Shown here is one component of a quantum computer (a dilution refrigerator), as shown here in a clean room from a 2016 photo. Quantum computers would achieve Quantum Supremacy if they could complete any calculation significantly more quickly and efficiently than a classical computer can. That achievement won’t, on its own, however, let us achieve all of the dreams we have of what Quantum Computation could bring to humanity. (GETTY)

Has Google Actually Achieved ‘Quantum Supremacy’ With Its New Quantum Computer?

A fully programmable quantum computer that can outperform any classical computer is right at the edge of today’s technology.

Earlier this month, a new story leaked out: Google, one of the leading companies invested in the endeavor of quantum computing, claims to have just achieved Quantum Supremacy. While our classical computers ⁠ — like laptops, smartphones and even modern supercomputers ⁠ — are extraordinarily powerful, there are many scientific questions whose complexity goes far beyond their brute-force capabilities to calculate or simulate.

But if we could build a powerful enough quantum computer, ⁠it’s possible that many problems that are impractical to solve with a classical computer would suddenly be solvable with a quantum computer. This idea, that quantum computers could efficiently solve a computation that a classical computer can only solve inefficiently, is known as Quantum Supremacy. Has Google actually done that? Let’s dive into the problem and find out.

The way solid-state storage devices work today is by the presence or absence of charged particles across a substrate/gate, which inhibits or allows the flows of current, thereby encoding a 0 or a 1. In principle, we can move from bits to qubits by having, instead of a gate with a permanent charge, a quantum bit that encodes either a 0 or 1 when measured, but can exist in a superposition of states otherwise. (E. SIEGEL / TREKNOLOGY)