There have been rumors for quite some time - now, according to Google, it is said to have been a success: For the first time, a quantum computer has completed a task that conventional computers would fail to do. Competitor IBM doubts that.
According to Google, it has taken an important step in the development of quantum computers. Using its Sycamore processor, researchers write in an article for the science magazine "Nature" that it is possible to carry out a calculation in 200 seconds for which the fastest supercomputer currently available would take 10,000 years. This was the first successful demonstration of "quantum superiority".
Google's Cloud Server, Summit and Jewels
The term describes the moment in which a quantum computer solves such a complex task that a conventional computer can no longer cope with within a reasonable period of time. Simulations were used to verify the results and determine the performance of the processor, which consists of 53 functional qubits. This involved the recognition and analysis of highly complex, randomly generated patterns for which a conventional computer would have been unable to cope.
Researchers from Jülich were also involved in the detection, the local research center reported. In addition to Google's cloud servers and IBM's Summit, currently the most powerful supercomputer in the world, the Jülich supercomputer Juwels was also used to simulate the quantum circuits.
Multiple states at the same time
Scientists have been searching for new ways in computer technology for decades. They have also been working on the development of quantum computers for a long time. The researchers hope that they will be able to perform certain computational tasks many times faster than with classical computers.
While in a binary computer the smallest units, called bits, either assume the state 0 or 1, the "qubits" of the quantum computer follow the laws of quantum mechanics - they can represent several states at the same time. This paradox is still considered a challenge even in theoretical physics. Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who is modest about the possible milestone, also quotes US physicist and Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman in his blog entry: "If you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don't understand quantum mechanics."
IBM doesn't want to believe it
The US technology group IBM - itself involved in quantum computer research for a long time - doubts the competitor's claim to have achieved quantum superiority. The researchers write in a blog post by IBM that Google's bill is a mistake. The same task can be solved in 2.5 days with a classic system. The experiment is merely an "excellent demonstration" of the current state of the art.
This article was posted on Xing News.