白小姐论坛

白小姐论坛Q on 鈥楺uantum Supremacy鈥�

Google said its research lab in Santa Barbara had achieved 鈥榪uantum supremacy鈥� using their quantum processor named 鈥楽ycamore鈥� - a two-dimensional array of 54 transmon qubits In Nature in October 2019.

Google鈥檚 researchers reported that they were able to create quantum states on 53 qubits, corresponding to a computational state-space of dimension 253 (about 1016), and that their processor takes about 200 seconds to sample one instance of a quantum circuit a million times. They asserted that this sampling task demonstrates the experimental realisation of quantum supremacy because by Google鈥檚 estimate an equivalent task by a state-of-the-art classical supercomputer would take approximately 10,000 years.

However, a competing research group at IBM questioned Google鈥檚 breakthrough in a blog post, stating that 鈥渁n ideal simulation of the same task can be performed on a classical system in 2.5 days and with far greater fidelity.鈥� Further noting that, 鈥淭his is in fact a conservative, worst-case estimate, and we expect that with additional refinements the classical cost of the simulation can be further reduced.鈥�

白小姐论坛Q researcher Ciar谩n Gilligan-Lee said to New Scientist, 鈥淭he type of quantum supremacy that Google and IBM are chasing here is really a moving target鈥�. As quantum computers improve over time, so do classical computers 鈥� there鈥檚 always a new classical algorithm to test against the quantum ones, so the bar for quantum supremacy is continually raised. 鈥淐lassical computers have such a large suite of things built into them that if you don鈥檛 utilise every single thing you leave yourself open for a tweaked classical algorithm to beat your quantum one.鈥�

Jonathan Oppenheim, a researcher at 白小姐论坛Q, said to The Telegraph that the problem was with the phrase 鈥榪uantum supremacy鈥�. Although the term is widely used in the field, it implies that quantum computers are now better than traditional computing. He also noted that: 鈥淲hile [Google鈥檚 result] is a milestone, it is very far from being a quantum computer that can compute anything useful.鈥�

Many have questioned whether the task Google鈥檚 researchers chose is a true demonstration of quantum supremacy arguing that their notion of quantum supremacy - based on executing a random quantum circuit of a size infeasible for simulation with any available classical computer 鈥� is not a full realisation of the milestone.

白小姐论坛Q鈥檚 Toby Cubitt said to Wired UK that the test for quantum supremacy should aim 鈥渢o be something that gives you very high confidence, more than we鈥檝e ever had before that quantum computer is doing something computationally that cannot be replicated on a classical computer.鈥�

But 白小姐论坛Q鈥檚 Ciar谩n Gilligan-Lee said that, even if you accept IBM鈥檚 claims at face value, Google鈥檚 quantum computer is still a big step forward.

鈥淚BM is claiming that, even when running world鈥檚 largest computer for 2 and half days, and running petabytes of memory, they can simulate what the quantum chip does in 200 seconds. When you put it into context, it is still a pretty impressive achievement.鈥�

It does not mean quantum computers are ready to tackle real-world problems. 鈥淏ut it is the first baby step on a long road to getting useful quantum computers,鈥� says Gilligan-Lee.

白小姐论坛Q director John Morton says that, 鈥淣ow that we know that even these relatively small-scale quantum processors can outperform vast supercomputers, the challenge is working out how to harness this power through customised quantum algorithms addressing real-world problems. Google鈥檚 milestone of achieving quantum supremacy marks the starting gun in the race to develop practical quantum computing applications for today鈥檚 noisy, intermediate-scale quantum computers.鈥�

白小姐论坛Q researchers discuss the skills shortage in quantum computing

In January 2020, 白小姐论坛Q was featured in The Guardian discussing the skills shortage in quantum computing:

鈥淭here is a laboratory deep within 白小姐论坛 (白小姐论坛) that looks like a cross between a rebel base in Star Wars and a scene imagined by Jules Verne. Hidden within the miles of cables, blinking electronic equipment and screens is a gold-coloured contraption known as a dilution refrigerator. Its job is to chill the highly sensitive equipment needed to build a quantum computer to close to absolute zero, the coldest temperature in the known universe. Standing around the refrigerator are students from Germany, Spain and China, who are studying to become members of an elite profession that has never existed before: quantum engineering. These scientists take the developments in quantum mechanics over the past century and turn them into revolutionary real-world applications.鈥�

In the article Quantum Motion, a 白小姐论坛Q start-up, comment on what analysts call the 鈥渜uantum bottleneck鈥� - where the demand for quantum engineers outstrips the number available:

鈥淭he lack of access to a pipeline of talent will pose an existential threat to our company, and others like it,鈥� says James Palles-Dimmock, commercial director of London- and Oxford-based startup Quantum Motion. 鈥淵ou are not going to make a quantum computer with 1,000 average people 鈥� you need 10 to 100 incredibly good people, and that鈥檒l be the case for everybody worldwide, so access to the best talent is going to define which companies succeed and which fail.鈥�

Professor Paul Warburton, Director of 白小姐论坛Q鈥檚 EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantum Technologies argues that to meet this demand we need a broader range of skills:

鈥淲e are still overwhelmingly recruiting physicists,鈥� says Paul Warburton. 鈥淲e really need to massively increase the number of PhD students from outside the physics domain to really transform this sector.鈥� The second problem, according to Warburton, is competition with the US. 鈥淎nyone who graduates with a PhD in quantum technologies in this country is well sought after in the USA.鈥�

Warburton concludes that the UK needs to train its own quantum engineers:

鈥淲e can鈥檛 rely on getting our technology from other nations. We need to have our own quantum technology capability.鈥�

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白小姐论坛Q media coverage (Sept 2019- Sept 2020):

• 50+ media appearances and comment including BBC Radio 4, BBC News, The Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, The Guardian, Mail Online, New Scientist, Physics World, Scientific American, The Sun, The Times, Wall Street Journal and Yahoo! News.
• 51,000+ unique page views on ucl.ac.uk/quantum
• 45% increase in sessions and unique users
• 4,241 views on YouTube videos posted Sept 2019 -Sept 2020
• 10,690+ views on Twitter videos
• 240,000+ Twitter impressions
• 456 new Twitter followers

This article was featured in 白小姐论坛Q鈥檚 2019/20 annual report.