D-Wave advantage2 annealing quantum computer. /Screenshot of D-Wave X
D-Wave, a quantum computing company, announced on Wednesday that its annealing quantum computer can outperform one of the world's top classical supercomputers in solving a complex magnetic materials simulation problem.
D-Wave's CEO Alan Baratz is introducing its quantum computer. /Screenshot of D-Wave X
"D-Wave quantum computer has solved an important, real-world problem remarkably better, faster and with greater energy efficiency than possible with a classical computer. It's the first demonstration of computational supremacy on a useful problem, the problem was in the area of material simulation," said Alan Baratz, the president and chief executive of D-Wave.
Sampling post-quench states in Ising spin glasses. /Science
The company published a paper in the journal Science, titled "Beyond-classical computation in quantum simulation," which outlines how quantum annealers can solve practical problems beyond the reach of classical computation.
"D-Wave's quantum computer performed the most complex simulation in minutes and with a level of accuracy that would take nearly one million years using the supercomputer," said the company on its website.
However, some research groups have challenged D-Wave's claims, arguing that even an ordinary laptop can perform similar calculations, as reported by New Scientist.
Alan Baratz's response to skepticism. /Screenshot of Alan Baratz's X
In response to the skepticism, Alan Baratz countered that other physicists' papers published this week "do not come close to achieving what we accomplished on the D-Wave Advantage2 quantum computer, and their claims are confusing the public."