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Google plans to reach a Quantum Computing milestone before the year is out

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Re: Google plans to reach a Quantum Computing milestone before the year is out

#21

Post by johncolanduoni »

typon wrote: post #15
manyoso wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are so far from talking about this that your question is nearly meaningless. Quantum computing has not even been demonstrated yet. This "quantum supremacy" is for a highly contrived algorithm and set up that has very little if any real world use cases. A generalized quantum computer able to run standard computing algorithms is very far in the future and so much basic research in computing science has to happen bef…

Pretty sure the only thing quantum computers are better at than classical computers currently is simulating quantum mechanics

We actually have a few examples of an absolute speed up for quantum computers, though none of them are exponential and some of them are problems nobody cares to solve. For example, Grover's algorithm is superior (O(sqrt(n)) vs O(n)) to the best possible classical algorithm for the same problem.

If you are willing to accept comparisons of best known classical algorithms to best known quantum algorithms (without a guarantee that the existing algorithms are ideal) you can add others like factoring to the list, with exponential speed ups.

Re: Google plans to reach a Quantum Computing milestone before the year is out

#22

Post by nradov »

frik wrote: post #18

Wake me up when it's ready. For two decades we hear announcements that Quantum Computers are almost ready. Yet beside bluffs and prototypes that require superconductor with very cold -230° C to do little, none of them resurfaced later. Quantum Computers can be exiting and devastating. What happens if the first company/state keeps it a trade secrete and uses Quantum Computers without telling the rest of the world? (wh…

Plenty of people have been thinking about it for years and developing encryption algorithms which should remain secure even if someone manages to build a working quantum computer.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-quantum_cryptography

Re: Google plans to reach a Quantum Computing milestone before the year is out

#23

Post by kneel »

petra wrote: post #17
manyoso wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are so far from talking about this that your question is nearly meaningless. Quantum computing has not even been demonstrated yet. This "quantum supremacy" is for a highly contrived algorithm and set up that has very little if any real world use cases. A generalized quantum computer able to run standard computing algorithms is very far in the future and so much basic research in computing science has to happen bef…

What about quantum machine learning? assuming quantum computers become powerful tomorrow, won't they be useful in that field?

Depends on what you mean by powerful and how that can translate to a meaningful calculation.

Re: Google plans to reach a Quantum Computing milestone before the year is out

#24

Post by frik »

nradov wrote: post #22
frik wrote: post #18

Wake me up when it's ready. For two decades we hear announcements that Quantum Computers are almost ready. Yet beside bluffs and prototypes that require superconductor with very cold -230° C to do little, none of them resurfaced later. Quantum Computers can be exiting and devastating. What happens if the first company/state keeps it a trade secrete and uses Quantum Computers without telling the rest of the world? (wh…

Plenty of people have been thinking about it for years and developing encryption algorithms which should remain secure even if someone manages to build a working quantum computer. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-quantum_cryptography

Good link. Nevertheless HTTPS/HTTP2/TLS/bcrypt/MD5/SHA-256/AES/etc need an upgrade/replacement to be ready for day X, so the internet isn't really prepared yet. Also mind all the previously already leaked encrypted data got harvested by bad actors and is waiting in archives to be easily readable on day Y.

Re: Google plans to reach a Quantum Computing milestone before the year is out

#25

Post by wbl »

frik wrote: post #24
nradov wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plenty of people have been thinking about it for years and developing encryption algorithms which should remain secure even if someone manages to build a working quantum computer. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-quantum_cryptography

Good link. Nevertheless HTTPS/HTTP2/TLS/bcrypt/MD5/SHA-256/AES/etc need an upgrade/replacement to be ready for day X, so the internet isn't really prepared yet. Also mind all the previously already leaked encrypted data got harvested by bad actors and is waiting in archives to be easily readable on day Y.

There is a plan. There already are postquantum encryption schemes (and drafts to use them), and we can wait with signatures for a while. NIST will be making recommendations soon.

Re: Google plans to reach a Quantum Computing milestone before the year is out

#27

Post by nullnilvoid »

mark_l_watson wrote: post #2

I was excited to read this article up to the last sentence, a quote from the program manager “We’re trying to get support within Google, and this experiment has been very good to get other engineers talking to us.” to me, this statement negates much of the positive spin of the article. That said, the title does say 'stepping stone.' My primary professional interest is AI and quantum computing to pushing the field for…

I did not bother to read the article. The title looks suspicious to me. For a scientific breakthrough, you don't plan it ahead. Instead, you work hard for a long time and all in a sudden you hit that milestone. It is unpredictable and certainly cannot be planned easily.

Re: Google plans to reach a Quantum Computing milestone before the year is out

#28

Post by davesque »

mck- wrote: post #26

I'm surprised there is no mention of D-Wave systems - the quantum computer that Google bought a while ago [1] and how/why they decided to build it themselves from scratch. [1] https://www.quora.com/How-much-did-Google-pay-for-the-quantu...

Maybe because IIRC D-Wave is still unproven technology.

Re: Google plans to reach a Quantum Computing milestone before the year is out

#29

Post by marcosdumay »

manyoso wrote: post #7
skdotdan wrote: post #5

Are quantum chips supposed to replace the current CPUs and GPUs? Or are they supposed to be "just" another component that we connect to the CPU, the same way we connect GPUs?

We are so far from talking about this that your question is nearly meaningless. Quantum computing has not even been demonstrated yet. This "quantum supremacy" is for a highly contrived algorithm and set up that has very little if any real world use cases. A generalized quantum computer able to run standard computing algorithms is very far in the future and so much basic research in computing science has to happen bef…

> Quantum computing has not even been demonstrated yet.

That's quite an uninformed comment. Anybody thinking this can start at Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_computing#Timeline

That list has completely functional computers with up to 4 qbits with results to show.

Re: Google plans to reach a Quantum Computing milestone before the year is out

#30

Post by marcosdumay »

mck- wrote: post #26

I'm surprised there is no mention of D-Wave systems - the quantum computer that Google bought a while ago [1] and how/why they decided to build it themselves from scratch. [1] https://www.quora.com/How-much-did-Google-pay-for-the-quantu...

The D-Wave is not a quantum computer in the meaning that term usually has.
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