With new advancements and error correction process, quantum computers are on the way to replace classical computers.
Classical computers cannot perform complex problems. This is when Quantum computer comes into picture. They are smaller and only requires lesser energy than supercomputers. It uses qubits to perform. Quantum entanglement helps qubits to calculate faster compared to bits in classical computers.
Recently IBM was able to simulate the dynamic of spins in a model of material and accurately predict properties such as its magnetization by creating entangled states using quantum Eagle processor which is a 127- qubit quantum processor. By this, realization of quantum computers that can outperform classical computers may be possible in the coming years.
A special error mitigating process compensated for noise which is a common issue in quantum computers.
The IBM team conducted increasingly complex tests using Eagle and compared the results with supercomputers in Purdue University and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab to test the advancements in error correction. Eagle was able to give accurate results and it outperformed the supercomputers with more accurate results when difficulty level increased.
The team also was able to measure noise produced by each qubit. It was found that the noise produced in each qubit could be predicted by factors such as defects in supercomputing material and the scientists were able to use the predictions to model a result without noise.
Dario Gil, Senior Vice President and Director of IBM Research stated that it is the first time to see quantum computers accurately modelling a physical system in nature beyond leading classical approaches.
Quantum supremacy claims before
In 2019, using its quantum computer called Sycamore, google had claimed quantum supremacy. In a study by a team of researchers led by John Martinis, an experimental physicist at University of California, Santa Barbara, quantum computer was able to solve complex computation in 200 seconds while the most powerful supercomputer would require 10,000 years to solve the same problem. But it had no practical use.
More about Eagle
According to IBM, a classical computer would need about same number of bits as atoms of all humans on earth to match Eagle’s performance.
Eagle quantum processor was introduced by IBM in 2021.It was the most powerful quantum processor until 2022, when IBM Osprey outdid it with 433 qubits.
