. Google claims its quantum computer runs 100 million times faster then a traditional computer running with one processor. Quantum computing is the Holy Grail for supercomputers. It harnesses the power and speed of atoms to do processing and other tasks infinitely faster than any silicon-based one. Google claims its quantum computer runs 100 millions times faster than any other PC. Google Inc. purchased a controversial machine from Canadian startup D-Wave Systems Inc. two years ago. It now claims that it uses quantum Physics to process a form of mathematics essential for the next-generation of artificial intelligence. Google published its research paper at Cornell University Library Archive for Studies that are not yet peer-reviewed. Citation below. According to the company, its results and research will be soon published in an academic journal. Google’s 1 ,097-qubit D-Wave2X quantum computer. This is the machine that Google purchased from D-Wave Systems, 2013.. The superconducting chips inside are cooled down to a fraction of an absolute zero degree. Google believes it may put new power behind artificial-intelligence software. Image: www.riacs.edu. Global race for quantum computer technology. Governments around the globe, major corporations, and research centers are all competing to be the first to create quantum computers that can represent data using quantum mechanics. The data-crunching power we only can dream of will be available to the first person who gets there first. NASA QuAIL (Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory), says this about quantum computing: Quantum computing is built on quantum bits, or qubits. A qubit is able to represent both a zero and a one value, unlike traditional computers that require bits to have one or zero values. Information can be represented in qubits, which allows it to be processed in ways not possible in traditional computing. This is thanks to phenomena like quantum tunneling or quantum entanglement. Quantum computing technology could be the next major milestone in hi tech Quantum computing would make AI software more powerful than anything currently produced. This would take materials science to new heights. NASA’s Ames Research Center hosted a tour of its Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at NASA Advanced Supercomputing Facility on Tuesday, December 8. NASA’s interest in this technology is evident. According to the US space agency, it would revolutionize how they launch rockets and carry out space missions in future. Deepak Biswas is the director of NASA’s Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California. He said during a press conference about quantum computing that it could transform how they launch rockets and carry out future space missions. D-Wave chips are however controversial because they do not have compelling evidence that can tap into quantum Physics to run faster than other silicon-based computers. Google claims its device is 100 millions faster than a computer. Hartmut Neven (Google’s Quantum AI Lab Director of Engineering) says that he has some evidence to support quantum computing. Neven, a German-born engineer and his colleagues created a race between the conventional PC with one processor and NASA’s D-Wave computing system. Neven claims that the D-Wave machine was 100 millions faster than the conventional computer. Tom Simonite, writing in MIT Technology Review describes Google’s results to be’striking. However, he adds that they could not prove D-Wave’s claims. A conventional computer was used to race code, using an algorithm that is similar to D-Wave’s. It could have used an alternate algorithm to win the race. In fact, it might have even won by exploiting what Mr.Neven described as a bug in D-Wave’s design. However, Mr. Neven said that the test was still important because traditional computers will be unable to use this shortcut against quantum annealers with greater data processing capabilities. The commercial implications of this breakthrough are possible, Mr. Neven said. John Giannandrea (VP engineering, Google), who coordinates all research and says that quantum annealers can be used to power Google’s machine learning software. Giannandrea stated that he has already run into problems with our products which are impossible to solve using existing computers. He also noted that there is a large number of computers. Although it may take several years for this research to make a significant impact on Google products, quantum computing is incredibly powerful. Quantum computing can solve some of the most difficult tasks such as simulating human responses to medication, forecasting weather patterns and analyzing massive datasets. It also creates super-intelligent robotics that are capable of learning from their mistakes and upgrading themselves. Bloomberg Businessweek interviewed Brad Pietras from Lockheed about the future of quantum computing and how it will benefit his company. “Quantum computing can be used for complex predictive analyses and machine learning, where many variables are needed to evaluate and compare models with them.” This is applicable in areas such as drug discovery, financial investment, healthcare, planning, security, management, financing, investments, human resources, and logistics. Many business applications, such as solving complicated optimization problems, will not be possible with silicon computing. However, he does believe that quantum computing can help to replace conventional computing. A quantum computer would be a good choice to balance your checkbook, but we wouldn’t want it. He explains that quantum computing is best suited for solving extremely difficult computational problems. For example, drug discovery can be complicated because there are many trillions upon trillions of amino acid combinations to go through in order to discover a single protein. Quantum computing is the answer. He said, “That’s it in a nutshell.” Citation: “What Is the Computational Value of Finite Range Tunneling?” Vasil S. Denchev. Sergio Boixo. Sergei V. Isakov. Nan Ding. Ryan Babbush. Vadim Smelyanskiy. John Martinis. Hartmut Neven. Cornell University Library. 7 December, 2015. arXiv: 1512. 02206 (quant-ph). Related article (2019): Interesting video – “Researchers demonstrate how to improve quantum key distribution across fiber networks.” This video was released by Google in 2013, and lets you take a look at the beginnings of Quantum AI Lab, which is a collaboration between NASA, Google and USRA.
