The Machine of Tomorrow Today: Quantum Computing on the Verge
June 14th, 2017Via: Bloomberg:
These are early days, to be sure. As of late May, the number of quantum computers in the world that clearly, unequivocally do something faster or better than a classical computer remains zero, according to Scott Aaronson, a professor of computer science and director of the Quantum Information Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Such a signal event would establish “quantum supremacy.” In Aaronson’s words: “That we don’t have yet.”
Yet someone may accomplish the feat as soon as this year. Most insiders say one clear favorite is a group at Google Inc. led by John Martinis, a physics professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara. According to Martinis, the group’s goal is to achieve supremacy with a 49-qubit chip. As of late May, he says, the team was testing a 22-qubit processor as an intermediate step toward a showdown with a classical supercomputer. “We are optimistic about this, since prior chips have worked well,” he said in an email.
