On the cusp of quantum supremacy

The first step on a new path to quantum supremacy has been proposed by a mathematician from the University of Bristol. Quantum computers are a new type of computing device that use the principles of quantum mechanics to do things that standard computers cannot do. Large-scale quantum computers are predicted to dramatically outperform current supercomputers for tasks ranging from simulating quantum-mechanical systems to cracking cryptographic codes, and could be used to design new drugs and novel materials. However, building a quantum computer is hard, and nobody has yet developed a large-scale, general-purpose machine. One of the main reasons for this is the effect of errors. Quantum computers are extremely sensitive to noise from the outside world, and achieving the high level of precision required to combat this is a major technological challenge. Nevertheless, experimental progress has been fast in recent years.