Does the recent result on BQP not being in PH relative to an oracle do anything to your priors about the power of quantum computers relative to classical computers? If you had to distill why that oracle separation works, what would you say is the main trick from the perspective of "where does the power of quantum computers come from"?
I'm Scott Aaronson, quantum computing/computational complexity researcher. AMA
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Re: I'm Scott Aaronson, quantum computing/computational complexity researcher. AMA
#32Do you think that quantum physics can tell us anything about 'the hard problem' in philosophy? Is it possible that the mind could somehow control how quantum states collapse in situations where randomness would be the typical explanation?
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Re: I'm Scott Aaronson, quantum computing/computational complexity researcher. AMA
#33Hi Scott,
Do you think some understanding of the implications of quantum computers is important for laypeople, and what do you think is the best way to communicate this kind of information? You can see the eyes of `regular people' glaze over mid-sentence if you use the word quantum, and associate any quantum-anything to magic. In the era of clickbait and fake news, this makes misinformation all the more prevalent, especially when it comes to pop-sci/`mainstream' coverage.
tl;dr a) How much of a problem is it that people will believe anything with the word `quantum' in it? and b) What do you think is the best way to remedy this?
Re: I'm Scott Aaronson, quantum computing/computational complexity researcher. AMA
#34What do you think would be the best route into Quantum Computing? Through physics, maths or computer science?
That depends on you and your interests! From the very beginning and up through the present, the majority of people in quantum computing have goten there via physics. But my own background is in theoretical computer science---I've only gradually picked up little bits of physics through osmosis (what's a boson, what's a Hamiltonian, etc. :-) ) and there are still embarrassing gaps in my knowledge. And computer scientists and mathematicians, such as Peter Shor, Gilles Brassard, Umesh Vazirani, and Dorit Aharonov, have clearly made crucial contributions to the field, and we plan to continue doing so!
By now, there are large interdisciplinary programs in quantum information science (at Waterloo, Caltech, MIT, Maryland, Berkeley, CWI Amsterdam, Singapore, Oxford, and elsewhere), as well as smaller programs like the one we've been building at UT Austin -- where in some sense, the work of blending math, CS, and physics into the smoothie of quantum information science has already been done. So one obvious option for a student interested in this field would be to seek out one of those programs -- they typically have courses and research opportunities even at the undergraduate level.
Re: I'm Scott Aaronson, quantum computing/computational complexity researcher. AMA
#35As a programmer and practitioner, I'm curious about what kinds of skills and training it takes to program quantum computers. Can you shed some insight into what's really different about the tools and task of programming a quantum computer versus using classical programming languages and tools? Do you think quantum computer programming will rapidly become standard training for CS undergrads, or do you expect it to rem…
Check out some lecture notes, e.g. https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/~watrous/LectureNotes/CPSC519.Winter...
Re: I'm Scott Aaronson, quantum computing/computational complexity researcher. AMA
#36This is slightly off-topic (I'm going to be that "this is sorta more a comment than a question..." guy for a second), but I just want to say that Scott's blog is one of my favorite blogs on the whole internet. If only there were more like it!
Thanks!!!
Re: I'm Scott Aaronson, quantum computing/computational complexity researcher. AMA
#37When do you think will we have the first quantum computer that can solve useful problems faster than the classical competition, for example in quantum chemistry?
Re: I'm Scott Aaronson, quantum computing/computational complexity researcher. AMA
#38Hi Scott,
What's your current position on the likelihood of quantum computing working/being possible?
P.s. I enjoyed your book 'Quantum Computing Since Democritus'.
Re: I'm Scott Aaronson, quantum computing/computational complexity researcher. AMA
#39Do you think that quantum physics can tell us anything about 'the hard problem' in philosophy? Is it possible that the mind could somehow control how quantum states collapse in situations where randomness would be the typical explanation?
It doesn't answer this question directly, but Aaronson's paper "The Ghost in the Quantum Turing Machine"[1] is a great read. It talks about the relationship between quantum mechanics and free will. [1] https://www.scottaaronson.com/papers/giqtm3.pdf
It is a great read! Also, in the comments on his blog post introducing that paper, he says:
> Well, yes, “the fact of experience” is a toughie! :) In fact, I regard the “hard problem of consciousness” as so far beyond us, that it’s not even clear that science or rational argument give us any sort of toehold.
Re: I'm Scott Aaronson, quantum computing/computational complexity researcher. AMA
#40Hi Scott,
Its been my longtime dream to work in Electronics Engineering - more specifically, design integrated circuits for Artificial Intelligence/ Machine Learning applications. I read about FPGA's a lot and love the concept of Reconfigurable Computing. Its because of my love for FPGA's I want to carve out a career in VLSI. Right now, I work in Enterprise Software (BMC Software - as a Support Engineer and in administrator role).
I tried to get a job in VLSI after attending a 6 month finishing school from CDAC, but no luck. However, I still dream of getting an opportunity in companies like Intel/ Xilinx and being able to develop some FPGA based solutions for AI/ ML.
In the next 18 months, I see myself getting my Canada PR and searching for a job there. My current job requires me to be in touch with Java and Java related frameworks to a very small extent (primarily for reading logs, and our development platform is build up on Eclipse.) I am hoping to get a job in Canada based on these skillsets.
What do you reckon is the future of the hardware industry? I heard there's a lot of scarcity of jobs there?
Or should I stick to Enterprise Software?
Honestly need your opinion here.
Thanks in advance, and great job taking up this AMA !! :)