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Quantum Computers Check Each Other's Work

sciencehabit writes "Quantum computers can solve problems far too complex for normal computers, at least in theory. That's why research teams around the globe have strived to build them for decades. But this extraordinary power raises a troubling question: How will we know whether a quantum computer's results are true if there is no way to check them? The answer, scientists now reveal, is that a simple quantum computer—whose results humans can verify—can in turn check the results of other dramatically more powerful quantum machines."

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  1. Re:Actually... by green+is+the+enemy · · Score: 4, Informative

    It does not seem like their method truly verifies the solution. It only checks that the quantum computer is functioning correctly for specific problems with known solutions. By inserting these problems in many places in the quantum algorithm, they verify that the quantum computer was working correctly for the entire duration of the computation. Maybe that grants enough confidence in the solution... I don't know.