Science & Technology

Google's new quantum computer chip may interact with parallel universes

By T.K. Randall
December 11, 2024 ·  16 comments

Even Google isn't sure exactly how the chip works. Image Credit: SuttleMedia / Pixabay Quantum computing has taken another significant step toward widespread commercial adoption this week with the unveiling of Willow - Google's new state-of-the-art quantum chip which is capable of performing certain calculations at a rate so mind-bogglingly fast that it almost seems impossible.

For example, the new chip was able to perform what Google describes as a "standard benchmark computation" in under five minutes, which might not sound particularly impressive until you discover that performing the same computation on one of the world's fastest conventional supercomputers would take more time to complete than the entire age of the universe.

"Willow performed a standard benchmark computation in under five minutes that would take one of today's fastest supercomputers 10 septillion (that is, 10^25) years - a number that vastly exceeds the age of the universe," Google wrote in a press release.

So how exactly is the new chip able to accomplish something like this ?In truth, nobody is entirely sure, though Google has offered up one possibility.

"It lends credence to the notion that quantum computation occurs in many parallel universes, in line with the idea that we live in a multiverse, a prediction first made by David Deutsch," the search giant wrote.

So could Google have really developed a computer that interacts with parallel universes ?

Until we know more about how quantum computers actually work, it remains a genuine possibility.

Source: IFL Science | Comments (16)

Tags: Quantum, Google