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How close are we to quantum computing being a thing that I have to actively think about? My understanding is that it's on the horizon but not all that close. I

by revel 7y ago

How close are we to quantum computing being a thing that I have to actively think about? My understanding is that it's on the horizon but not all that close. I'm impressed at the heavy investment in tooling and education by microsoft -- they've often laid the groundwork for market segments that they've gone on to dominate by making development really easy.

plainOldText 7y ago
Indeed, it's not on the near horizon. I found this article illuminating: The Case Against Quantum Computing - https://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/the-case-against-quantum-computing https://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/the-case-agains...
- HanP77 7y ago
  The article is indeed interesting. I find this one addressing it https://www.hpcwire.com/2019/01/09/the-case-against-the-case-against-quantum-computing/ https://www.hpcwire.com/2019/01/09/the-case-against-the-case...
- reikonomusha 7y ago
  Dyakonov‘s opinions have been rebutted by many prominent quantum information scientists and physicists. To put it charitably, his arguments don’t agree with the consensus. Check out [1] as an example criticism of his writing. [1] https://scirate.com/arxiv/1903.10760 https://scirate.com/arxiv/1903.10760
- murat124 7y ago
  > I argue that they can’t. In the physical world, continuous quantities (be they voltages or the parameters defining quantum-mechanical wave functions) can be neither measured nor manipulated exactly. That is, no continuously variable quantity can be made to have an exact value, including zero. To a mathematician, this might sound absurd, but this is the unquestionable reality of the world we live in, as any engineer knows. Wasn't this problem addressed just recently? https://www.unibas.ch/en/News-Events/News/Uni-Research/The-geometry-of-an-electron-determined-for-the-first-time.html https://www.unibas.ch/en/News-Events/News/Uni-Research/The-g...
hannob 7y ago
Practical Quantum Computing is in a quantum state where it's at the same time around 10 years away and never gonna happen. (To be serious: That's roughly true, you'll get credible scientific opinions on both. What's not true is what you occasionally read: That we're almost at a state where quantum computing will be a mass application.)
gaze 7y ago
As a researcher in the field, I think you should think about it because it's fun to think about... but I don't think you "have" to think about it yet.
- revel 7y ago
  Thanks. That's a pretty neat and tidy summary.
HillRat 7y ago
At this point most of the “practical” work seems to be proactive in nature; e.g., financial firms (such as GS) developing quantum solutions that aren’t currently useful, but will be extremely valuable if and when quantum computing can scale up to practical levels. In the meantime, general-purpose quantum languages (hybrid wrappers) are fun and genuinely interesting hobbies, but not much else.

by revel 7y ago

plainOldText 7y ago

Indeed, it's not on the near horizon. I found this article illuminating: The Case Against Quantum Computing - https://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/the-case-against-quantum-computing https://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/the-case-agains...

HanP77 7y ago
The article is indeed interesting. I find this one addressing it https://www.hpcwire.com/2019/01/09/the-case-against-the-case-against-quantum-computing/ https://www.hpcwire.com/2019/01/09/the-case-against-the-case...
reikonomusha 7y ago
Dyakonov‘s opinions have been rebutted by many prominent quantum information scientists and physicists. To put it charitably, his arguments don’t agree with the consensus. Check out [1] as an example criticism of his writing. [1] https://scirate.com/arxiv/1903.10760 https://scirate.com/arxiv/1903.10760
murat124 7y ago
> I argue that they can’t. In the physical world, continuous quantities (be they voltages or the parameters defining quantum-mechanical wave functions) can be neither measured nor manipulated exactly. That is, no continuously variable quantity can be made to have an exact value, including zero. To a mathematician, this might sound absurd, but this is the unquestionable reality of the world we live in, as any engineer knows. Wasn't this problem addressed just recently? https://www.unibas.ch/en/News-Events/News/Uni-Research/The-geometry-of-an-electron-determined-for-the-first-time.html https://www.unibas.ch/en/News-Events/News/Uni-Research/The-g...

hannob 7y ago

Practical Quantum Computing is in a quantum state where it's at the same time around 10 years away and never gonna happen. (To be serious: That's roughly true, you'll get credible scientific opinions on both. What's not true is what you occasionally read: That we're almost at a state where quantum computing will be a mass application.)

gaze 7y ago

As a researcher in the field, I think you should think about it because it's fun to think about... but I don't think you "have" to think about it yet.

revel 7y ago
Thanks. That's a pretty neat and tidy summary.

HillRat 7y ago

At this point most of the “practical” work seems to be proactive in nature; e.g., financial firms (such as GS) developing quantum solutions that aren’t currently useful, but will be extremely valuable if and when quantum computing can scale up to practical levels. In the meantime, general-purpose quantum languages (hybrid wrappers) are fun and genuinely interesting hobbies, but not much else.