q2m3: A Hybrid Quantum-Classical QM/MM Simulation Framework

q2m3 is a research framework for hybrid quantum-classical QM/MM (quantum mechanics / molecular mechanics). It connects PySCF molecular integrals and Hartree–Fock references with PennyLane Quantum Phase Estimation (QPE) circuits, explicit MM point charges, Monte Carlo solvation, and sample-based quantum diagonalization (SQD).

Use it to explore small-molecule QPE workflows and early fault-tolerant quantum computing (EFTQC) resource estimates. The project is an alpha proof of concept; its approximations and small-system checks do not establish production chemistry accuracy.

Install

Requires Python 3.11+. Choose PyPI for library use, or a source checkout for the example scripts and development tools.

From PyPI

In a virtual environment (POSIX shell):

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install q2m3

The package is published as q2m3 on PyPI.

From source

With uv installed:

git clone https://github.com/yjmaxpayne/q2m3.git
cd q2m3
uv sync

The core install supports the three H₂ starter scripts in the example guide. Optional extras are selected by purpose:

For example, use uv sync --extra solvation in a checkout, or python -m pip install "q2m3[solvation]" in a library environment.

Minimal Python API

This estimates resources for H₂/STO-3G with an active space of two electrons in two spatial orbitals, corresponding to four Jordan–Wigner system qubits. Coordinates are in Å; the target energy error is in Hartree. Run the snippet with python in the PyPI environment or uv run python in the source checkout.

import numpy as np

from q2m3.core import estimate_resources

resources = estimate_resources(
    symbols=["H", "H"],
    coords=np.array([[0.0, 0.0, 0.0], [0.0, 0.0, 0.74]]),
    basis="sto-3g",
    active_electrons=2,
    active_orbitals=2,
    target_error=0.0016,
)
print("System qubits:", resources.n_system_qubits)
print("Logical qubits:", resources.logical_qubits)
print("Toffoli gates:", resources.toffoli_gates)

estimate_resources returns an EFTQCResources object. Logical qubits and Toffoli gates describe an algorithmic cost model; they do not predict local simulator runtime or Catalyst compilation memory.

SQD workflows

In this source checkout, run uv sync --frozen --extra sqd. Catalyst is optional for SQD. The public supervisor requires Linux x86_64 and serial native threads. The unified lock also moves core-only PySCF to 2.14.0; the calibrated resource profile uses Python 3.12.3.

Use from q2m3 import run_sqd for molecular geometry, or from q2m3.sqd import run_sqd_from_integrals for an authenticated integral Hamiltonian and same-frame CCSD seed. Both require an explicit closed-shell active space and return the complete SQDResult. The SQD guide provides runnable examples for both, fixed-frame MM semantics, reference tiers, installation boundaries and resource caps. The SQD API reference lists the public contracts, authenticated integral producers, and resource-policy functions.

Current evidence supports the default two-repetition/100000-shot benchmark scope. H₂/H₃O⁺ are full-space regressions; Glycine is worse than CCSD for all five seeds, and N₂ is worse than both CCSD and matched-size SCI. The original orbital-basis (E1) and connectivity (E6) studies remain inconclusive; historical four-repetition runs remain out of the certified resource domain. These results do not establish SQD superiority or quantum hardware readiness.

Examples and documentation

Start with the example guide for runnable H₂ commands and the complete script index. It also separates MC workflows from larger diagnostics.

Energies are computed in Hartree and converted explicitly for kcal/mol reports. QPE–HF differences contain numerical errors as well as correlation contributions. Fixed-MO MM embedding holds the vacuum orbital frame and two-electron tensor fixed; runtime MC coefficient updates are diagonal-only. Read the example boundaries before interpreting energies physically.

Development, citation, and license

See the development guide for test, lint, and build commands, and AGENTS.md for contribution conventions. Keep generated coverage, caches, and benchmark outputs out of commits.

For research use, cite the release that produced your results using CITATION.cff. q2m3 is released under the MIT License.

Runnable capability map

SQD tutorials save complete results, CSV and PNG/SVG figures to unique runs under data/output/examples/. The default glycine scan runs 15 actual points in serial fresh processes. Calibration, audits and dependency replays are documented in Development tools.