Google claims quantum supremacy

According to an article published in Nature, Google claims that it has achieved quantum supremacy with its latest processor. Named Sycamore, this quantum computer is capable of besting the fastest conventional supercomputer in terms of computing performance. This is a revolutionary achievement considering that quantum computers are still prone to errors.

Google says that Sycamore, which is a 53-qubit chip, takes just 200 seconds to sample a quantum circuit, a million times. In comparison, the fastest supercomputer today, according to Google’s estimates, would take an absurdly long 10,000 years to complete the same task. This provides a real world perspective of the potential computational power that can be harnessed from such a machine.

Conventional supercomputers of today, just like your home pc, operate using bits, which are in, one of two states, either 1 or 0. This binary language is how computers make sense of the data we feed them and in return, provide us with the intended results. Quantum computers on the other hand, operate using qubits, which can exist as 1 and 0 at the same time, a property called superposition.

This a big deal because as the number of qubits increase, the states of which they could occupy, increase exponentially. This kind of raw computing power can be harnessed to solve some of our most complicated problems like tackling climate change, creating more efficient batteries and developing effective medicines.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, feels that his company’s “quantum supremacy” feat as analogues to the first rocket launch into space. Though it may seem pointless at first, the achievement acts as a catalyst to ideas and breakthroughs that would have seemed impossible just a few years prior.

IBM, a company that is at the forefront of supercomputing technology, has refuted Google’s claim. It stated in an article that Google’s chip isn’t the “quantum supremacy” machine that the search giant claims it to be. In fact, IBM’s conventional supercomputer is able to accomplish the same task in just 2.5 days but with better “fidelity”.

The company also claims that Google’s tests didn’t factor in parameters such as storage space. And, to claim “quantum supremecy”, Sycamore should be capable of tasks that cannot be completed by conventional supercomputers. Whatever the case maybe, the next few years should shape to be an exciting time for these high powered machines.

Photo Credit: Intel (49 qubit processor)

Sources:
Nature
IBM Blog
Google blog