Google's chip with 105 qubits effectively corrects errors and performs calculations that would take the best supercomputer longer than the universe exists.
Five years after the release of its Sycamore chip, the Google Quantum AI team is now presenting its next-generation quantum processor: Willow is its name, the English word for "willow", and it is equipped with 105 superconducting qubits.
The team claims to have demonstrated two scientific achievements with Willow: Firstly, the qubits should make it possible for the first time to effectively correct computational errors that occur during calculations. This was announced by the researchers led by Hartmut Neven, founder and head of Google Quantum AI, in a paper published on Monday. Secondly, the chip is said to have solved a task in five minutes that would take the best supercomputer 10 quadrillion , 49 or 97 physical qubits to form a computing unit –, a so-called logical qubit –, to correct errors.Theoretically, the more physical qubits are used for error correction, the lower the error rate of the quantum computer should be. In practice, however, this was not previously possible because the physical qubits were too error-prone. Willow's qubits maintain superpositions five times longer than their predecessor Sycamore. For the first time, they are now stable enough to perform effective error correction. In combination, the error rate of the logical qubit is lower than that of the physical qubits. Errors are suppressed exponentially: if the number of physical qubits is doubled, the error rate of the logical qubit is halved. With their result, the researchers are laying the foundation for error-tolerant quantum computing. "As the first system below the critical threshold, this is the most convincing prototype for a scalable logical qubit built to date," writes Neven. "It is a clear sign that useful, very large quantum computers can indeed be built.""Frontier" supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the USA is said to take 10 quadrillion years to complete a task that Willow solved in less than five minutes. At the time of the test, it was the most powerful supercomputer in the world. In mid-November,The quantum processor is located in a cryostat, which is necessary to cool the superconducting chip to extremely low temperatures.The first version of Willow's predecessor, the Sycamore chip with 53 qubits, was the first to solve a task that exceeds the computing capacity of classic supercomputers,They called this ability "quantum supremacy". The chip was said to have solved a task in 200 seconds that would have taken a supercomputer 10,000 years. The news received a lot of media attention, but just a few days laterannounced that a supercomputer could solve this task in just 2.5 days using the right methods. Although this would still make the quantum computer faster, the quantum computer is not essential for solving the problem.with an updated version of the Sycamore chip with 67 superconducting qubits. The researchers estimated that it would take a supercomputer 10 trillion years to perform the same calculation as Sycamore. The researchers are now moving away from the term "quantum supremacy" and are only talking about calculations "beyond classical", i.e. beyond what is classically possible. The Google Quantum AI team was founded in 2013 and has been working on the construction of a quantum computer, among other things, ever since.The task that the quantum computer – is supposed to solve, then as now –, is called "Random Circuit Sampling" : it is a quantum algorithm that generates a series of random numbers. The researchers execute a series of randomly selected quantum gates to bring the qubits into a complicated configuration that is difficult for classical computers to simulate. "I am not aware of any practical use for random circuit sampling," says Sabine Wölk from the DLR Institute of Quantum Technologies. This is a recurring point of criticism of the Google researchers' benchmarking method. However, this is not the goal, explains Neven during a presentation of the new chip. "RCS is not useful for applications. It is a benchmark for comparing two quantum processors or a quantum and a classical processor." Only if a quantum computer performs beyond the classical regime in RCS can one expect advantages in useful applications. However, when asked whether Willow is already suitable for useful applications, the researchers responded evasively. Willow could possibly enable some applications in chemistry and physics, but we will have to wait and see.In addition to the RCS, the company has so far only carried out simulations that are relevant for scientific research, but are not beyond what is classically possible. "Our goal is to do both at the same time," writes Neven, "to move into the realm of algorithms that are beyond the reach of classical computers and that are useful for real, commercially relevant problems.". With Willow, it would have taken an important step towards the third of six milestones. The third milestone, a long-lived, logical qubit, is to be reached in one or two years. The team was unable to say when milestone 6, a large, error-corrected quantum computer with millions of qubits, could be expected. In the long term, the company expects quantum computers to have a significant advantage in various fields of application. These include the development of new drugs, the design of new batteries for electric cars, advances in fusion research and the exploration of alternative energy sources.
Physik Quantencomputer Quantenphysik Quantentechnik Quantentechnologie Supercomputer
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