量子计算能力的展示是一个决定性时刻 2-1


Quantum computers
量子计算机
Supreme achievement
至高成就
A demonstration of quantum computing’s power is a defining moment for a field prone to hype
对于一个容易被炒作的领域，量子计算能力的展示是一个决定性时刻

“NATURE ISN’T classical, dammit, and if you want to make a simulation of nature you’d better make it quantum mechanical, and by golly, it’s a wonderful problem because it doesn’t look easy.” With those words, in 1981, Richard Feynman, an American physicist, introduced the idea that, by harnessing quantum mechanics, it might be possible to build a new kind of computer, capable of tackling problems that would cause a run-of-the-mill machine to choke. Feynman was right: it has not been easy. Over the past four decades quantum computers have slowly evolved from squiggles on theoreticians’ blackboards to small machines in university laboratories to research projects run by some of the world’s biggest companies.
“自然界并不像经典物理学描述的那样，真见鬼。要想模拟自然，最好用量子力学。天哪，这真是一道太精彩的题，因为一看就不容易。”1981年，美国物理学家理查德·费曼（Richard Feynman）在这番话中提出了这样一个想法：借助量子力学，也许能打造出一种新型计算机，解决普通计算机可能无力应对的问题。费曼说得对，这并不容易。过去40年里，量子计算机慢慢从理论学家画在黑板上的潦草曲线发展到大学实验室里的小机器，再演变成世界上一些最大公司的研究项目。
Now one of those machines, built by researchers at Google, has at last shown what all the fuss is about. It appears to have performed, in just over three minutes, a task that, the researchers estimate, the world’s most powerful classical supercomputer would take around 10,000 years to complete. Google’s machine is a special-purpose device that was designed to solve a contrived problem with few practical uses. But this display of so-called “quantum supremacy” is nonetheless a milestone.
现在，由谷歌的研究人员制造的其中一台机器终于让世人得见这件事到底有多了不起。研究人员估计，它在三分多钟的时间里完成的一项任务，若用世界上最强大的经典超级计算机来干大约耗时一万年。谷歌的这台机器是一种专用设备，旨在解决一项人为设计的问题，没有多少实际用途。但这种所谓“量子至尊”的展示仍然具有里程碑意义。

未完待翻译。