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I’m with them. My two problems when reading the original argument: They rigged the benchmark to be something quantum-specific before saying classical compu
by nickpsecurity 7y ago
I’m with them. My two problems when reading the original argument:
They rigged the benchmark to be something quantum-specific before saying classical computers couldn’t do it. I get why. I’d just rather it be something they both could do, classical having great algorithms, and quantum one outperforms it many-fold. An old example was factoring. I’m sure there’s other examples out there. Maybe try to simplify them for low-qubit circuits.
The biggest gripe: basing the argument on what classical computers can’t do. Can’t is an assumption that’s been dis-proven about so many things so many times. Who knows what new algorithms people will come up with down the line doing what we previously couldn’t do. I want an argument that’s instead based on what can and has been done vs the new thing being done. I similarly preferred constructivist logic to classical since the latter was assuming things didn’t exist. Universe surprises me too often for that stance.
Another thing about these is the comparison to supercomputers. Me personally, I don’t care if the quantum computer outperforms supercomputers. I’m looking at practical QC like anything else: does it do the job more cost-effectively than alternative solutions? That cost includes hardware, any leasing/licensing, maintenance, specialists, etc. If it does, then they’ve achieved something for me. If it doesn’t, then QC was an implementation detail for a system that didn’t make the cut.
FPGA’s are already an example of how this might play out. They’re friggin amazing with all kinds of potential. I’d love to have a desktop loaded with them with libraries using them to accelerate my apps. Them being invented and improved wasn’t enough for that, though. The duopoly, esp supported by patents, has kept prices of high-performance FPGA’s way too high.
It would be better if they were priced more like flash memory with the synthesis software being more like mass-market A/V software. We’d see an explosion of use. Instead, the legal system allowed the inventors to keep competition and innovation at low levels to maximize profit. I expect the same with practical QC for at least 20 years. I’ll still be using a mix of NUMA, GPU’s and FPGA’s while early adopters mess around with quantum computers.
- sanxiyn 7y agoYour biggest gripe can't be solved. P vs PSPACE is a great unsolved problem in computer science (almost as big as P vs NP), and since PSPACE can simulate quantum computer, any solution to your gripe immediately leads to resolution of P vs PSPACE.
- nickpsecurity 7y agoThat's disproven or just side-stepped given there's already a solution addressing my biggest gripe: factoring. It's been researched and optimized to death on classical computers. Quantum should get a massive speedup. Such a demo of quantum supremacy would be quite convincing even if not 100% proven. The QC's aren't big enough for that yet. Surely there are other problems ultra-optimized for classical computers, lots of effort at improving them, and might still have a QC algorithm that beats it by QS-supporting speed-up. Something that fits in these smaller machines. Again, the claim that QC did what CC "likely couldn't" would be validated by the effort CC researchers put into doing it without same results. I doubt their setup had nearly as many person years of R&D thrown at solving it as factoring, sorting, strings, BLAS, certain assembly routines, optimization techniques, etc. There's probably something in those with an effective alternative that's QC-able.