Google has developed a quantum computer that performs calculations much faster than a "traditional" computer. Google achieved so-called "quantum supremacy", the company claims. Google made a calculation in two hundred seconds that even a supercomputer is said to take ten thousand years.
An investigation describing the performance leaked out in September. The article was officially published on Wednesday in the scientific journal Nature. Google's machine Sycamore had to perform a random number calculation that would only succeed if every component in the computer was functioning properly. In this way, Google wanted to test the entire machine.
A quantum computer is a computer that works on the basis of quantum bits (qubits) instead of regular bits. Where a bit can be a 1 or a 0, a qubit can be a 1 and a 0 at the same time, in different levels. This makes faster calculations and more calculations possible at the same time.
Qubits are quite delicate: the 'quantum state', where a qubit is several things at the same time, is easy to break. Of the 54 qubits that make up Sycamore, 53 were able to participate in the calculation.
IBM questions Google's judgment
Competitor IBM, which is also working on quantum technology, questions Google's claim. The company published its position on Monday. In it, IBM states that the task in question would not last ten thousand years, but could be carried out in about sixty hours.
"The Google experiment is an excellent example of the progress in quantum computers," writes IBM. "But it should not be seen as proof that quantum computers are superior to traditional computers."
The company considers Google's claim misleading because a strict definition of quantity supremacy suggested in 2012 has not been met. The calculation made for the Google experiment has no practical applications. In order to have an impact on society, quantum computers must be further developed, IBM believes. Meanwhile, Google's Sycamore is used for research into the practical possibilities of quantum computers - such as the simulation of quantum physics and quantum chemistry - and for research into artificial intelligence.
