China Claims Quantum Supremacy With Computer 10 Billion Times Faster Than Google's Prototype

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China Claims Quantum Supremacy With Computer 10 Billion Times Faster Than Google's Prototype​

Google said last year it has built a computer that could perform a computation in 200 seconds that would take the fastest supercomputers 10,000 years.​

By Shiyin Chen, Bloomberg | Updated: 4 December 2020 16:22 IST

Chinese scientists claim to have built a quantum computer that is able to perform certain computations nearly 100 trillion times faster than the world's most advanced supercomputer, representing the first milestone in the country's efforts to develop the technology.

The researchers have built a quantum computer prototype that is able to detect up to 76 photons through Gaussian boson sampling, a standard simulation algorithm, the state-run Xinhua news agency said, citing research published in Science magazine. That's exponentially faster than existing supercomputers.

The breakthrough represents a quantum computational advantage, also known as quantum supremacy, in which no traditional computer can perform the same task in a reasonable amount of time and is unlikely to be overturned by algorithmic or hardware improvements, according to the research.

While still in its infancy, quantum computing is seen as the key to radically improving the processing speed and power of computers, enabling them to simulate large systems and drive advances in physics, chemistry and other fields. Chinese researchers are competing against major US corporations from Alphabet's Google to Amazon and Microsoft for a lead in the technology, which has become yet another front in the US-China tech race.

Google said last year it has built a computer that could perform a computation in 200 seconds that would take the fastest supercomputers about 10,000 years, reaching quantum supremacy. The Chinese researchers claim their new prototype is able to process 10 billion times faster than Google's prototype, according to the Xinhua report.

Xi Jinping's government is building a $10 billion (roughly Rs. 73,700 crores) National Laboratory for Quantum Information Sciences as part of a big push in the field. In the US, the Trumpadministration provided $1 billion (roughly Rs. 7,400 crores) in funding to research into artificial intelligence and quantum information earlier this year and has sought to take credit for Google's 2019 breakthrough.

Chinese Scientists Claim Breakthrough in Quantum Computing Race

Google said last year it has built a computer that could perform a computation in 200 seconds that would take the fastest supercomputers 10,000 years.

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Chinese scientists achieve quantum computational advantage​

 

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Chinese quantum computer may be the most powerful ever seen​

by Colm Gorey

10 HOURS AGO

A more typical example of a quantum computer, not the one used by the China team. Image: © Bartek/Stock.adobe.com


This week in future tech, a Chinese quantum computer can reportedly solve a problem in 200 seconds, compared to the 2.5bn years a supercomputer needs.

A quantum computer developed at the University of Science and Technology in Hefei, China, has caught the world’s attention due to what appears to be a performance vastly exceeding others that exist today.

According to findings in published in Science and reported by Nature, the new system is allegedly the first definitive demonstration of a “quantum advantage” using laser beams, which is not mathematically possible using traditional binary computers.

“We have shown that we can use photons, the fundamental unit of light, to demonstrate quantum computational power well beyond the classical counterpart,” said researcher Jian-Wei Pan.

Tasked with solving the so-called boson sampling problem, the researchers found solutions in as little as 200 seconds. By comparison, it could take China’s TaihuLight supercomputer about 2.5bn years to do the same.

However, Christian Weedbrook, chief executive of quantum-computing start-up Xanadu, said that unlike Google’s Sycamore quantum computer announced last year, the Chinese quantum computer is not programmable. This means that, so far, it cannot be used for solving practical problems.

Chinese quantum computer may be the most powerful ever seen

This week in future tech, a Chinese quantum computer can reportedly solve a problem in 200 seconds, compared to the 2.5bn years a supercomputer needs.

www.siliconrepublic.com