Quantum Simulation of Ligand-like Molecules through Sample-based Quantum Diagonalization in Density Matrix Embedding Framework

Abstract: The accurate treatment of electron correlation in extended molecular systems remains computationally challenging using classical electronic structure methods. Hybrid quantum-classical algorithms offer a potential route to overcome these limitations; however, their practical deployment on existing quantum computers requires strategies that both reduce problem size and mitigate hardware noise. In this work, we combine Density Matrix Embedding Theory (DMET) with Sample-based Quantum Diagonalization (SQD) to compute ground-state energies of a set of natural ligand-like molecules in the minimal Slater Type Orbital (STO-3G) basis set. DMET provides a systematic fragmentation of a molecule into embedded impurity subproblems, while SQD enables construction and classical diagonalization of reduced configuration spaces through quantum sampling enhanced by iterative configuration recovery. The resulting embedded Hamiltonians are solved on IBM's Eagle R3 superconducting quantum hardware (IBM Sherbrooke). The DMET-SQD energies obtained for all systems considered exhibit strong agreement with DMET-FCI benchmark values within chemical accuracy (1 kcal/mol). These results demonstrate that sample-based quantum methods, when integrated with a robust embedding framework, can reliably extend quantum computation towards simulation of chemically relevant molecular systems, showcasing potential applications in the field of drug discovery.