Breaking Encryption Still “A Distant Hope” for Quantum Computing
Google’s ‘Quantum Supremacy’ Isn’t the End of Encryption
Excerpts and salient points ~
+ Google accidentally made computer science history last week. In recent years the company has been part of an intensifying competition with rivals such as IBM and Intel to develop quantum computers, which promise immense power on some problems by tapping into quantum physics. The search company has attempted to stand out by claiming its prototype quantum processors were close to demonstrating “quantum supremacy,” an evocative phrase referring to an experiment in which a quantum computer outperforms a classical one. One of Google’s lead researchers predicted the company would reach that milestone in 2017.
“The problem their machine solves with astounding speed has been very carefully chosen just for the purpose of demonstrating the quantum computer’s superiority,” Preskill says. It’s unclear how long it will take quantum computers to become commercially useful; breaking encryption—a theorized use for the technology—remains a distant hope. “That’s still many years out,” says Jonathan Dowling, a professor at Louisiana State University.
+ Google carefully chose a problem naturally suited to its quantum hardware and writes in its paper that “technical leaps” are still needed to realize the promise of quantum computing. Dowling and others estimate it would take millions of high-quality qubit devices to threaten encryption, due to the complexity of the algorithms involved.
+ “The problem their machine solves with astounding speed has been very carefully chosen just for the purpose of demonstrating the quantum computer’s superiority,” Preskill says. It’s unclear how long it will take quantum computers to become commercially useful; breaking encryption—a theorized use for the technology—remains a distant hope. “That’s still many years out,” says Jonathan Dowling, a professor at Louisiana State University.
Source: Wired. Conde Nast, Google’s ‘Quantum Supremacy’ Isn’t the End of Encryption…
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