The need for quantum computers remains small
theregister.com
The need for quantum computers remains small
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Re: The need for quantum computers remains small
#2Barring the sky falling, our best bet for NP hard problems is approximate solutions that have provable lower bounds on approximation ratio.
From that purview, a general heuristic for approximating combinatorial optimization problems would be a godsent. Even if algorithms like the QAOA do not improve(or tightly match) approximation ratios beyond that of a carefully crafted classical algorithm... A turn key algorithm on a coherent high-qubit-count quantum computer would change the industrial use landscape forever. The number of developer hours saved would be uncountable.
We're just aiming way too dang high.
Re: The need for quantum computers remains small
#3The need is high... for bad people doing bad things to everyone else (trying to de-secure the world)?
There's some hypothetical travelling salesperson style questions we might ask. But we don't seem incapable of doing this work today. 98% the needs seem like: can we break the world's crypto. How is this anything beyond a chaotic evil mis-use? How will this do anything but de-secure & instigate risk across the planet?
At least when 99.5% of the engineers were working on ads, they were just wasting their time doing amoral shit. This seems actively immoral.
I really struggle to understand what this all is good for. There probably are some valid & good uses. But it's all hyper-abstract, with little grounding. The attempt to hipster-ize the facilities, to make the physical systems themselves look cool, to present an impressive front: it all works counter to the very essence that made computing cool for so much of my growing-up period: computing in my era was personal. It empowered people. I don't see how this will help actual people at all. It seems mostly like a big hard problem for which the winner reaps some eventual explotative spoils. At likely cost to general world order & peace. Hiss boo.
Re: The need for quantum computers remains small
#4Barring the sky falling, our best bet for NP hard problems is approximate solutions that have provable lower bounds on approximation ratio. From that purview, a general heuristic for approximating combinatorial optimization problems would be a godsent. Even if algorithms like the QAOA do not improve(or tightly match) approximation ratios beyond that of a carefully crafted classical algorithm... A turn key algorithm o…
I mean that sounds a lot like what DWave and Google are pursuing with the adiabatic QCs.
Re: The need for quantum computers remains small
#5Only people that deal with stuff created by chemical reactions have a need for quantum computers... None else.
Re: The need for quantum computers remains small
#6I wonder if quantum computing is just a mirage that results from looking too much at the time complexity of quantum algorithms versus the cost in qubits, which are still wildly expensive. Maybe qubits will just never scale to the number of qubits needed to meaningfully outperform classical computers.
Re: The need for quantum computers remains small
#7I wonder if quantum computing is just a mirage that results from looking too much at the time complexity of quantum algorithms versus the cost in qubits, which are still wildly expensive. Maybe qubits will just never scale to the number of qubits needed to meaningfully outperform classical computers.
Yeah lots of people think decoherence will prevent QC from becoming practically useful. Some researchers seem to think differently, but I never found an explanation for why I should be as optimistic as they are.
Re: The need for quantum computers remains small
#8Reminds me of this: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4051190
Back then a digital computer couldn’t hold a candle to an analog one and processed only a few bits at a time. It was slow and imprecise. Look at where we are now.
A general quantum computer is a fundamentally different kind of computer. Those who cannot imagine what can be done with one lack the imagination to understand foundationally new technology and are unable to invent their own.
Re: The need for quantum computers remains small
#9Reminds me of this: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4051190 Back then a digital computer couldn’t hold a candle to an analog one and processed only a few bits at a time. It was slow and imprecise. Look at where we are now. A general quantum computer is a fundamentally different kind of computer. Those who cannot imagine what can be done with one lack the imagination to understand foundationally new technology an…
It seems that nobody on the planet is able to invent their own quantum computer.
Re: The need for quantum computers remains small
#10The need is high... for bad people doing bad things to everyone else (trying to de-secure the world)? There's some hypothetical travelling salesperson style questions we might ask. But we don't seem incapable of doing this work today. 98% the needs seem like: can we break the world's crypto. How is this anything beyond a chaotic evil mis-use? How will this do anything but de-secure & instigate risk across the planet?…
Computational chemistry (e.g. protein folding) is one useful application.