January 6, 2022
Quantum Computing is the main focus of Google’s 2021 Year in Review. The tech giant is highlighting the progress it has made in its efforts to develop flawless qubits and more viable hardware in 2021 but is quickly shifting to its goals for the decade. This long-term commitment focuses on three key areas:
- Bringing quantum computing technology to a level where it can outperform not only classic computers but classic supercomputers as well.
- Developing a reliable method of error correction for the quantum noise, which currently complicates efforts to turn the technology into a practical tool.
- Building a logical qubit that is able to maintain its error-free state for “an arbitrarily long time” to help in the path to practicality mentioned above.
Should it achieve its goals, the tech giant believes that quantum computers could revolutionize many areas of technological development, particularly in the field of physical systems research. Google pointed out in its release that evidence from a study it conducted in partnership with Caltech shows that quantum computers can make determinations about physical systems through “exponentially fewer experiments than what is conventionally required.”
Other future applications include studying the physical oddities of time crystals, calculating statistics for entanglement entropy, and others.
To drive these efforts, Google further highlighted its financial commitment to quantum development as it continues to expand its Quantum AI facilities in Santa Barbara, California, while also distributing its open-source quantum computing platform Cirq.
Other future development plans include the release of a new Fermionic Quantum Simulator that takes “advantage of the symmetry in quantum chemistry problems to provide efficient simulations,” and an updated qsim tool that allows for the simulation of noisy quantum processors via off-the-shelf GPUs.
For more information, read the original story in ZDNet.
