Quantum hegemony refers to the computing power of quantum computing that surpasses all traditional computers.
Editor’s note: This article is from WeChat public account “Heart Heart” (ID: almosthuman2014), author: Synced.
This may be a milestone in the computer field: Google claims that “quantum hegemony” has been achieved, and they first demonstrated quantum in experiments The superiority of computers to traditional-architecture computers: In the world’s first supercomputer, the experiment that required 10,000 years of calculation, Google’s quantum computer took only 3 minutes and 20 seconds.
In a recently submitted paper, the researchers made this claim, and it is also the strongest indication to date that quantum computers have surpassed traditional architecture computers and are moving toward practical use.
In the future, we may be able to use this new tool to solve mathematical problems that were previously unsolvable.
Quantum hegemony refers to the computing power of quantum computing that transcends all traditional computers.
Google’s researchers claim to have achieved quantum hegemony, which means that the latest quantum computer capabilities have reached the level that is currently unmatched by the most powerful supercomputers – it can perform mission-specific operations in 3 minutes and 20 seconds. The world’s number one supercomputer, the “Summit” of the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, takes about 10,000 years to perform the same task.
“Compared to all known classical algorithms, this amazing speed proves the realization of quantum hegemony on computing tasks, indicating the arrival of the long-awaited computing paradigm.
The researchers wrote in the paper.
Google’s “Foxtail” quantum processor.
This news was first reported by the Financial Times, and the papers researched by Google were submitted to nasa.gov this week, but were subsequently deleted.
A Google spokesperson declined to confirm the authenticity of the paper and its results, and NASA did not immediately respond to the request for comment.
This news immediately attracted many mediaAccording to reports from the US Fortune magazine, Google sources said that the paper was withdrawn because NASA was published in advance before its research was thoroughly discussed without peer review.
Usually, the review process takes weeks or months.
If the paper is reviewed and published, it will herald a new phase in quantum science because its main claim is to dispel some unforeseen laws of nature that may prevent the quantum computer from running smoothly. .
The speed of quantum computing: the exponential level of Moore’s Law
Google researchers wrote in the paper:
“In real-world systems, we can achieve quantum acceleration, which is not limited by any unknown laws of physics.
In addition, in the study, people also predicted that the computing power of quantum computers would grow at a “double exponential rate”, which means that its growth rate greatly exceeds Moore’s Law, which is an exponential form. The chip computing power of traditional computers doubles every 18 months.
The double exponential growth is much faster than the exponential growth—the magnitude is not a power of 2, but a power of 2, that is:
This growth method is somewhat difficult to understand, so that It is difficult to find such a case in reality.
The speed of quantum computing may be the first.
In June of this year, Quanta Magazine reported on Google’s recent research in quantum computing.
In December 2018, Google AI scientists wanted to reproduce the calculations made on Google’s best quantum processor, using just a regular laptop.
By January of this year, they had to use a powerful desktop computer to simulate the results of the same test on a modified version of the quantum chip.
By February, there were no more classic computers in the building that could simulate the study of quantum computers.
Researchers must request computing power on Google’s vast server network to complete.
This law of computational explosion is called Neven’s law, and Hartmut Neven, director of the Quantum Artificial Intelligence lab, first proposed this at the Google Quantum Spring Symposium in May this year. Concept, he also said that quantum hegemony will be realized in 2019.
Hartmut Neven, head of Google’s Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab, believes that the power of quantum computers is growing at an unprecedented rate.
Neven believes that the process of quantum computers surpassing computers with double exponential growth is the result of a combination of two exponential factors.
First, quantum computers have an inherent index advantage over classical computers.
If a quantum circuit has 4 qubits, a 16-bit classic circuit can be equivalent to its computational power.
The second index factor stems from the rapid evolution of quantum processors.
The first computational experiment that can only be performed on a quantum computer
To prove the unique capabilities of quantum computers, Google researchers designed an experiment to sample randomly generated numbers through a special scene involving quantum phenomena.
The purpose of this task is to prove that the random number generator is indeed random.
As early as 2018, Google introduced a 72-qubit superconducting quantum computer – Bristlecone .
In order to carry out this experiment, Google has modified the computer.
The quantum computer used in this experiment is called “Sycamore” and contains 53 qubits.
The researchers said they determined that their quantum computers beat traditional computers in this task, including calculating the output of certain specialized circuits.
“The most advanced traditional computer currently samples 1 million times in an instance of a quantum circuit.It takes 10,000 years, but our quantum computer only takes 200 seconds,” the researchers said.
The researchers also wrote, “As far as we know, this is the first computational experiment that can only be performed on quantum computers.
For most people, we are used to binary computers based on silicon processors and using transistors for calculations. The “1” and “0” states are completely predictable.
However, quantum computers have completely changed the rules of the game.
The main building block of a quantum computer is a qubit. Any quantum property, such as an electron level, a spin, or a quantum state of a photon, can be used to characterize a quantum bit, as long as the system can isolate it. And control them.
A qubit has only two states, and n qubits can represent up to 2 n-th states.
quantum computing combined The two biggest technological changes in the past half century:
Information technology and quantum mechanics.
If we use the rules of quantum mechanics to replace binary logic to calculate, some difficult computing tasks will be solved.
An important goal in the pursuit of general-purpose quantum computers is to determine the computational tasks of the smallest complexity that current classical computers cannot carry.
This intersection, known as the “quantum hegemony” boundary, is a critical step in the transition to more powerful and useful computing technologies.
Expert reminder:
Don’t expect too much to avoid bubble breakage
The industry hopes that quantum computers developed by big companies such as Google, IBM, Intel, and startups such as Rigetti Computing will be able to make breakthroughs in technology and science in the next few years.
They will revolutionize areas such as drug discovery, logistics, manufacturing, finance, energy and even artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Although the results obtained by Google are very exciting, other researchers have cautioned not to over-hype this result in case the expectations are too high and the bubble bursts.
The quantum computing system being developed by Google.
IBM research director Dario Gil opposes the realization of “quantum hegemony” as a measure of progress in this area.
He believes that “the experiment and the word “hegemony” are almost misleading to everyone.
In addition, he described the experiment as a highly specific “laboratory” result, which he believes “has no practical value.”
“Quantum computers will never achieve “hegemony” beyond traditional computers, but will collaborate with the latter because they each have their own unique advantages.
Intel’s Quantum Hardware Director Jim Clarke called Google’s progress “a milestone worthy of attention.”
He said that the realization of “commercial quantum computers” is inseparable from the progress of research and development.
Although it is still only the first mile of this marathon, we firmly believe in the potential of this technology.