Google Willow
I first started researching Quantum Computing in 2015, supported by an engagement with IBM to understand the potential for life sciences, specifically drug discovery.
Over the years, I have written a few articles summarising my key learnings.
As a brief reminder, in Classical Computing, a basic unit of information is called a bit, which is a binary digit that can have only one of two states, commonly represented as either a 0 or 1.
Quantum Computers use Qubits, which can also be set to two states, however, a Qubit can be in both states simultaneously, known as a superposition.
As a result, with 3 qubits of data, a Quantum Computer can store all eight possible combinations of 0 and 1 simultaneously. Therefore, a 3 Qubit-based Quantum Computer can complete calculations eight times faster than a 3-bit Classical Computer.
Another key property is entanglement, which describes the close connection between multiple Qubits, allowing a Qubit to instantly react to the change of another Qubit, regardless of their relative proximity. As a result, by reading the state of one Qubit, the state of its partners can be deduced without any additional checks.
These special properties help Quantum Computers solve complex problems much faster than Classical Computers.
Unfortunately, Quantum Computing is prone to errors, because qubits are sensitive to external disturbances, impacting the ability to scale reliably.
Earlier today, Google announced Willow, their latest quantum chip.
Willow boasts two important breakthroughs:
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Willow can reduce errors exponentially as quantum processors scale up using more qubits. This targets the key challenge in quantum error correction.
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Willow performed a standard benchmark computation in under five minutes that would take one of today’s most powerful supercomputers 10 septillion years.
These breakthroughs are an important step towards making Quantum Computing a viable alternative to Classical Computing for specific tasks.
To help understand the impact of this announcement, I would recommend reading the reaction from Scott Aaronson (Acclaimed Theoretical Computer Scientist).
I only understand the basic concepts of Quantum computing, but continue to find the subject fascinating and am pleased the community continues to invest and engage!