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A record-breaking milestone has been reached in quantum computing, which could mean that unthinkably fast processing is now a realistic prospect.
Scientists at Sussex University have managed to transfer data between chips at record speeds and – more importantly – record accuracy.
“What we’ve achieved here is the ability to realize extremely powerful quantum computers that can solve some of the most important problems for industries and society,” says lead researcher Prof. Winfried Hensinger.
Speed and accuracy
Quantum computing is based on some principles in quantum psychicism, namely that subatomic particles can be in two places at once and mirror each other’s actions almost simultaneously across unfathomable distances.
These properties mean that computers can potentially handle multiple processes at speeds not even possible with today’s best computers. They have been in development for more than two decades now, but so far only small systems with limited use are in use. Large tech companies such as IBM, Google and Microsoft have a number of their own machines.
One of the biggest obstacles to the technology’s development has been the ability to transfer information between chips, keeping it intact. In order for quantum computers to work, they are very sensitive by nature and thus have low fault tolerance. That means that the slightest disturbances can disrupt their effective operation.
But publishing results in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications, the research team at the University of Sussex (opens in new tab) showed a way to transfer information between quantum chips with a fidelity of 99.999993%, the connection speed was 2424/s.
Both set world records, the researchers say, and show that it’s possible to fit quantum chips together to build more powerful quantum computers.
Director of the National Quantum Computing Centre, Prof. Michael Cuthbert, commented on the findings:
“To build the type of quantum computer you need in the future, you start by connecting chips the size of your thumbnail until you get something the size of a board. The Sussex group has shown that you can improve stability and speed can have for that step.”
However, he added: “You need a mechanism to connect these boards together to scale up a machine, possibly the size of a football field, to do realistic and useful calculations, and the technology to communicate for that scale is not yet available.”
If quantum computing becomes practically applicable, it could mean great things for all kinds of industries. It could lead to new discoveries in science, because they can perform calculations that are not possible for any human or current computer.
Substantial improvements in AI are also possible with quantum computers. Currently, it can take months to train an AI model to become effective. Quantum computing does not have to rely on standard linear binary computers, where information is processed as a 1 or 0, and can hold two states of information at the same time, greatly speeding up operation.
In fact, IBM has already revealed a mathematical proof (opens in new tab) that quantum machine learning is exponentially faster than standard methods of ML, as long as “one can provide classical data to the algorithm in the form of quantum states”. While it remains theoretical at this point, the future for AI and quantum computing looks promising if it can be applied.