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Quantum computing has grown spectacularly in recent years. Not only did China participate in the dispute, but it recently beat the giant Google, designing the most powerful quantum computer in the world!
Two years ago, the giant Google announced that it had achieved “quantum supremacy”. The Sycamore computer represented a major step forward in the world of quantum computing. However, Chinese researchers have challenged online services and software giant Google and announced that they have developed an even more powerful quantum computer.
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More powerful than Google
A team from the Hefei University of Science and Technology (China) claims to have manufactured a machine that surpasses Google's quantum computer. The researchers also provided details in a post on the arXiv platform on June 28, 2021. However, for now, it is a pre-publication, pending peer validation.
In 2019, Google introduced the Sycamore, a computer with a 54-qubit quantum processor. The latter performed a very complex calculation operation in just 200 seconds. However, this was a problem that a conventional computer would take about 10.000 years to solve.
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In their publication, Chinese scientists refer to Zuchongzhi, a processor with 66 qubits. However, he used just 56 qubits for a simulation that would be two to three times more complex than Google's two years ago.
China's Quantum Supremacy: Achieved without using full processor power
According to the authorities, the Zuchongzhi carried out the simulation in just over an hour. However, the current most powerful supercomputer, the Riken Center for Computational Science's Fugaku (Japan), it would take at least eight years to solve this same problem. For the team, this is a victory that shows China's supremacy in terms of scientific research.
The perspectives are also very interesting in quantum research, through the resolution of more complex problems. However, as mentioned above, this is a pre-publication and not a publication in a renowned scientific journal. Thus, Chinese researchers will have to demonstrate the power of their Zuchongzhi under the observation of other scientists for validation purposes.
Finally, let's remember that other researchers from the Hefei University of Science and Technology have already presented their champion: Juizhang (76 qubits). In their December 2020 publication in the journal Science, the scientists estimated that this computer's processor was ten billion times more powerful than that of the Sycamore computer. The scientists argued that if the two computers were not designed to perform the same type of tasks, the higher computational speed in Juizhang's case might be considered the most relevant indicator of progress.
