Quantum Computing for Fluid Dynamics (QCFD)
Abstract Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) plays an essential role in designing flight vehicles. It provides detailed, accurate airflow predictions about aircraft, and it is a cost-effective alternative to expensive wind tunnel testing. However, high-resolution CFD simulations of complex flows can take weeks or more to complete with existing supercomputers. Finding ways to speed up CFD simulations is a perennial problem.
Quantum algorithms can speed up many significant, computationally challenging problems when run on a quantum computer. The best-known example is Shor’s quantum factoring algorithm, which exponentially speeds up over the best classical factoring algorithms. Consequently, it has dramatically impacted state-of-the-art cryptography.
It is natural to ask whether a quantum computer might allow a speedup of CFD simulations. In this project, we apply the quantum PDE algorithm to governing equations of fluid dynamics such as Navier-Stokes, Burgers’, and Heat Transfer equations.
Kursat Kara
Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Dr. Kara is the principal investigator of the Kara Aerodynamics Research Laboratory at Oklahoma State University. He teaches the Fundamentals of Aerodynamics, Unsteady Aerodynamics, Computational Fluid Dynamics, and Quantum Computing. Previously, he was an assistant professor at Khalifa University, where he received the Faculty Excellence Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2015.
