Google’s Quantum Computer Is About 158 Million Times Faster Than the World’s Fastest Supercomputer
In 2019, Google’s quantum computer did a calculation in less than four minutes that would take the world’s most powerful computer 10,000 years to do. It is the seed for the world’s first fully functional quantum computer that can make better medicines, create smarter artificial intelligence and solve great riddles of the cosmos.
In 2012, theoretical physicist John Preskill came up with a formulation of quantum supremacy, the superiority of quantum computers. He named it the moment when quantum computers can do things that are not possible for ordinary computers.
Seven years later, in autumn 2019, Googles quantum computer Sycamore reached this milestone. In 200 seconds, the machine performed a mathematically designed calculation so complex that it would take the world’s most powerful supercomputer, IBM’s Summit, 10,000 years to do it. This makes Google's quantum computer about 158 million times faster than the world’s fastest supercomputer.
The quantum computer uses the rules of quantum mechanics to perform calculations beyond human comprehension. Quantum mechanics is a branch of physics that deals with photons, electrons and atomic nuclei.
