A joint research team from Google Inc., NASA Ames Research Center, and the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has demonstrated that a quantum computer can outperform a classical computer at certain tasks, a feat known as quantum supremacy.
While still in their early stages, quantum systems have the potential to be exponentially more powerful than today’s leading classical computing systems and promise to revolutionize research in materials, chemistry, high-energy physics, and across the scientific spectrum. The team’s results, published today in Nature, provide a proof of concept for quantum supremacy and establish a baseline comparison of time-to-solution and energy consumption.
“This achievement of quantum supremacy is a testament to the strength of American innovation, and DOE’s Labs are helping lead the way in this groundbreaking area of research,” DOE Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar said. “The mastery of quantum technology is creating a new Information Age that offers new ways to process information to benefit science and society.”