On March 18, Microsoft’s quantum team’s leading physicist, Chatin Naik presented new data The company’s quantum computing chip At a meeting of the American Physical Society’s World Physics in California’s Anahim. The purpose was to calm an angry debate among physicists, but researchers Be skeptical “I have never felt like a moment when everyone will be fully convinced,” said Naik of the results. Nature In an article on March 18.
Conflict Microsoft’s February centers claim that it has created a new type of quantum hardware – a toopological cobbut, developed by a sample of electrons on a small wire. Microsoft claimed that it was less at risk of cobalt errors. This will make it easier to scale quantum computers in reality. But in the journal’s article with the release, the editors wrote that Microsoft did not show the ultimately Signed sample electronIs known Majrana Zero mode. In 2021, Microsoft Similar claims had to be withdrawn.
When quantum computer is useful, ordinary users should not expect personal tools from them.
“Conversations and doubts are part of the scientific process,” Microsoft spokesman Craig Xinkota said. Stuffy. Along with this, he has identified additional improvements since this article, where Microsoft says the team controlled and measured a special aspect of Quibet.
The latest data presented by Microsoft on Tuesday is “Just Shore”, says Pittsburg University physicist Sergey Ferolov. (On Tuesday, Naik admitted that it was difficult to see the signal due to the noise of electricity.)
In a statement, Nike tells Stuffy Microsoft has confidence in its device. “It is clear that the level of interest and excitement is very high.”
In the upper part of the dispute, the industry is suffering from hype. Quantum Computer Champions says they will revolutionize content science, encryption, and finance. Theoretical research shows that they can one day defeat regular computers in using works and open new computing circle. But the timeline is uncertain. In January, Nodia’s Jensen Huang Expressed the doubt This commercial quantum computing will be available in 15 years, which will be mobilized to fall into the quantum computing stock. He tried to re -run the comments on March 20, when he hosted “Quantum Day” at NVIDIA’s GTC conference, but Quantum -related stocks fell once again.
Nevertheless, quantum computing researchers have been hard to work. In recent months, Google, Amazon, and several startups have announced many growing improvements. We are wondering how much users will have to wait for quantum computing killer applications. Are Quantum Computer coming to your cloud or phone in the future? For whom and for whom are they?
“Conversations and doubts are part of the scientific process.”
Quantum computers will not be able to deal with anything useful for at least another decade, says Andrea Morola, physicist at the University of New South Wales in Australia. And that is if investors do not jump patience and ship. This technology remains a complete stack problem, which includes materials from engineering to coales, combining coales together, developing scale chips-and not mentioning software.
Investors are sticking around it because the payment can be huge. Provide a completely new sample for quantum computer computing. Unlike the traditional computer, which encodes information as binary and zero, a quantum represents computer information as a possibility of zero, known as a super position. Super position is a concept of quantum mechanics: for example, an electron may be present as a super position, or possibility of numerous locations. You can also think of the super position as if the air can return. Before it descends, it is neither head nor tail, but both are in a super position. Similarly, Cobit can represent information as some possibility of both zeroes.
Researchers make physical quats from different materials – for Google, Amazon, and IBM, each coat is a small super conducting circuit. Noteworthy start -up ions, nuclear and photon are using as cobs. At this point, it is unclear which material is better.
Quantum mechanics is a mathematical ban. So do the molecules. That is why experts predict that quantum can perform early use of computers Accurate and fast chemistry simulationBetter batteries, high climate -friendly fertilizers, and new medical drugs to discover new materials. Currently, to imitate these reactions, scientists rely on supercomputers, which are inaccessible and slow.
A quantum speed -up can also be presented to other industries. Bank Quantum Optimization is investigating algorithm Improve financial predictions. Quantum algorithm AI can make the algorithm more energy efficient. They should also be able to break the current encryption methods. Petition has promoted research on more strong forms of secret care.
But first, researchers need to reduce and make them bigger in quantum computer overall.
And when quantum computer is useful, ordinary users should not expect personal tools from them. Experts currently Concept Future quantum computers as a special chip in a supercomputer or as AS A data center. In any way, the user will access the machine through the cloud. It is also unlikely that quantum computers will be useful for everyday tasks such as WordPressing or Internet browsing. Its proposed applications specialize in large -scale technical fields such as pharmaceutical and finance.
Recent progress has been entertaining. The first quantum computer of the note, built in the last decade, was very mistaken to perform useful algorithms. Recently, researchers have estimated how to correct computing errors by encoding the same unit of information in multiple physical quaties rather than one. Using this approach, Google And Amazon It has been shown that their quantum computers can save information more reliablely without the machines are more mistaken because they grow up. The results can pave the way for large, useful quantum computers.
Nevertheless, a jump for physicists is an inch ahead for the rest of us. Google and Amazon’s quantum “memory” saved only a unit of quantum information, known as logical regulations. A useful quantum computer will need thousands, perhaps a million physical quat, which is in accordance with hundreds or thousands of logical quaties. Researchers need to reduce the number of physical quarters to encod the unit of information. In the recent announcement of the Amazon, they only needed nine physical quaties per unit information, compared to Google compared to 105 physical quaties needed. “We are far from big, mind -blowing, global consequences and requests,” says Morola.
“This is a very delicate balance. It either gives people a chance to be bored, or more and more and really angry …”
Governments in the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom have promised funds for each of the billions to prepare quantum computing. For the United States, the main rival is China, which has dumped $ 15 billion of public funds In quantum computing, according to the Merketer Institute for China Studies, a German -based think tank.
Cash is also flowing in the private sector. Crunchbase Reported Quantum computing gained $ 1.5 billion venture funding worldwide in 2024In 2022, a single time higher than the previous record of 3963 million.
But the construction of technology is difficult. Researchers have to show progress in keeping their investors happy, while also expecting their expectations to be patience. Anxiety is a potential “quantum winter”, where over -hypnotes lead to hopes and frustration, and investors withdraw funds. The development of AI went through such a cooling period. Researchers made the first AI chatboat in the 1960s, but this field was excessively hopeful about the pace of growth. When they did not supply, Funders WithdrawnFrom the late 60s to the mid -90s, two “Ai Winters”.
“People would prefer to keep a low sound profile a bit cool and a little elderly, so that they just get the benefits slowly,” says Farolov. “But I think this is a very delicate balance. It either causes people to be angry, or more and more angry,” when quantum computers do not supply their expectations.
Microsoft’s claims have led to the current anger of physicists in losing their funders’ confidence. Farolov has spent a year with several other researchers, which he has said has contradictions between Microsoft’s announcements and their experimental data. He says it seems that this community is more acceptable to criticism recently.
There are growing pains that are involved in the construction of a quantum computer. Its capacity is excited, but the end line is still far away. In the meantime, physicists will continue to emphasize growing progress – as long as cash continues.