Indian lab claims Quantum advantage on IBM’s 120-qubit processor
New Delhi: Scientists from BITS, working with IBM Quantum, have designed a quantum algorithm that shows advantage over classical computers.
The team simulated the behaviour of subatomic particles on 120 qubits of an IBM processor. It is the first time for an Indian lab that such a result has been marked ‘active’ by the Quantum Advantage Tracker, indicating it continues to demonstrate quantum advantage.
The finding underscores a key strength of quantum computers. While they struggle with simple tasks, they excel at modeling complex quantum systems.
“If you try to add two numbers, a classical calculator does it easily, whereas doing it on a quantum computer is incredibly difficult,” said Indrakshi Raychowdhury. “But simulating a highly complex, interacting quantum system (where particles mutually influence each other) is relatively easy for a quantum computer. That is highly counterintuitive, but it is where quantum advantage lies.”
The work suggests quantum processors may be most useful not for everyday arithmetic, but for problems involving many interacting particles that are hard for classical machines to model.
