Google Achieves Quantum Supremacy

[Doc Reeves 6434]

Thought this was bigger than Nerdz

 

Imagine what our great grandchildren will think of what we paid for a 2019 i9 MacBook Pro 

 

Quantum Computing Milestone

 

A Google researcher’s paper claiming to have achieved quantum supremacy, a major early milestone in the field of quantum computing, appeared on a NASA website this week before being removed, the Financial Times reports.

Google, as well as IBM, Microsoft, Intel, and other large tech companies and startups, have been working to build quantum computers, a new kind of computer based on an entirely different architecture than classical computers. Though this announcement is not official, scientists and industry experts have long expected Google to build a quantum computer capable of reaching this milestone—a quantum computer performing a calculation that a classical computer can’t.

You can read our primer on quantum computers here and our primer on quantum supremacy here. But the gist is, classical computers are systems where problems are abstracted onto a system of two-position switches called bits (ones and zeros) that interact through the rules of logic. Quantum computers are instead based on quantum bits, or qubits, that are also two-position switches, but they interact via the same rules that subatomic particles follow, called quantum mechanics.

This quantum architecture purportedly could allow quantum computers to solve a set of problems that classical computers can’t in a reasonable amount of time—this includes problems in cryptography as well as modeling molecules. But the difficulty maintaining qubits’ quantum behavior for a usable amount of time, also called the coherence time, has prevented researchers from demonstrating any sort of quantum speedup.

The Financial Times reports that they saw a Google publication claiming that the company’s quantum processor can perform a calculation “in three minutes and 20 seconds that would take today’s most advanced classical computer, known as Summit, approximately 10,000 years”—a demonstration of quantum supremacy. Google has not yet responded to a Gizmodo request for comment, and it has long been cagey about when and how it’d make the announcement. 

We don’t have many details as to what calculation the computer performed. But previous proposals essentially involve the quantum computer racing classical computer simulating a random quantum circuit. The achievement would not be a surprise—we’ve long known that Google has been testing a 72-qubit device called Bristlecone with which it hoped to achieve quantum supremacy. Financial Times reports that the supremacy experiment was instead performed with a 53-qubit processor codenamed Sycamore.

This would be a major early milestone when it comes to comparing these quantum devices against classical computers. But we’re a long way off before quantum computers actually demonstrate quantum usefulness. That would require increasing the coherence time and introducing error correction schemes‚ those where multiple qubits are combined into one in order to ensure that the quantum computer outputs the answers it’s supposed to output.

“Google’s recent update on the achievement of quantum supremacy is a notable mile marker as we continue to advance the potential of quantum computing. Achieving a commercially viable quantum computer will require advancements across a number of pillars of the technology stack,” James Clarke, Director of Quantum Hardware at Intel, told Gizmodo in an email.

It’s possible scientists may not even accept Google’s announcement as valid. Most importantly, if it takes 10,000 years for a supercomputer to check the answer a quantum computer produced, how do you know that the quantum computer got the answer right in the first place.

 

[Continental Op 3934]

Is this going to make internet porn even more kickass?

[Planet Houston 4930]

I found the cached file. 

[jeevsie 3740]

I found a leaked photo of the computer

Spoiler

 

[atomheartbevo 89805]

2 hours ago, Continental Op said:

Is this going to make internet porn even more kickass?

Nope. It’ll make ads that hypnotize you into clicking on them.  

You're look for deep-fake porn, and that’s coming.  

[52-80 19249]

There goes my bitcoins

[Bernard 879]

Does it process at 60 teraflops a second?

Bernard

[The Dude 1246]

Me reading the article.

[freyguy 4289]

cold fusion, baby!  Here we come!

[Loco 3754]

Google Exec: *Slaps roof of machine...  This bad boy can fit so much porn and ads in it

[Doc Reeves 6434]

7 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Nope. It’ll make ads that hypnotize you into clicking on them.  

You're look for deep-fake porn, and that’s coming.  

 

Yeah, think of an original completely computer generated porn actor free deep-fake porno reel that can run on uninterrupted for over 20 lifetimes

[Eastwood 4394]

The Financial Times? Why didn't Snacks tell us about this?

[Neonmoon 38130]

I, for one, welcome our new Quantum Computer overlords. 

[F250 28821]

For those interested in the subject, consider following Scott aaronson's blog. Scott is a computer science professor at UT and recently hinted that Google would be making this announcement over the weekend.

https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/