Talk:Quantum Supremacy

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Concerns about the paragraph describing quantum computing[edit]

This edit added this paragraph:

Quantum computers use processes of a quantum nature to calculate, and, therefore, they can easily surpass any transistor supercomputer in power. Their appearance means the arrival of a new era in the science and technologies. And it is not just the power of such computers, but also the ability to solve tasks beyond the capacity of modern conventional computers—even if they had an eternity in reserve. Digital computers operate only with sequences of 0s and 1s, but doing so may be too coarse for many subtle tasks.

First, the paragraph does not have an encyclopedic tone. It's more appropriate for a sensationalist article. I thought it was from the book's own blurb, or maybe written by a machine learning program, but it's by a long-time Wikipedia user.

Second, from my knowledge of (digital) quantum computing, it's factually incorrect:

Quantum computing only adds power for a small subset of computational problems. It doesn't mean that it will add power to most computational problems. Several of the important problems are only important because they were hard (some of one-way functions for cryptography), not because they were useful for the natural sciences.
Classical computers can simulate (digital) quantum computers with "an eternity", by simulating every quantum possibility. The power of quantum computers is that they can solve problems which take impractically long on classical computers, not that they can solve problems that are literally impossible on classical computers.
(Digital) Quantum computing still operates with 0s and 1s underneath. I don't see what coarseness and subtlety can refer to. This phrasing requires an explanation, at least. If it's about analog computing, it should be clarified for the reader.

Raijinili (talk) 21:26, 29 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]