Photo shows the quantum processor “Zuchongzhi 2.1.” (Photo from the official website of the
University of Science and Technology of China)
Research teams from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) recently made
marked progress in superconducting quantum computing and photonics quantum computing
technology, developing a programmable superconducting quantum computing system named
“Zuchongzhi 2.1” and a quantum computer prototype named “Jiuzhang 2.0.”
This made China the only country in the world today to have achieved quantum computational
advantage in two mainstream technical routes.
The “Zuchongzhi 2.1,” a 66-qubit programmable superconducting quantum computing system,
was developed by a USTC research team led by Pan Jianwei, Zhu Xiaobo and Peng Chengzhi and
the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It can perform
large-scale random quantum circuits sampling about 10 million times faster than the fastest
existing supercomputer.
The “Jiuzhang 2.0” can produce up to 113 photon detection events out of a 144-mode photonic
circuit. It was developed by a USTC research team led by Pan Jianwei, Lu Chaoyang and Liu
Naile, as well as the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the National Research Centre of Parallel Computer
Engineering & Technology. It is able to implement large-scale GBS septillion times faster than the
world’s fastest supercomputer, marking a major step of China’s development of quantum
computers.
Supercomputers are normally the type of computers with the strongest computing capabilities,
fastest computing speed and largest storage. In 1981, Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman came
up with the idea to invent a new type of computer based on quantum technology. Quantum
computing is considered a key technology for the next generation of information revolution.
Physical implementation of large-scale quantum computers is one of the major challenges for the
world’s frontier technologies. Therefore, the international academic world is taking a three-step
strategy for the physical implementation, and the first step is called quantum computational
advantage.
At present, random circuit sampling based on superconducting qubits and GBS are two important
solutions to demonstrate the quantum computational advantage, and the latest achievements are
respectively the Zuchongzhi 2.1 and Jiuzhang 2.0.
The two supercomputers are each as large as a room, said Lu Chaoyang, professor with the USTC,
adding that the two differ in medium. “Superconducting quantum computing relies on
superconducting materials, and photonics quantum computing on photons,” he explained.
The successful demonstration of the quantum computational advantage marked the start of the
second step of quantum computing studies.
“At present, we’re still at a very initial stage of quantum computing, and it’s too early to predict the
prospects of the technology’s future application. But it can at least improve our computing
capabilities and helps scientific research in a number of fields, such as drug design, molecular
simulation and code breaking,” Lu said.
