A group of scientists in Australia set a new world record in quantum performance simulation on a classical computer.
A group of scientists in Australia set a new world record in quantum performance simulation on a classical computer.
In Australia, a group of physicists achieved the most important quantum computation simulation to date, which is considered a spectacular breakthrough in computer science.
The experts at the University of Melbourne have shown that classic computers still have a lot of life ahead of them.
The group of scientists set a new world record in quantum performance simulation on a classic computer and demonstrated that it has more capacity to perform the monotonous work of processing quantum data than any of the current small quantum computer prototypes.
This means that scientists have a powerful new tool to capture and understand the quantum state and develop quantum software.
Ultimately, this will help to understand and test the types of problems for which a potentially larger quantum computer will be used as the quantum hardware develops over the next ten years.
The ability to simulate quantum algorithms at this level is important to learn how a quantum computer works physically, how the software can work and what problems it can solve,” explains Professor Lloyd Hollenberg, Thomas Baker Professor at the University of Melbourne, who leads the team and is deputy director of the Center for Quantum Computing and Communications Technology.
Today, quantum computer prototypes are too small to do anything useful that a classic computer can no longer do.
But quantum hardware is developing fast, and quantum computers are probably much more powerful than traditional computers in solving problems for two quantum rarities: “overlapping” and their rarest cousin, “interlacing”.
Classic computers work with programming bits, the simplest form of data. The bits are binary, i.e. 0 or 1, and are programmed to encode and process data.
But in a quantum computer, bits or qubits are quantum mechanical objects like atoms. Quantum states can also be binary and placed in one of two ways or both at the same time. Quantum overlay means that 2 qbits can in some way be the four combinations of 0 and 1 simultaneously.
This unique ability to process data is further enhanced by interlacing, where the state of a qbit when measured mysteriously determines the state of another qbit.
A presentation of quantum computing in action shows the “forest” of the various possibilities that the machine uses to lead it more effectively to a solution to a problem.
To get an idea of the enormous memory capacity of Quantum Computing, one of the largest prototypes, the new 50 qbits machine from IBM could in principle display about 1,000 billion number combinations simultaneously.
To simulate a random quantum state, the machine would use about 18 petabytes of classic computer memory or the equivalent of more than 1 million laptops in 16 gigabytes of RAM.
So far, IBM researchers have been able to simulate 56 qbits classically in carefully selected states.
But Hollenberg’s team went much further and simulated the performance of a 60 qbits machine that would have required about 18,000 petabytes or more than 1 billion laptops (far more than the largest supercomputer) to represent the entire quantum number space.
Our ability to simulate large quantum systems is one of our most important contributions to teaching research in this field. It will allow us to work on the development and comparison standards of quantum computer software and teach people how quantum computers work,” says Hollenberg.
Linking problems with the logic of a quantum computer require a completely new way of thinking and technology. In this initial phase, quantum programming is highly problem-dependent and requires special training.
The simulation of a larger quantum process in a classical computer is a fundamental step in understanding how it can be used over time.
We have been developing our quantum computer simulation capabilities for several years, and this result comes at an exciting time. Now that IBM has reached the 50 qbits level based on the technology.
In Australia, a group of physicists achieved the most important quantum computation simulation to date, which is considered a spectacular breakthrough in computer science.
The experts at the University of Melbourne have shown that traditional computers still have a lot of life ahead of them.
The group of scientists set a new world record in quantum performance simulation on a traditional computer and demonstrated that it has more capacity to perform the monotonous work of processing quantum data than any of the current small quantum computer prototypes.
This means that scientists have a powerful new tool to capture and understand the quantum state and develop quantum software
Ultimately, this will help to understand and test the types of problems for which a potentially more massive quantum computer will be used as the quantum hardware develops over the next ten years.
The ability to simulate quantum algorithms at this level is vital to learn how a quantum computer works physically, how the software can work and what problems it can solve,” explains Professor Lloyd Hollenberg, Thomas Baker Professor at the University of Melbourne, who leads the team and is deputy director of the Center for Quantum Computing and Communications Technology.
Today, quantum computer prototypes are too small to do anything useful that a classic computer can no longer do
But quantum hardware is developing fast, and quantum computers are probably much more powerful than traditional computers in solving problems for two quantum rarities: “overlapping” and their rarest cousin, “interlacing.”
Classic computers work with programming bits, the simplest form of data. The bits are binary, i.e., 0 or 1, and are programmed to encode and process data.
But in a quantum computer, bits or qubits are quantum mechanical objects like atoms. Quantum states can also be binary and placed in one of two ways or both at the same time. Quantum overlay means that two qubits can in some way be the four combinations of 0 and one simultaneously.
This unique ability to process data is further enhanced by interlacing, where the state of a bit when measured mysteriously determines the state of another qubit.
A presentation of quantum computing in action shows the “forest” of the various possibilities that the machine uses to lead it more effectively to a solution to a problem.
To get an idea of the enormous memory capacity of Quantum Computing, one of the most massive prototypes, the new 50 qubits machine from IBM could in principle display about 1,000 billion number combinations simultaneously.
To simulate a random quantum state, the machine would use about 18 petabytes of standard computer memory or the equivalent of more than 1 million laptops in 16 gigabytes of RAM.
So far, IBM researchers have been able to simulate 56 qbits classically in carefully selected states
But Hollenberg’s team went much further and simulated the performance of a 60 qbits machine that would have required about 18,000 petabytes or more than 1 billion laptops (far more than the largest supercomputer) to represent the entire quantum number space.
Our ability to simulate large quantum systems is one of our most important contributions to teaching research in this field. It will allow us to work on the development and comparison standards of quantum computer software and teach people how quantum computers work,” says Hollenberg.
Linking problems with the logic of a quantum computer requires a completely new way of thinking and technology. In this initial phase, quantum programming is highly problem-dependent and requires special training.
The simulation of a larger quantum process in a classical computer is a fundamental step in understanding how it can be used over time.
We have been developing our quantum computer simulation capabilities for several years, and this result comes at an exciting time. Now that IBM has reached the 50 qbits level based on the technology.