Did a quantum computer just simulate how protons and antiprotons attract?

A quantum simulation on IBM's Nighthawk processor extracted the attractive interaction potential between a nucleon and antinucleon using a simplified 2D version of the strong force. The trick: map the physics onto a spin-chain model, let structured errors cancel each other out, and benchmark against classical exact diagonalization — which it matches well. It's a proof-of-concept that real quantum hardware can tackle nonperturbative nuclear physics, not just toy models.