China's quantum computer is 180 million times faster than a supercomputer

Jiuzhang can solve problems in data mining applications, biological information, network analysis and chemical modeling research. The experimental results were published by the research team in the journal Physical Review.

China's quantum computer is 180 million times faster than a supercomputer Picture 1

Lead researcher Pan Jianwei, a physicist at the University of Science and Technology of China, said that Jiuzhang is used to solve outstanding real-world problems that traditional supercomputers have not yet solved. reasonable.

In one experiment, the research team used Jiuzhang to solve a problem that is difficult for traditional computers. During this process, Jiuzhang used more than 200,000 samples and took less than 1 second to process. Meanwhile, to create each sample of the fastest traditional supercomputer in the world would take 700 seconds, which means it would take nearly 5 years to process more than 200,000 samples.

In theory, quantum computers are much faster and more powerful than conventional computers. However, the subatomic particles at the heart of this technology are fragile, short-lived, and even a small disturbance from the surrounding environment can cause errors. Therefore, to avoid disruption, most quantum computers operate in extremely cold and isolated environments.

Unlike other quantum computers, Jiuzhang uses light as a physical medium for calculations, so it does not need to operate at extremely low temperatures in a closed environment and operates stably for longer.

Micah Soto

Update 10 June 2024