Quantum Processor Demolishes Record Previously Held by Google's Quantum Computer
Hey there, pal!
Quantum Leap by Quantinuum Making Waves
Quantinuum, the quantum computing company, has recently astonished the tech world by announcing their quantum computer that reportedly outperformed Google's milestone computer by a whopping 100 times! Now, you might be scratching your head, wondering, "What on earth is a quantum computer?" Let me school you on that, friend!
Oh hey, everything you need to know about Quantum Computers
A quantum computer is not your average computer. Instead of using ordinary bits, it operates on quantum bits, or qubits. And here's the kicker: unlike classical bits, qubits can be both 0 and 1 simultaneously! This unconventional property allows quantum computers to sift through several solutions to a problem at a speed that would make a speed demon blush. In simpler terms, they can do things on a scale that classical computers can only dream of.
But don't let their small size fool you. Quantum computers aren't your run-of-the-mill gadgets you can slap on a desk. Their qubits are, more often than not, supercooled atoms nestled in an array. Man, these atoms gotta be cold! That's 'cause when any one of the qubits settles on a definite value, the quantum state decoheres, and the whole operation crumbles like a house of cards. Thus, quantum computers for now remain lab rats instead of their classical counterparts.
The 411 on Quantinuum's Quantum Achievement
Quantinuum's computer has stolen the spotlight, having outperformed Google's 2019 achievement by the Google Sycamore processor, which took approximately 200 seconds to accomplish a task that would take a top-notch classical supercomputer about 10,000 years.
To pull off this magic trick, Quantinuum's team stepped up the power of their H2-1 processor from a 32-qubit system to a 56-qubit one, thus amplifying its computing prowess. Kudos to them for achieving this feat with only ~30,000 times the power a classical computer would have needed to perform the same operation!
Moreover, the Quantinuum computer broke the record for the cross entropy benchmark, scoring a whopping ~.35 compared to Google's 2019 score of ~.002. "Contrasting past announcements related to cross entropy benchmark (XEB) experiments," Quantinuum stated in their release, "a score of 35% represents a considerable stride towards the theoretical 100% fidelity limit where quantum computers' advantageous computational power becomes obvious."
Things Quantum Computers Do (Beyond your wildest dreams)
Quantum computers are the test tubes for the future of information – how we store, transport, and generate it. Last year, an entirely different team of scientists showed that quantum computers can do computations that bear a striking resemblance to...time travel!
"Impossible, right?" you might think. "But the experiment we describe seems to defy standard physics, which adheres to a single arrow of time," David Arvidsson-Shukur, a quantum physicist at the University of Cambridge, said. "Thus, it appears that quantum entanglement can generate instances that effectively seem like instances of time travel."
The year before, another team claimed they had engineered a quantum wormhole – a portal through which quantum information could instantaneously transit.
Quantinuum's recent news headlines include a technological breakthrough in 2022 when a team using a Quantinuum computer managed to induce a new phase of matter with the help of lasers that read out the Fibonacci sequence.
Quantum computing is like a glimpse into the future, 'cause it's rooted in the most unusual, intriguing realms beyond classical physics. But these strange, complex machines keep showing improvement, and their applications – though some are as elusive as a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow – are diverse. For now, they remain in research settings, butQuantinuum's work is pushing the boundaries of what quantum computing can achieve every single day.
- In the future, quantum computers, like Quantinuum's, which outperform classical computers by a significant margin, could revolutionize science, technology, and physics.
- The recent achievement by Quantinuum's quantum computer, with its 56 qubits, exactly outperformed Google's 2019 milestone by completing a task in 200 seconds that a classical supercomputer would take about 10,000 years to accomplish.
- Algorithm designers and researchers working with quantum testbeds, such as the one used by Quantinuum, are pushing the boundaries of what is possible, exploring areas that were previously thought to be impossible, like quantum simulations of time travel and the engineering of quantum wormholes.
- Through the use of lasers reading out the Fibonacci sequence, a team using a Quantinuum computer was able to induce a new phase of matter in 2022, showcasing the incredible potential of qubits to reshape our understanding of the physical world.
