back to article D-Wave to bust 1,000-qubit barrier with new quantum compute device

D-Wave is planning a big expansion into quantum computing hardware and their software, helped in part by $30m in extra funding from venture capitalists. Vern Brownell, CEO of D-Wave, told The Register that his firm will use the bulk of the cash injection to expand out its software side to make it easier for customers to use …

  1. Tom 64

    If it looks like a charlatan...

    and quacks like a charlatan...

    1. Charles Manning

      Re: If it looks like a charlatan...

      it's probably a spider in drag.

  2. Martin Budden Silver badge

    I can't tell if D-Wave are certain to succeed or certain to fail or something in-between.

    1. GraemeMRoss
      Headmaster

      No , no, no,

      You've missed the point, it's a quantum device so it will fall into the states of success and failure at the same time plus probably all other possible states

  3. Charles 9

    Has anyone verified that these things actually ARE quantum computers by, say, running Shor's Algorithm on them in sufficiently-high bit counts?

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

      No.

      1) This is why there is Endless Discussion (tm)

      2) These machines are not "the" general purpose quantum computer where you set the hamiltonian and let the analog system run for a time; they do "quantum annealing" which is a more restricted approach (gradient descent optimization like)

      1. Charles 9

        As I thought. Which means, as far as I'm concerned, they're NOT true quantum computers.

  4. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

    After the Gruppenpest, invasion of the Monoidal Categories!

    Another by Bob Coecke to reference, El Reg: Quantum Picturalism

    The quantum mechanical formalism doesn't support our intuition, nor does it elucidate the key concepts that govern the behaviour of the entities that are subject to the laws of quantum physics. The arrays of complex numbers are kin to the arrays of 0s and 1s of the early days of computer programming practice. In this review we present steps towards a diagrammatic `high-level' alternative for the Hilbert space formalism, one which appeals to our intuition. ... The underlying mathematical foundation of this high-level diagrammatic formalism relies on so-called monoidal categories, a product of a fairly recent development in mathematics. These monoidal categories do not only provide a natural foundation for physical theories, but also for proof theory, logic, programming languages, biology, cooking, ... The challenge is to discover the necessary additional pieces of structure that allow us to predict genuine quantum phenomena.

    1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      WTF?

      Re: After the Gruppenpest, invasion of the Monoidal Categories!

      Icon says it all I think

  5. Anomalous Cowshed

    Introducing the new homeopathy computer

    A computer produced by immersing a top of the range processor in hydrogen fluoride acid for a year, then diluting the outcome 100 times, until there is no more evidence of the presence of a single molecule of silicon in the mix, then adding sugar and smacking the resulting mixture in the bowl three times very hard to make it "superconducting" and "clever".

    This computer can solve any problem.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Already been patented

    Google "electrostatic superconductor separation" ...

    Seems that this allows materials composed of only a small amount of SC material to be separated from the non superconductive bulk using an electrostatic field in liquid nitrogen.

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