Google quantum computer solves 47-year calculation in the blink of an eye

Google develops a quantum computer that can instantly perform calculations that would take today's best supercomputers up to 47 years.

The Google research team develops technology beyond the capabilities of today's supercomputers. Photo: Google Quantum AI/PA

Article by Google researchers says the company's latest technology goes beyond the capabilities of today's classic supercomputers, Telegraph reported on July 3. According to them, technology based on a special state of quantum physics can create super powerful machines to cope with climate change and produce breakthrough drugs.

Four years ago, Google became the first company to achieve "quantum supremacy", the milestone at which a quantum computer can perform a calculation that no other digital computer has been able to do in a reasonable amount of time. physical. At that time, some argued that Google was exaggerating the difference between quantum computers and conventional supercomputers. However, the company's paper, Phase Transition in Random Circuit Sampling, posted on the ArXiv database, describes the device that could end the debate.

While the 2019 machine had 53 qubits (the basic unit of quantum information), the new generation computer has 70 qubits. Adding qubits helps improve the power of quantum computers exponentially, meaning the machine is 241 million times more powerful than the 2019 version. According to the research team, Frontier, the world's leading supercomputer, it takes 6.18 seconds to solve a calculation from Google's 53-qubit machine. Compared to the latest version, that time increases to 47.2 years. The researchers also said their latest quantum computer is more powerful than the Chinese machine.

According to Google, larger quantum computers can control quantum noise, disturbances that threaten to disrupt the qubit's fragile state, to continue computing. However, Sebastian Weidt, CEO of Universal Quantum in Brighton, emphasized that quantum computers need to demonstrate more practical functions. "This is a very good demonstration of the quantum advantage. However, the algorithm they used doesn't really have practical applications. We have to move to an era where many-qubit quantum computers start to provide value to society in a way that classical computers could never do," Weidt said.