Quantum Supremacy: How Quantum Computers will Unlock the Mysteries of Science – and Address Humanity’s Biggest Challenges

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Quantum computing enjoyed a relatively tranquil start to the year as generative artificial intelligence overshadowed quantum in technology media. Fundamentally, this was a good thing—getting out of the spotlight gives researchers and startups valuable time to focus, rather than spending time fighting misconceptions. Michio Kaku’s new book “Quantum Supremacy,” and the media tour to promote it, recycles multiple talking points long since debunked within the quantum community and introduces new claims that are equally, if not more, specious. I found some of this exciting but it was frustrating to know we don't really know if we'll ever solve these problems. I found it a little irritating how optimistic he is that we will suddenly create technology that will save us from climate change. a b Courtland, Rachel (24 May 2017). "Google Plans to Demonstrate the Supremacy of Quantum Computing". IEEE Spectrum . Retrieved 2018-01-11.

The other thing that qubits can do is called entanglement. Normally, if you flip two coins, the result of one coin toss has no bearing on the result of the other one. They’re independent. In entanglement, two particles are linked together, even if they’re physically separate. If one comes up heads, the other one will also be heads. a b Kalai, Gil (2011-06-02). "How Quantum Computers Fail: Quantum Codes, Correlations in Physical Systems, and Noise Accumulation". arXiv: 1106.0485 [ quant-ph]. It's a fun book on one hand, but annoying on the other. All those "mights" and "mays" about drove me nuts. Hsu, Jeremy (8 January 2018). "CES 2018: Intel's 49-Qubit Chip Shoots for Quantum Supremacy". IEEE Spectrum . Retrieved 2017-07-22.

What can quantum computers do?

It’s practically impossible to overstate the absence of quality found in “Quantum Supremacy.” Readers with no preexisting knowledge of quantum computing will find themselves less informed about the topic by the end of the book. Scott Aaronson observed, in his review of Quantum Supremacy, the book “[perpetuates] two of the most basic, forehead-banging errors about what quantum computers can do,” by claiming that quantum computers change what can be computed, as well as claiming that a quantum computer “analyzes all possible paths at the same time.”

The runaway success of the microchip processor may be nearing its end, with profound implications for our economy, society and way of life, even leaving Silicon Valley as a new Rust Belt, its technology obsolete. Step forward the quantum computer, which harnesses the power and complexity of the atomic realm, and may be useful in solving humanity's greatest challenges from climate change, to global starvation, to incurable diseases. Humanity's next great technological achievement already promises to be every bit as revolutionary as the transistor and microchip once were. Its unprecedented gains in computing power and unique ability to simulate the physical universe herald advances that could change every aspect of our lives. Fundamentally, you might think Quantum could improve every scientific and technological endeavour, but that would be fallacious. We only know of specific algorithms that are theoretically amenable to being sped up or enhanced by quantum algorithms. There is even a quantum zoo of algorithms highlighting quantum algorithms and their potential speed-ups. Kaku is known for his ability to distill complex scientific concepts into layman's terms. In this book he takes on the enormous task of explaining quantum computing - a topic that even some of the brightest minds find intimidating. And for the most part, he does a good job. His analogies are creative as he fleshes out the real-world implications of this bleeding edge science. Merali, Zeeya (June 2011). "First sale for quantum computing". Nature. 474 (7349): 18. Bibcode: 2011Natur.474...18M. doi: 10.1038/474018a. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 21637232. S2CID 4425833.How? The main thing to understand is that quantum computers can make calculations much, much faster than digital ones. They do this using qubits, the quantum equivalent of bits – the zeros and ones that convey information in a conventional computer. Whereas bits are stored as electrical charges in transistors etched on to silicon chips, qubits are represented by properties of particles, for example, the angular momentum of an electron. Qubits’ superior firepower comes about because the laws of classical physics do not apply in the strange subatomic world, allowing them to take any value between zero and one, and enabling a mysterious process called quantum entanglement, which Einstein famously called spukhafte Fernwirkung or “spooky action at a distance”. Kaku makes valiant efforts to explain these mechanisms in his book, but it’s essentially impossible for a layperson to fully grasp. As the science communicator Sabine Hossenfelder puts it in one of her wildly popular YouTube videos on the subject: “When we write about quantum mechanics, we’re faced with the task of converting mathematical expressions into language. And regardless of which language we use, English, German, Chinese or whatever, our language didn’t evolve to describe quantum behaviour.” There is always a danger when discussing the potential benefits of Quantum technology that it becomes a panacea or a cure for everything. We must be careful that the word “ quantum” doesn’t become a prefix for any technology marketers want to push. Unlike, say, a faster CPU, Quantum is a radically different way to perform computation, and therefore, we cannot expect to get a new CPU chip and speed up everything. Only specific algorithms will likely ever show a quantum advantage; of course, we may find more, but right now, only certain particular operations can be (theoretically) run faster on a quantum machine than on a traditional or classical machine. Scientists still need to work on how to get data encoding working and Quantum RAM (QRAM) into reality. The future of computing – and therefore the world – is quantum. Given the possibilities for humanity in terms of fuel, medicine, and economics, advancements in quantum computing are something everyone should be paying attention to. Cleve, Richard (2000). "An Introduction to Quantum Complexity Theory" (PDF). CERN. Bibcode: 2000qcqi.book..103C.