Source: Xinzhiyuan

Has Google achieved “quantum supremacy” once again?

Recently, Google announced that their quantum computer completed 47 years of computation by the world's most advanced computer in just 6 seconds.

That's right, '47 was condensed into an instant. The latest findings from the Google research team have been published on arxiv.

According to the paper, Google's latest Sycamore quantum processor currently has 70 qubits, while the 2019 version only has 53 qubits.

The increase in qubits means that the performance of quantum computers can be exponentially improved, making the new processor about 241 million times more robust than before.

The latest research will mark a milestone in quantum computing.

With its computational advantages, Google's quantum computer is expected to revolutionize every field, including artificial intelligence.

Solving complex problems with unprecedented speed is expected to unlock the next generation of artificial intelligence models and break through boundaries that have never been surpassed in many fields.

47 years were condensed into an instant

Each qubit can exist simultaneously in 0, 1, or superimposed states, so the ability to store and process this level of quantum information is difficult; even the fastest classical computers can't compare.

The Google team said in a paper that quantum computers are expected to perform tasks beyond the capabilities of classical computers.

“We estimated computational costs based on improved classical methods and proved that our experiments exceeded the capabilities of existing classical supercomputers.”

Even Frontier supercomputing in Tennessee (which is currently the fastest supercomputing in the world) can't touch the porcelain of quantum computers.

The premise, of course, is that quantum computers unleash their potential.

Because traditional computers run in a binary code language, they are limited to 0 and 1, and dual states. Quantum computers, on the other hand, have surpassed this limit.

However, at present, researchers are still uncertain about the actual manufacturing cost of Google's quantum computer. But the transformative computing power is unquestionable.

According to the Google team, the Frontier supercomputer can match the calculation results of the Google-53 qubit computer in just 6.18 seconds.

However, the same Frontier would take 47.2 years to match the computational power that Google's latest 70 quantum computer can provide.

Many experts in the field agree that Google's new quantum computer is a major step forward.

Steve Brierley, CEO of Cambridge quantum company Riverlane, called Google's progress a “major milestone.”

“Quantum hegemony? We don't have to argue about this anymore.”

Similarly, a professor who is the director of the Sussex Center for Quantum Technology praised Google for solving specific academic problems that are difficult for traditional computers to calculate.

He emphasized that the critical next step right now is to create quantum computers that can correct their inherent operating errors.

Although IBM has yet to comment on Google's latest quantum computer, it is clear that Google's progress in quantum computing has attracted the common attention of researchers and companies around the world.

Undoubtedly, this will open up new prospects and competition for the development of computing technology.

In the study, the team mentioned that noise competes with coherent evolution and disrupts long-range correlation, making it a huge challenge to make full use of the computational power of recent quantum processors.

The researchers conducted random circuit sampling (RCS) experiments in which they identified different stages driven by interactions between quantum dynamics and noise.

In quantum computing, this involves testing the performance of a quantum computer by running random circuits and outputting analytical results to evaluate its ability and efficiency in solving complex problems.

Driven by circuit depth, the system first undergoes a dynamic phase transition where the output distribution is no longer concentrated in a portion of the bit string. The second is a conversion driven by noise.

Using the cross-entropy benchmark, the researchers observed stage boundaries, which can define the computational complexity of quantum noise evolution.

The estimated computational cost in simulation is that 53 qubits complete 1 million noise samples 6.18 seconds faster than classical computers. 70 qubits would be 47.2 years faster.

Finally, the Google team showed a 24-period 70 qubit RCS experiment with an estimated fidelity of 1.7 -107%, which means that under the same level of fidelity, the circuit size increased by about 60%.

Google estimated computational costs based on improved classical methods and proved that the new quantum computer is capable of exceeding existing classical supercomputers.

Sycamore with 70 qubits achieves quantum advantage

The Google team said that despite the success of RCS so far, finding practical applications for recent quantum noise processors remains a prominent challenge. Their experiments provided research on how quantum dynamics interacts with noise.

The observed phase boundaries provide quantitative guidance for seven systems where high-noise quantum devices can correctly utilize their computational power.

The fact that global correlation dominates XEB during the low noise stage protects RCS from spoofing attacks. These are all design directions for future applications.

Has “quantum supremacy” become oolong?

In fact, as early as 2019, Google claimed to have achieved quantum supremacy.

The researchers' paper, which was published on the NASA website, caused a stir as soon as it was published.

According to the paper, the Google processor can perform a calculation within 3 minutes and 20 seconds, and it will take about 10,000 years to perform the same calculation using today's most powerful supercomputer Summit.

Subsequently, this Google paper was officially published in Nature.

Corresponding author of the paper, John Martinis, and colleagues describe the technological progress achieved in achieving quantum supremacy.

They developed a 54-qubit processor (called the Sycamore processor).

The processor uses quantum superposition and quantum entanglement to achieve an exponential increase in computational space compared to what can be achieved by classical bits.

Since 1 qubit doesn't work effectively, the processor actually only uses 53 qubits.

The error correction process developed by the research team can guarantee a high degree of computational fidelity (up to 99.99%).

To test the system, the team designed a task to sample random numbers generated by quantum circuits.

For classical computers, the difficulty of this task increases as the number of qubits in a quantum circuit increases.

Finally, the quantum processor took 1 million samples from the quantum circuit in about 200 seconds, and today's most powerful supercomputer takes about 10,000 years to complete this task.

Nature said, “Google's achievement of quantum supremacy is certainly an amazing achievement.”

However, criticism and questioning of Google's “quantum hegemony” incident also followed.

The IBM team wrote, “On a classic system, the ideal simulation for the same task can be completed in 2.5 days, and the fidelity is much higher.”

This means that Google hasn't actually shown quantum supremacy, and competition continues.

Microsoft and IBM are also betting

In addition to Google, IBM and Microsoft are also betting on the future of quantum computers.

According to Microsoft, the biggest innovations in the next decade may be in the fields of fusion energy, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing.

In June, CEO Nadella announced Microsoft's ambitious goal to build a quantum computer within 10 years.

Condense the next 250 years of progress in chemistry and materials science to the next 25 years.

Azure Quantum Elements can accelerate scientific discovery by integrating the latest breakthroughs in high performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence, and quantum computing.

It's worth mentioning that Copilot in Azure Quantum helps scientists use natural language to reason about complex chemistry and materials science problems.

Some time ago, IBM quantum computers appeared on the cover of Nature.

A Nature paper by IBM and the University of California at Berkeley shows a path leading to useful quantum computing.

The study proved for the first time that a quantum processor with 100+ qubits can produce accurate results and surpass leading classical methods.

Most importantly, it can surpass classic computers without error correction.

In the paper, the researchers simulated the behavior of magnetic materials on an IBM 127 qubit Eagle quantum processor.

Crucially, they managed to bypass “quantum noise” and achieved reliable results. It is important to know that quantum noise introduces computational errors, which is a major obstacle to this technology.

According to research statistics, the investment trend in quantum computing has continued to rise since 2015.

Compared to classical computing, quantum computing has the potential to revolutionize industries and solve complex problems at exponential speed.

The quantum computer breakthrough could revolutionize many fields, from drug discovery to climate modelling, financial modeling, and even artificial intelligence, the potential is huge.

Specifically, the impact on different fields:

- Cryptography: Enhances encryption and decryption algorithms.

- Drug Discovery: Accelerating the development of new drugs.

- Optimization problems: solving complex optimization challenges.

- Machine learning: improving pattern recognition and data analysis.

- Financial modelling: Enhances financial risk analysis and forecasting.

- Material science: design novel materials with specific properties.

- Weather Forecast: Improve the accuracy of weather forecasts.

- Quantum chemistry: simulates and studies chemical reactions.

- Artificial intelligence: Enhancing artificial intelligence algorithms and training models.

This time, Google's new quantum computer marks a breakthrough in speed and potential, opening a new era of computing with transformative significance across multiple industries.

edit/lambor