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and we certainly do not refer to these as quantum devices.
Founded in 1999, D-Wave Systems is the world’s first quantum computing company. Our mission is to
integrate new discoveries in physics, engineering, manufacturing, and computer science into breakthrough
approaches to computation to help solve some of the world’s most challenging computing problems.
Quantum Computing
To speed computation, quantum computers tap directly into an unimaginably vast
fabric of reality – the strange and counter-intuitive world of quantum mechanics.
We found the quantum
Greggers and Bedlam are spot-on about this not even being a real quantum computer, so the "D-Wave Quantum Computer" did not "Change My View of Reality Forever", but if you don't know much about computers or quantum phycsics I guess nobody should fault you for falling for the hype of the CEO, but some due diligence might have led you to the article greggers posted, which sets the record straight, so I hope you read that and wouldn't use the same thread title if making a thread on this topic today.
However, the question kept nagging me in the back on my mind "why" D-Wave markets what it calls a quantum computer if it is not for real. To get to the bottom of it, I asked Jeremy Hilton, vice president of processor development of D-Wave Systems, Inc. (Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada) about why critics keep saying its quantum computer is not for real. He also revealed details about D-Wave's next generation quantum computer.
"The Holy Grail of quantum computing to build a 'universal' quantum computer—one that can solve any computational problem—but at a vastly higher speed that today's computers," Hilton told EE Times. "That's the reason some people say we don't have a 'real' quantum computer—because D-Wave's is not a 'universal' computer."
D-Wave's quantum computer, rather, only solves optimization problems, that is ones that can be expressed in a linear equation with lots of variables each with its own weight (the number that is multiplied times each variable). Normally, such linear equations are very difficult to solve for a conventional 'universal' computer, taking lots of iterations to find the optimal set of values for the variables. However, with D-Wave's application-specific quantum computer, such problems can be solved in a single cycle.
"We believe that starting with an application-specific quantum processor is the right way to go—as a stepping stone to the Holy Grail—a universal quantum computer," Hilton told us. "And that's what D-Wave does—we just to optimization problems using qubits."
originally posted by: SeaWorthy
There seems to be a lot of jealousy involved in the science discussions.
Is D-Wave a Quantum Computer?
originally posted by: SeaWorthy
There seems to be a lot of jealousy involved in the science discussions.
originally posted by: imjack
a reply to: Greggers
phenomenal leap aside, quantum progress has been slow. Forwardly, a Quantum Computer is a systematic set of variable functions, ie: binary is 101011011, whereas something quantum can have a value of 2, or 1 and 0 simultaneously- what I find interesting is how they scrape to a halt inspecting something that is essentially trinary functions, without putting much more thought into how expanding the variable set is what gives it much more potential to hold information in the first place. ie: a system with 6 systematic variable sets of information or something.
Using a laser and mirror set, they've created quantum computers that do have the capacity to process things in those scopes, but everyone only focuses on the third function because "it's so much cooler than 2".
originally posted by: Bedlam
originally posted by: SeaWorthy
There seems to be a lot of jealousy involved in the science discussions.
Is D-Wave a Quantum Computer?
It's an annealer. You can use simulated/quantum annealing on a number of various (and seemingly unrelated) problems, but if it won't run Shor's, it ain't quantum.
The sorts of things it would be suited for...
With less math...
D-Wave’s flagship product, the 1000-qubit D-Wave 2X quantum computer, is the most advanced quantum computer in the world. It is based on a novel type of superconducting processor that uses quantum mechanics to massively accelerate computation
originally posted by: SeaWorthy
a reply to: Greggers
Unfortunately, the hardware has been analyzed and it's not a quantum computer.
That is not what I get from all of the articles.
originally posted by: SeaWorthy
originally posted by: Bedlam
originally posted by: SeaWorthy
There seems to be a lot of jealousy involved in the science discussions.
Is D-Wave a Quantum Computer?
It's an annealer. You can use simulated/quantum annealing on a number of various (and seemingly unrelated) problems, but if it won't run Shor's, it ain't quantum.
The sorts of things it would be suited for...
With less math...
Then why are they allowed to sell it as such?
D-Wave’s flagship product, the 1000-qubit D-Wave 2X quantum computer, is the most advanced quantum computer in the world. It is based on a novel type of superconducting processor that uses quantum mechanics to massively accelerate computation
originally posted by: SeaWorthy
Then why are they allowed to sell it as such?
D-Wave’s flagship product, the 1000-qubit D-Wave 2X quantum computer, is the most advanced quantum computer in the world. It is based on a novel type of superconducting processor that uses quantum mechanics to massively accelerate computation
originally posted by: SeaWorthy
Then why are they allowed to sell it as such?
Even if someone tried to sue them, nothing would come of it because "puffery" is a perfectly legal method of making false claims, and they probably have lawyers reviewing their advertising claims to ensure the hyperbole doesn't exceed puffery.
originally posted by: Greggers
They are allowed to sell it as such because no one has sued them. And furthermore, it is highly unlikely anyone would sue them, as their chipset is very good at the task for which it was designed.
And yes, they do sell it as an annealer. That is the type of computation they sell it for.
Nobody can prove there aren't quantum effects being utilized in D-wave's computer, so that's why a lawsuit would fail. A more specific claim which is directly falsifiable would be required for false advertising lawsuit to succeed, like reporting twice the instructions per second the machine actually performed for example.
Advertisers try to persuade people to buy a product or service through various methods. A company may deliver an entertaining message about its product, compare the product to a similar item, list facts about the product, or make vague claims about the product which cannot be proved or disproved. This last method is known as "puffery" — the advertiser "puffs up" the product to seem like more than it is. Puffery is not illegal and is a common method used in advertising.
Proof and Puffery
The claims made by puffery may be false, but they are not really lies because no one can disprove them. No one can prove them either. A company may claim that its hamburger is the best hamburger in the world. No one can prove the hamburger is really the best, but no one can prove it is not.
originally posted by: Arbitrageur
originally posted by: SeaWorthy
Then why are they allowed to sell it as such?
Even if someone tried to sue them, nothing would come of it because "puffery" is a perfectly legal method of making false claims, and they probably have lawyers reviewing their advertising claims to ensure the hyperbole doesn't exceed puffery.
originally posted by: Greggers
They are allowed to sell it as such because no one has sued them. And furthermore, it is highly unlikely anyone would sue them, as their chipset is very good at the task for which it was designed.
And yes, they do sell it as an annealer. That is the type of computation they sell it for.
Nobody can prove there aren't quantum effects being utilized in D-wave's computer, so that's why a lawsuit would fail. A more specific claim which is directly falsifiable would be required for false advertising lawsuit to succeed, like reporting twice the instructions per second the machine actually performed for example.
Advertisers try to persuade people to buy a product or service through various methods. A company may deliver an entertaining message about its product, compare the product to a similar item, list facts about the product, or make vague claims about the product which cannot be proved or disproved. This last method is known as "puffery" — the advertiser "puffs up" the product to seem like more than it is. Puffery is not illegal and is a common method used in advertising.
Proof and Puffery
The claims made by puffery may be false, but they are not really lies because no one can disprove them. No one can prove them either. A company may claim that its hamburger is the best hamburger in the world. No one can prove the hamburger is really the best, but no one can prove it is not.
Not only that, but customers paying 15-20 million dollars for a product tend to do some due diligence to know what they are getting, so they would likely see past the hype in the due diligence, know what they are getting and tend not to sue for that reason as greggers suggested.
By Jacob Aron
SOMEWHERE in California, Google is building a device that will usher in a new era for computing. It’s a quantum computer, the largest ever made, designed to prove once and for all that machines exploiting exotic physics can outperform the world’s top supercomputers.
And New Scientist has learned it could be ready sooner than anyone expected – perhaps even by the end of next year.
The quantum computing revolution has been a long time coming. In the 1980s, theorists realised that a computer based on quantum mechanics had the potential to vastly outperform ordinary, or classical, computers at certain tasks. But building one was another matter. Only recently has a quantum computer that can beat a classical one gone from a lab curiosity to something that could actually happen. Google wants to create the first.
The firm’s plans are secretive, and Google declined to comment for this article. But researchers contacted by New Scientist all believe it is on the cusp of a breakthrough, following presentations at conferences and private meetings.