US achieves world's first and only demonstration of quantum supremacy on a useful problem

A California-based startup has demonstrated quantum computational supremacy on a useful problem, marking a first-of-its-kind achievement within the industry.

The achievement was detailed in a new peer-reviewed study published in the journal Science. The study explains how D-Wave, the California-based startup, has made a scientific breakthrough by solving a problem beyond the reach of classic computers. D-Wave's annealing quantum computer outperformed one of the world's most powerful classical supercomputers in solving complex materials simulation problems. The study validates this achievement as "the world's first and only demonstration of quantum computational supremacy on a useful problem."

How was it done? The annealing quantum computer utilized the power of quantum mechanics to find a solution to the problem in 20 minutes and with just 12 kilowatts of energy. By comparison, for the same problem to be solved by a traditional GPU-cluster-powered supercomputer, it would require more than the world's annual energy consumption and more than a million years of time.

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The system proceeded to solve the problem by starting in a superposition of all possible solutions, with the goal of reducing the number of solutions down to the correct one through the process of annealing or the reduction of the number of parameters.

"This is a remarkable day for quantum computing. Our demonstration of quantum computational supremacy on a useful problem is an industry first. All other claims of quantum systems outperforming classical computers have been disputed or involved random number generation of no practical value," said Dr. Alan Baratz, CEO of D-Wave, in the press release

"Our achievement shows, without question, that D-Wave's annealing quantum computers are now capable of solving useful problems beyond the reach of the world's most powerful supercomputers," Baratz added

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"This is a significant milestone made possible through over 25 years of research and hardware development at D-Wave, two years of collaboration across 11 institutions worldwide, and more than 100,000 GPU and CPU hours of simulation on one of the world's fastest supercomputers as well as computing clusters in collaborating institutions.

Besides realizing Richard Feynman's vision of simulating nature on a quantum computer, this research could open new frontiers for scientific discovery and quantum application development," said Dr. Mohammad Amin, chief scientist at D-Wave