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Google's quantum computing breakthrough
Google's new quantum computing chip 'Willow' is capable of completing a complex computational challenge in less than five minutes. according to Google, the same task would take the world's fastest supercomputer 10 to the 27th power of a year. that's 700 trillion times the age of the universe.
So why has quantum computing not yet been widely adopted?The answer has to do with the scale-up of quantum computers.
Unlike using bits that represent 1 or 0, quantum computing uses quantum bits (qubits). quantum bits can be in more than one state at the same time, such as 1, 0, and in-between (remember: yes, no, maybe). quantum bits are error-prone because they tend to exchange information with their environment very quickly. in general, the more qubits that are used, the greater the chance that an error will occur. breaking the encryption that we use in online banking would require a system with millions of quantum bits.
Currently, quantum computers have a computational error rate of one in a thousand, far short of the long-term operational error rate of one in a trillion required for many practical applications, such as cracking bank accounts.
Google claims that its researchers have found a way to reverse this relationship, with errors dropping exponentially as they introduce more quantum bits into the system.Their findings have been published in the journal Nature.
The findings don't tell us exactly when quantum computing is expected to arrive, but it means it's getting closer. and we can be sure that it's coming.
So, what can we do?