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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Willow Quantum Processor
Why in the News?
Google has unveiled its latest quantum processor, ‘Willow’, which has sparked excitement about the potential of quantum computers to solve practical problems.
About Willow Quantum Processor:
- Google’s team of researchers developed Willow and shared their results in the scientific journal Nature.
- Willow has 105 qubits, which are the basic units of information in quantum computers.
- Some qubits perform the actual calculations (called data qubits).
- Others check for mistakes and fix them (called measurement qubits).
- It operates at an extremely low temperature—almost absolute zero (-273.15°C)—to keep its qubits stable.
- How fast is It? Willow solved a tough problem in just a few minutes. The same task would take the world’s best regular computer 10 septillion years (that’s 1 followed by 24 zeros!).
- Each qubit can stay stable for 100 microseconds (a tiny fraction of a second), which is a big improvement for quantum computers.
Features and Significance
- Smarter Error Handling:
- Quantum computers are extremely sensitive, and even the tiniest disturbance can cause errors.
- Willow uses a system where some qubits (called measurement qubits) are dedicated to spotting and fixing errors without disturbing the main qubits (called data qubits) that are doing the calculations.
- Bigger, Better Performance:
- Willow has 105 qubits: about half for computations and the rest for error correction.
- Most quantum computers become less reliable as more qubits are added. Willow is different—it actually improves its performance as more qubits are included.
- Longer Stability:
- Qubits in Willow remain stable for 100 microseconds—a significant improvement that allows it to perform more complex tasks.
PYQ:[2022] Which one of the following is the context in which the term “qubit” is mentioned? (a) Cloud Services |
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