Quantum Computer Kicks PC A?? in First Ever Head-to-Head Test

Posted by admin on May 10, 2013 in Computers, Technology |
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http://gizmodo.com/quantum-computer-kicks-pc-ass-in-first-ever-head-to-hea-499681531

 

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Scientists often claim that quantum computers will blow the competition away in the coming years—and now the world’s first head-to-head test has shown they leave regular PCs reeling in their wake.

Quantum computer use the idea of quantum bits, called qubits, that can theoretically take the value of 0 and 1 at the same time—unlike normal digital computers that can only take one state. It’s that blurring of 0s and 1s that gives rise to the claims of speed.

McGeoch gave each system roughly half a second to find the best solution to a version of the optimisation problem, and repeated the trial with 100 different versions. She then did the experiment for problems involving even more variables and a more complicated equation.

The D-Wave computer found the best solution every time within half a second. The three regular algorithms struggled to keep up for problems with more than 100 or so variables. The best of the three, CPLEX, had to run for half an hour to match D-Wave’s performance on the largest problems.

That’s 3,600 times longer—quite some difference.

[New Scientist]

Image by D-Wave

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