Google Quantum Computing Chip “Willow” | Potential Applications

Google Quantum Computing Chip “Willow” | Potential Applications

Google’s new quantum computing chip, Willow, is making waves in the tech world. Willow boasts 105 qubits, the building blocks of quantum computation.

• The first is that Willow can reduce errors exponentially as we scale up using more qubits. This cracks a key challenge in quantum error correction that the field has pursued for almost 30 years.
• Second, Willow performed a standard benchmark computation in under five minutes that would take one of today’s fastest supercomputers 10 septillion (that is, 10²⁵) years — a number that vastly exceeds the age of the Universe.

Here’s a breakdown of what makes it so special:

Key Features

• 105 Qubits: Willow boasts 105 qubits, the building blocks of quantum computation. More qubits mean more processing power, allowing for tackling complex problems that are impossible for classical computers.
• Reduced Errors: Willow incorporates design improvements that significantly reduce errors as the number of qubits increases. This is a major step towards building larger, more reliable quantum computers.
• Blazing Speed: In a benchmark test, Willow solved a problem in under 5 minutes that would take a supercomputer 10 septillion years! This demonstrates its immense potential for scientific discovery.

Also Read : APSRTC Bus Pass Application

Potential Applications

While still in its early stages, quantum computing has the potential to revolutionize fields like:

• Medicine: Developing new drugs and therapies.
• Materials Science: Designing novel materials with improved properties.
• Artificial Intelligence: Creating more powerful and efficient AI algorithms.
• Energy: Optimizing energy production and storage.

Looking Ahead

Willow is a significant milestone in Google’s pursuit of a commercially viable quantum computer. While challenges remain, Willow’s performance suggests that large-scale, error-corrected quantum computers are within reach. This technology could unlock solutions to some of humanity’s biggest challenges.

10 septillion years on one of today’s fastest supercomputers

As a measure of Willow’s performance, we used the random circuit sampling (RCS) benchmark. Pioneered by our team and now widely used as a standard in the field, RCS is the classically hardest benchmark that can be done on a quantum computer today.

You can think of this as an entry point for quantum computing — it checks whether a quantum computer is doing something that couldn’t be done on a classical computer. Any team building a quantum computer should check first if it can beat classical computers on RCS; otherwise there is strong reason for skepticism that it can tackle more complex quantum tasks.

Willow’s performance on this benchmark is astonishing: It performed a computation in under five minutes that would take one of today’s fastest supercomputers 10²⁵ or 10 septillion years. If you want to write it out, it’s 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years. This mind-boggling number exceeds known timescales in physics and vastly exceeds the age of the universe. It lends credence to the notion that quantum computation occurs in many parallel universes, in line with the idea that we live in a multiverse, a prediction first made by David Deutsch.