Google's quantum computer
performs calculation in 5 minutes that would take longer than the universe's existence for a supercomputer
Google's new quantum computer solved a calculation in five minutes that would take longer than the universe's existence to solve with a regular supercomputer. The time it would take the supercomputer to do the calculation is nearly a million billion times longer than the age of the universe.
Five minutes versus eternity
Google's new quantum computer Willow can perform a calculation in five minutes that would take 10 septillion years for today's fastest supercomputer to solve. That's 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years. Our universe is about 13.8 billion years old. The time it would take the supercomputer to do the calculation is thus nearly a million billion times longer than the age of the universe.
This supports physicist David Deutsch's theory that quantum calculations occur in parallel universes, Google points out. (Read David Deutsch's article on Warp News: Optimism, pessimism and cynicism.)
Solves problems by adding more parts
Regular computers often become slower and make more errors when more parts are added. But Google's quantum computer Willow works in the opposite way - it improves and makes fewer errors when more qubits are added. In tests with different sizes of qubit systems, from 3x3 to 7x7, the number of errors halved each time the size increased. This solves a problem that researchers have tried to solve for 30 years.
The technology behind the success
Willow consists of 105 qubits and has improved several technical aspects compared to previous versions. An important measure is how long the qubits can retain their information - this has now increased to almost 100 microseconds, which is five times longer than previous versions. The quantum computer was built in a specially designed facility in Santa Barbara, which is one of few places in the world with the ability to manufacture this type of advanced technology.
