Google officially lays claim to QUANTUM SUPREMACY
A quantum computer reportedly beat the most powerful supercomputers at one type of calculation
Google researchers report that their quantum computer, Sycamore, has performed a calculation that can’t be achieved with any classical computer. The quantum chip (shown) must be cooled to near absolute zero to function.
quantum supremacy is an exploration of physics that we’ve never been able to do before,”
John Preskill
Google announced yesterday October 23. that for the first time in history, a quantum computer has solved a problem that can’t be performed by a standard computer within a reasonable amount of time… This milestone, known as quantum supremacy, is a long-anticipated step toward useful quantum computers.
The google researchers performed the task with a single micro chip consisting of only 53 qubits (quantum bits are the equivalent/version of everyday computer bits).
Photo Taken by NATURE
The calculation Google’s quantum computer performed was not a particularly useful one for people. Don’t expect quantum computers to suddenly take over. The task at this experiment was one that was designed to play to quantum computers’ strengths and to be difficult for a non-quantum/”classical,” computer.
Quantum physicist Mária Kieferová of the University of Technology Sydney, who was not involved with the study said:
“It’s fascinating that we can do something so powerful with such a small chip,”
Photo Taken by NATURE
And we learn from SCIENCE-NEWS that: the concept of quantum supremacy, proposed in 2012 by theoretical physicist John Preskill, has attracted controversy. The term lends itself to hype, and some quantum physicists prefer to focus on metrics that imply practical usefulness — which supremacy does not.
But, says Preskill, of Caltech, the demonstration of quantum supremacy is not only a milestone in computing, but also an advance in scientists’ understanding of quantum mechanics. Making a computer that can perform complex quantum calculations on the scale of quantum supremacy is “an exploration of physics that we’ve never been able to do before,” he says.
Photo Taken by NATURE
From the official announcement by google we learn that:
“We designed a quantum processor named “Sycamore” which consists of a two-dimensional array of 54 transmon qubits, where each qubit is tunably coupled to four nearest neighbours, in a rectangular lattice. The connectivity was chosen to be forward-compatible with error correction using the surface code26. A key systems engineering advance of this device is achieving high-fidelity single- and two-qubit operations, not just in isolation but also while performing a realistic computation with simultaneous gate operations on many qubits. We discuss the highlights below; see also the Supplementary Information.” Read full article HERE .
Cover Photo taken by SCIENCENEWS
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