Explained: What is Google’s New Quantum Leap?

Google has been at the forefront of quantum computing research for many years. In 2019, the company announced that its Sycamore processor had achieved quantum supremacy. 

Here is what Google stated in its Blog “Today we published the results of this quantum supremacy experiment in the Nature article, “Quantum Supremacy Using a Programmable Superconducting Processor”.” 

“We developed a new 54-qubit processor, named “Sycamore”, that consists of fast, high-fidelity quantum logic gates, in order to perform the benchmark testing. Our machine performed the target computation in 200 seconds, and from measurements in our experiment we determined that it would take the world’s fastest supercomputer 10,000 years to produce a similar output,” it added.

Source: Google

In a recent update, the researchers working on this Quantum computing project unveiled that Google's new quantum computer can perform calculations instantly, while the world's most powerful supercomputers would take an astounding 47 years to complete the same tasks.

The new quantum computer has 70 qubits, which is 17 more than the previous model's 53 qubits. This increase in qubits makes the new machine 241 million times faster and more powerful than the 2019 version.

Quantum computing is a type of computing that uses quantum mechanics to perform calculations. Quantum mechanics is a branch of physics that deals with the behaviour of matter at the atomic and subatomic levels. 

Quantum computers use qubits instead of bits to store and process information. Qubits can exist in a superposition of states, which means that they can be both 0 and 1 at the same time. This allows quantum computers to perform calculations that are exponentially faster than classical computers. 

Google's new quantum leap is a significant development in the field of quantum computing. It shows that Google is still at the forefront of this research, and it suggests that practical quantum computing is closer than ever before.

The new announcement was made through Cornell University’s website and it states “Using cross-entropy benchmarking, we observe phase boundaries which can define the computational complexity of noisy quantum evolution.” 

“We conclude by presenting an RCS experiment with 70 qubits at 24 cycles. We estimate the computational cost against improved classical methods and demonstrate that our experiment is beyond the capabilities of existing classical supercomputers”, it added. 

In conclusion, Google's new quantum leap is a significant achievement that brings the human race closer to the day when quantum computers will be a reality. This technology has the potential to revolutionize many different industries, and it will be exciting to see how it develops in the years to come.