Even though the theory is there in the background, doing quantum-based materials calculations is mostly a computer simulation. We are not making new theories, we are just using the existing one to let the computer run the numbers and show us how the materials behave.

A lot of people see “quantum” and think deep theory, so they assume it is all theoretical. Using equations like Schrodinger’s makes it look like pure theory, even though it is mostly computer simulations in practice.