD scalability. This quantum leap could lead to enormous improvements, potentially revolutionising aerospace design and certification procedures.

As a first step towards this full nonlinear capability, Airbus’ question was how to estimate the quantum computing resources needed to calculate the growth of linear instabilities in a boundary layer (leading to the onset of turbulence on an aircraft), realising that these calculations will not be feasible on a quantum computer until fault-tolerant technology becomes available.

CFD, uses applied mathematics, physics and computational software to help design aerodynamically efficient aircraft. CFD modelling is a computer-based method of accurately predicting the flow of fluids such as gases and liquids in motion; for an aircraft engineer, it’s vitally important to know precisely how air will pass over and interact with every part of an aeroplane. Creating high quality modelling with computational fluid dynamics requires substantial time, computational power and expense.

What was done?

Quantum computing specialists from Airbus were trained by Riverlane on error-correction and the new fault tolerant Quantum Singular Value Transformation algorithm which can be used for matrix inversion, a core ingredient of CFD solvers. Airbus gained experience from hands-on implementation of quantum tools such as block encoding, phase factors, and QSVT with Qiskit, a quantum computing simulator developed by IBM.

As a precursor to solving fully nonlinear problems, the Airbus team investigated the solution of a linearisation of the Navier Stokes equations, as currently used for predicting the growth of instabilities leading to turbulence. The resulting system of linear algebraic equations were then considered for solution with a quantum linear solver algorithm. A system of equations of interest were mapped to a sparse 2,024 X 2,024 matrix with non-zero terms concentrated around the main diagonal.

What were the results?

Riverlane calculated that the Airbus matrix in its current form would require very substantial quantum computing resources, but this also provided indications of how the problem should be reformulated to be more readily solvable on a quantum computer.

The Airbus team said that being part of the programme added to its engagement with the wider UK quantum ecosystem and gave a beneficial insight into the cross-sectoral interest in quantum technologies.

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