Quantum Complexity Tamed by Machine Learning

In 2018, climate simulations were the third-largest use of computing cycles at a leading U.S. supercomputing cluster. The study of quarks and other subatomic particles came in second. Topping the list was the most heavily cited idea in the physical sciences -- though few have ever heard of it. "It's ridiculously important," said Kieron Burke, a theoretical chemist at the University of California, Irvine. Science's best-kept secret goes by the name of density functional theory (DFT), and it is the chief method physicists and chemists use to understand just about anything more complicated than a hydrogen atom.