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IBM Finally Proves That Quantum Systems Are Faster Than Classical Systems (engadget.com)

In a paper published Thursday in the journal Science, Dr. Sergey Bravyi and his team reveal that they've developed a mathematical proof which, in specific cases, illustrates the quantum algorithm's inherent computational advantages over classical. Engadget reports: "It's good to know, because results like this become parts of algorithms," Bob Sutor, vice president of IBM Q Strategy and Ecosystem, told Engadget. "They become part of decisions about how people will start to attack problems. Where will they try classical techniques? Where will they try quantum techniques? How will those interplay? How will they work back and forth together?" What's more, the proof shows that, in these cases, the quantum algorithm can solve the problem in a fixed number of steps, regardless of how many inputs are added. With a classical computer, the more inputs you add, the more steps it needs to take in order to solve. Such are the advantages of parallel processing.

"The main point of this paper is not that somehow we discover some incredibly important quantum algorithm, or some practical, interesting problem," Bravyi told Engadget. "We ask if we can separate a constant depth [between] quantum and classical algorithms. As we increase the problem size, the runtime of the quantum algorithm remains constant, but the total number of operations grows." As Bravyi points out, this new proof doesn't, in and of itself, solve any existing computational issues. Instead, "it gives us insight into what makes a quantum computers more powerful," he continued. "And hopefully in the future it will lead to more practical, useful algorithms."

79 comments

  1. Noise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A researcher hypothesized that as quantum systems grew in complexity, the amount of noise they experience grows exponentially. This is problematic because noise decoheres the system, limiting the complexity of the computations that can be performed and result in an answer without having to rerun the calculation to discover a consensus. This was based on experience of the performance of existing systems.

    Has the noise problem been solved yet?

    1. Re: Noise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ohp! You got them, they should probably go back and work on that pesky noise problem before they research if quantum computing is worth doing at all...

    2. Re: Noise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There has been a lot of work on reducing noise in better setups, but that would never beat the exponential scaling in the long run (maybe you could push it far enough back to get practical results still...). However, there has been a lot of work on error correction encodings that seem like they can give you much better scaling of noise problems, but at the cost of more qubits.

      There is a lot of cool quantum algorithm work that amounts to space (number of qubits) vs. speed (number of operations/gates) trade off, very analogous to classical algorithms. But that rarely gets covered in pop-sci news.

  2. Re:experience from berlin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Jesus, it's not even clear any longer what message you trolls want to convey. Online trolling has become like the test spam I get, with empty mail body or full of incomprehensible garbage. Come on, show some effort! Troll harder!

  3. Re:experience from berlin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe some of the trolling is actually neural net encoded secret messages between terrorist cells. 8-)

  4. Re:experience from berlin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's been proven that this is a great way to encode messages - spam forums with encoded message, spew garbage while passing their messages surreptitiously. Most laymen would only see garbage and spam while the rest would actually get trolled.

  5. Great step, practical work must follow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Congratulations to the IBM, this is an exciting result! Now lets just see if coherence times and the number of qubits can be scaled up as the researchers hope.

  6. No, they did not by gweihir · · Score: 1, Interesting

    They proved that in their mathematical model, quantum systems are faster. No mathematical model that describes physical reality accurately is known at this time though and it is known that the current standard model cannot be true as it is inconsistent. Hence they did not actually prove anything about reality.

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    1. Re:No, they did not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      They proved that in their mathematical model, quantum systems are faster. No mathematical model that describes physical reality accurately is known at this time though and it is known that the current standard model cannot be true as it is inconsistent. Hence they did not actually prove anything about reality.

      It disappeared in a puff of logic, then?

      Don't get yourself killed at the next zebra crossing.

    2. Re: No, they did not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not much different from Teslaâ(TM)s day then , when, as he put it âoeToday's scientists have substituted mathematics for experiments, and they wander off through equation after equation, and eventually build a structure which has no relation to realityâ

      I would suggest that papers are not proof, except perhaps if you are speaking about mathematical proofs but these are not based on reality, nor is reality based on them but through careful observation and experimentation, we can invent formulas to model our observations. But going too far in that direction, believing in our own hubris and inventions can lead us down the road Tesla described.

      Until an idea is tested, we can only assume the results based on our own experience and assumptions. This called a postulate, not a proof or evidence or what-have-you.

      Experiment or nothing.

    3. Re:No, they did not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      What about P vs NP, or P vs EXPTIME?

    4. Re:No, they did not by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Informative

      Don't worry, there is plenty of time for your traditional computers, so you can keep your job, to the point where you can retire without having to learn something new.

      It is still hard to find many application developers who can code for mutable processors, let along a quantum computing model.

      You don't need to go hopping up and down discrediting the scientists for their research because your job and way of life is currently still safe.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    5. Re:No, they did not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No mathematical model that describes physical reality accurately is known at this time though

      The standard model describes reality accurately. It says electrons are perfectly spherical for example.

      It is known that the current standard model cannot be true as it is inconsistent.

      It doesn't have to be true to make accurate predictions. Besides, if it's inconsistent, doesn't that mean it is true (and also false)? If it was one or the other it would be consistent.

    6. Re:No, they did not by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

      No one can ever give a practical application for any of that nonsense.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    7. Re:No, they did not by Pulzar · · Score: 1, Redundant

      Very well said.

      --
      Never underestimate the bandwidth of a 747 filled with CD-ROMs.
    8. Re:No, they did not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I use to build analogue simulators for power systems. effectively we built a model of the power system with capacitors, inductors and resistors on the floor of a big factory and then we use to open and close circuits or earth certain parts to simulate faults on the power grid. The cool thing taking the results instantaneously plotting them onto paper. The downside was spending ages checking the initial state of the system before you could let the simulation commence.

      These days this type of simulation is done via large matrix's on powerful computers to hold all the variables and compute the state at any part of the grid as other parts change. The upside of the computer simulations is being able to easily reconfigure the test conditions and it being easily repeatable and not effected by the environment. The analogue system was brilliant as instead of taking hours to find a solution it was instantaneous but there were errors introduced by reading off the results and by the environment.

      My take on quantum computing is that we are effectively going back to an inherently analogue model for the calculations, but with many more degrees of freedom than in my example above making it harder to control but also giving you the opportunity for more calculations. This means you can use the interactions between all the quantum systems to represent mathematical operators to compute a solution to a problem in less steps than if you had to run an equivalent simulation on a typical computer that has to simulate the same mathematical operations step by step. The main difference is that the final solution is effectively read off in a digital format once the quantum states have converged on a solution if you set it up correctly.

    9. Re:No, they did not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your response may address the practicalities of switching from classical to quantum computing, but it in no way address the parent's argument that mathematical proof in this case is completely and utterly useless. We already knew that quantumcomputing will outperform classical computing IN THEORY.

      In practice, preventing decoherence over a couple thousand of entangled qubits remains an impossible engineering challenge.

    10. Re:No, they did not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If your code works with data/state in a timelike manner, it is NP. If it can work in a non-timelike manner, it is P.

    11. Re:No, they did not by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      No I didn't address the parent's argument about how the mathematical proof is useless. Because his argument isn't based on any fact, but more from an emotional response to a technology that at some point in the future could affect our way of life.
      I make my living off of writing algorithms for electronic computers. If by next year we had all quantum computers which I had to program I would be at a massive disadvantage, and my many decades of experience and many thousands of dollars in education would be tossed out the window.
      Having a solid mathematical model showing that my skill sets can be obsolete possibly in my lifetime is disheartening, however I got into the Tech industry knowing this.
      Back 50 year ago we had races where we showed people adding up numbers in their head/on paper faster then a computer can. The human could often win, however we knew the computer will soon be able to exceed past the human, because the Math shows the potential growth and how such action is just due to better engineering and improved manufacturing.

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    12. Re:No, they did not by w1z7ard · · Score: 1

      I'm trying to figure out if they proved that P != BQP (Bounded-error Quantum Polynomial Time)- the article is light on technical details...

      --

      "Recursive bipartite matching"- try it!

    13. Re:No, they did not by vtcodger · · Score: 1

      "Besides, if it's inconsistent, doesn't that mean it is true (and also false)?"

      Assuming that's a real question and not pure rhetoric, the answer is "No". It's clearly possible for two inconsistent answers to both be false. e.g. "The Earth is flat" and "The Earth is pretzel shaped."

      For that matter, since we're talking about Quantum Mechanics, I doubt anyone would be shocked if two inconsistent answers are sometimes both true.

      --
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    14. Re:No, they did not by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Only a tiny subset of problems can be solved by a quantum computer. They aren't a replacement for digital computers.

    15. Re: No, they did not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course not. BQP is in PSPACE (proof: path integrals) and P vs PSPACE is still open (proof: cstheory.stackexchange isn't freaking out).

    16. Re:No, they did not by gweihir · · Score: 1

      I looked ad QCs 30 years ago. They were not very useful back then and that has not changed.
      Incidentally, I just added some context to the false reporting, no discrediting involved. The standard model of Physics _is_ inconsistent.
      But you are obviously an idiot that compulsively cheers for the hype-du-jour.

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    17. Re:No, they did not by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Indeed. And there is the little problem that QCs may never work and we may actually find out how to fix Physics instead.

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    18. Re:No, they did not by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Wow. You really _are_ an idiot. Did anybody solve quantum-gravity while I was not looking? No? Then the standard model is still known to be wrong and you cannot actually "mathematically" prove anything about reality using it.

      Incidentally, even working quantum computers are useful for very little. Almost all classical computing is not threatened, because a QC would simply be useless for it. There are a few special algorithms where a QC would do very well, but that is it. Hence there is no feeling threatened on my part at all.

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    19. Re:No, they did not by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Indeed. But all these mindless cheerleaders do not even know what a QC can do. It is utterly pathetic.

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    20. Re:No, they did not by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Oh? Somebody solved quantum-gravity while I was not looking? Now? Then the standard model is still known to be wrong, but nobody knows were exactly it is wrong and it is even possible that the whole thing has to be scrapped And hence you cannot prove anything "mathematically" based on it, since any mathematical proof critically requires a consistent (i.e. completely true) theory as basis. Seriously, this is proof-theory 101. Do you know nothing?

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    21. Re:No, they did not by gweihir · · Score: 1

      For that matter, since we're talking about Quantum Mechanics, I doubt anyone would be shocked if two inconsistent answers are sometimes both true.

      That would be incredible cool! It would mean something like observer-dependent laws of physics though and all physics would suddenly only be an approximation. That would require some major re-thinking of all theoretical physics. But given what we know about Quantum Mechanics, I would not be surprised.

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    22. Re:No, they did not by gweihir · · Score: 1

      So, one now gets modded "troll" for accurately describing the scientific state-of-the-art? How pathetic is that?

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    23. Re:No, they did not by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Theoretical concepts based on a consistent theoretical axiom system. Only have approximations in reality. Anybody that really studied them knows that. All the theory here can give is hints what may or may not work in practice, it cannot do any absolute predictions.

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    24. Re:No, they did not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If your theory says that "The Earth is flat" and that "The Earth is not flat", it's an inconsistent theory. If it's possible to have a flat pretzel, then obviously your statements might be consistent. A consistent theory is one that does not contain a contradiction. A consistent theory is one that doesn't imply both true and false, for the same statement.

      Quantum Mechanics can certainly have statements that are a superposition of true and false. But a quantum operation (a.k.a. measurement or observation) will only give a true statement, a false statement, or a superposition or the two. It will not give a contradiction, nor will it give a superposition of any contradiction.

    25. Re:No, they did not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The paper is linked in the description, it isn't too hard to follow the gist of it.

      They showed that for a specific problem, solving it with the limitations of NC0 would require logarithmic time while an analogous quantum device could perform it in constant time. It says nothing about P, BPP or BQP, aside from a comment to avoid making any assumptions based on the paper.

    26. Re:No, they did not by alexgieg · · Score: 1

      any mathematical proof critically requires a consistent (i.e. completely true) theory as basis

      Not really. Per Laplace's Rule of Succession, a completely true theory would require infinitely many (not just "many", infinitely many) data points of corroboratory evidence with exactly zero data points of falsified evidence, which isn't possible. Similarly, a completely false theory would require infinitely many data points of falsified evidence with exactly zero data points of corroboratory evidence. As such, any theory at most approaches a status of complete falseness or completely truthfulness, without ever reaching any of those two extremes.

      Given that, either you accept that a mathematical proof about a physical question can be given with the added caveat that they're bound by the "truthfulness factor" of the theory, so that a theory that's 0.99999% certain (most physics ones) allows for mathematical proofs that are also at most 0.99999% certain, or you require the impossible level of 1.0 truthfulness and therefore reject any proof, mathematical or otherwise, about anything at all.

      --
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    27. Re:No, they did not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A n-qbit computer is as 2^n times faster than a classical computer for some kinds of problems, but it doesn't guarantee NP = P.

    28. Re:No, they did not by gweihir · · Score: 1

      What nonsense is that? We are talking about mathematical proofs here, not physical ones. A mathematical proof requires a consistent ("completely true") theory as a basis, period. If that is not the case, you can prove any statement that can be made in the theory to be both false and true and your theory is completely worthless.

      Now, if you want a physical observation with high confidence, that is something else. But such an observation cannot be used as a starting point of mathematical deduction. Mathematical proofs deals with absolute truth. That is both their strength and their weakness.

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    29. Re:No, they did not by alexgieg · · Score: 1

      Mathematical proofs deals with absolute truth.

      You undermine your own point. Either the "problem" is that this is a physical-mathematical proof, in which case it by definition is bounded by the uncertainties inherent in all physical theories, or it's a pure mathematical proof, in which case any reference to the actual physical world is irrelevant since it applies to a subset of all possible physics (at Tegmark level II, so not even that high), which subset may or not intersect with ours. Both cases work in opposition to your argument, which is therefore invalid.

      --
      Conservatism: (n.) love of the existing evils. Liberalism: (n.) desire to substitute new evils for the existing ones.
    30. Re:No, they did not by gweihir · · Score: 1

      You wish. I just point out the problem with the story. You did summarize that nicely though.

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  7. This is good news for Quantum theorists. by Fly+Swatter · · Score: 1, Insightful

    The money will keep flowing. Now build something out here in reality that actually does something useful.

    1. Re:This is good news for Quantum theorists. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And there ARE errors in QC, and some crypto algorithms out there that are designed to be QC resistant, Makes me puke when they say digital certificates or whatever are safe. So far QC has pushed atoms around to make small gates. It will be a while before 4096 ++ bit wide register stacks are available without resorting to bit slice technques. Even then, public transport scehdules will never be solved.

    2. Re:This is good news for Quantum theorists. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, I guess you're tired of transistors, atomic clocks, MRIs, lasers, LEDs, GPS...

  8. Is 100 nanoseconds that fast? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Kevin Roach, an IBM ambassador and chairman of WorldCon 76 San Jose 2018, gave a presentation on the current state of quantum computing. He was asked how fast the interconnect speed was between the different components, his response was 100 nanoseconds. IIRC, 1970's through-hole chip technology was faster.

  9. Title counts chickens that have not hatched by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ibm-finally-proves-that-quantum-systems-are-faster-than-classical-systems

    should be

    ibm-finally-proves-that-quantum-systems-{will be}-faster-than-classical-systems-{if we can build them}

    It seems that most quantum articles these days feel this way.
    Come on guys, the interesting thing about quantum computing is not that it will be useful.
    It is if and when it will be.

  10. "Quantum Systems Are Faster" by Doloresanto · · Score: 1

    Do quantum computers exist?

    1. Re: "Quantum Systems Are Faster" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No.

      Not until somebody comes up with a machine that calculates on something more than binary, which is not possible with silicone wafers.

      This article is fn BS.

    2. Re:"Quantum Systems Are Faster" by iggymanz · · Score: 1

      very simple ones that solve trivial problems do. ones that can solve problems faster than a digital computer do not. other companies make things called "quantum annealers" that are not quantum computers.

  11. The bad news by ACE209 · · Score: 4, Funny

    The bad news is they used quantum logic for the proof.

    So the results may be true or not.

    I'll stop laughing when they break some crypto.

    --
    "we are all atheists about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further."
    1. Re:The bad news by SCVonSteroids · · Score: 1

      You mean it's both true AND false at the same time!

      --
      I tend to rant.
    2. Re:The bad news by CFD339 · · Score: 1

      They need to build it with carbon nanotubes to get me excited.

      --
      The problem with quotes on the internet, is that nobody bothers to check their veracity. -- Abraham Lincoln
    3. Re:The bad news by grep+-v+'.*'+* · · Score: 1

      I'll stop laughing when they break some crypto.

      I hear they've already broken ROT-13 with this. Next in their sights is double ROT-13. Woe is me with my encrypted joke answers.

      --
      If the universe is someone's simulation -- does that mean the stars are just stuck pixels?
    4. Re:The bad news by hey! · · Score: 1

      So the results may be true or not.

      Well, yes AND no.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  12. Not money from IBM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nah, IBM has built a quantum computer, did you see them sell it? No. Yet if it has such an advantage then why not make and sell them? They built it after EU promised 1 billion euros to kickstart quantum computing in Europe. It was a play to obtain that free cash. It's an analogue computer. Here they propose a specific function that an analogue computer with specific properties would solve quicker than a sequential digital computer "composed of fan-in gates"...

    Meanwhile, deep neural network hardware is built into smartphones now. One of those is a real computational thing, and the other is smoke and mirrors designed to fool politicians.

    "we introduce a non-oracular version of the Bernstein-Vazirani problem which we call the 2D Hidden Linear Function problem. An instance of the problem is specified by a quadratic form q that maps n-bit strings to integers modulo four. The goal is to identify a linear boolean function which describes the action of q on a certain subset of n-bit strings. We prove that any classical probabilistic circuit composed of bounded fan-in gates that solves the 2D Hidden Linear Function problem with high probability must have depth logarithmic in n. In contrast, we show that this problem can be solved with certainty by a constant-depth quantum circuit composed of one- and two-qubit gates acting locally on a two-dimensional grid. "

    1. Re:Not money from IBM by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      Back 20+ year ago neural network was just like Quantum computing today. A few systems built around to try to prove what it could do, costing a lot of money and in general under-performing the traditional models. Now we have them on our smartphone and just used to make sure our face is ours and to place a dinosaur onto a live video feed.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    2. Re:Not money from IBM by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Back 20+ year ago neural network was just like Quantum computing today.
      Actually: no. Neural networks are a mature "science" sind minimum 30 years.
      Now we have the processing power to run/train networks like Alpha Go. But the math did not change at all. Well, the new thing is that we have dedicated hardware for ANNs and don't need to run them on a CPU or GPU.

      --
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  13. theory == practice by umghhh · · Score: 1

    in theory. In practice however they differ.

  14. uhh, what about ISIS? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They aren't comparing classical and quantum computing to ISIS's posts? ISIS had 100s of algorithms all spamming terrorist propaganda 24/7 basically Obama's whole second term. Can we get a comparison of THAT? Started around 2013 when John Brennan became CIA director, and ended around 2017 when Trump took over and replaced Brennan with Pompeo.

  15. Not convinced by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I can prove that Transwarp drive is faster than warp drive, but that still doesn't make it real.

    The entire problem behind this is it's built on the idea that Quantium mechanics is real, that particles are real, that Einstein was right. But all those are THEORY, unproven.

    There is mounting evidence that Einstein was just wrong, and if that is the case, then all this is moot.

    1. Re:Not convinced by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Um, Quantium mechanics is real, particles are real, Einstein was right. FTFY.
      Note that right here means not proven wrong; just incomplete enough to still be right. That is all Science will ever be, incomplete.

      "There is mounting evidence that Einstein was just wrong..."
      No. There isn't. Idjits like you just can't even comprehend the difference between right, wrong, and incomplete. Newton was right, Einstein was righter, and there will be others who will be righter still.
      Example: Leibniz was wrong, Goethe was wronger, and we have several generations now of Idjits who believe in utterly Metaphysical "Color Theory". The Universe is not RGB and can't be represented in physical form with CMYK. CMYK, that is "Subtractive Color" is an Optical Illusion, and by the way, the _cheapest_ way of getting some kind of Color Gamut down on white paper when seen from a sufficient distance. Cyan and Magenta were 19th century made-up colors to suit minimal Industrial Printing needs. At the Photon level, that Newton dimly gleamed and termed "Corpuscles", and Planck, Einstein, and Lewis later confirmed, all "Color" is Additive simply because there aren't any Negative Photons.

      "I can prove that Transwarp drive is faster than warp drive..." I'm sure that you can, since everything that you appear to know about Physics was sucked out of Star Trek, as if it was Mother's Milk.

  16. if IBM is hyping it ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    you know it's fucking bunk.

  17. For special or general cases? by micahraleigh · · Score: 0

    If this would just make annealing faster or reversing some large prime factors ... I don't care.

  18. Co-Precessor FTW by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    QPU(Quantum Processing Unit)

  19. Re:experience from berlin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The hot grits are poured down petrified pants at midnight.

  20. Here's the rub: by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

    ... they've developed a mathematical proof which, in specific cases ...

    Identifying those cases reveals that there are problems that quantum computers (QC) cannot solve and that classical computers can.

    While QC will bust current encryption wide open in a New York minute, QC will also create encryption that cannot be busted.

    For those interested, look at "man in the middle," wiretapping that outs itself because it's making a measurement midstream and randomizing the fuck out of the process.

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    1. Re:Here's the rub: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... they've developed a mathematical proof which, in specific cases ...

      Identifying those cases reveals that there are problems that quantum computers (QC) cannot solve and that classical computers can.

      While QC will bust current encryption wide open in a New York minute, QC will also create encryption that cannot be busted.

      For those interested, look at "man in the middle," wiretapping that outs itself because it's making a measurement midstream and randomizing the fuck out of the process.

      Yeah. Now enjoy the multidecade long gap between the moment when any three-letter agency has a quantum computer in their basement that can break your encryption in the blink of an eye, and the moment when a parallel, quantum internet is widely available. And even that is only IF quantum links don't get straight outlawed, I mean if you're not guilty you have nothing to hide from the Big Brother, eh, comra^H^H^H^H^H citizen?

  21. For those interested by thePsychologist · · Score: 1

    This is interesting because although something like Schor's algorithm for finding the order of an element in the multiplicative group of a field (and hence factoring) is faster than the best traditional algorithms, no one has actually proved that there isn't a faster method of factoring that would beat Schor.

    --
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  22. Scott Aaronson's comment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    [...]

    In what’s now an extremely familiar pattern, this paper appeared on the arXiv a year and a half ago, and was a highlight of the QIP conference in January. So it’s already been assimilated by people in the field and there’s even been followup work. But then it gets officially published in Science, which leads to garbled popular articles about the brand-new earth-shattering breakthrough, and only by clicking the link to the paper do you learn that that breaking news and the thing that was really nice when you digested it last year are one and the same.

  23. In other words... by hey! · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They have demonstrated mathematically that a hypothetical quantum computer could, at least in theory, do the kind of things that have people interested in quantum computing for.

    Not to detract from the mathematical achievement, the news to me at least is that this hadn't been done yet.

    --
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  24. Not a very general result really by krakrjak · · Score: 1

    This result is extremely narrow and does not offer any generality. In the specific problems space the researchers attacked they did not find that quantum computers were better than classical computers. What they state in the paper is something far more specific and thus less powerful. The comparison is between a 2D quantum grid of 1 qubit and 2 qubit gates versus a classical (probabilistic) circuit. They found that in the classical (probabilistic) circuit there is a strong lower bound on the depth of gates required to solve the problem (log n, where n is the size of the input). In the quantum grid case the depth remains constant as the computation is carried out over a 2D quantum grid.

    Both Science and other write ups about this result, including this post, seems to paint this result very generally and it simply isn't. It's not an algorithm, the paper does not pit quantum vs classical computers, simply circuits. There is no analysis as to the size of the quantum grid required w.r.t. the size of the input, only the depth of the circuit. Also by leaning on probabilistic classical circuits they move the goalposts into an exotically small portion of the problem space.

    The result is rather great, but it is nothing like the media is portraying and it is not a general result at all. Please don't take the above as anything other than media critique and clarification of the results in the paper.