<<A quantum computer just solved a decades-old problem three million times faster than a classical computer>>
Bit of a click-bait :-)
Interesting article nevertheless.
My take-aways:
1) Interesting to see D-Wave and Google working together.
2) The calculation they tackled is a real-world (although deeply rooted in the physics of materials science) rather than an artificially constructed problem - being able to move "out of the Lab" is becoming more and more important.
3) <<These experiments are an important advance in the field ... showing a *scaling* advantage over its chief classical competition>> - which I read as "well, this is not actually better.. but is a strong signal that we are on a promising path.."
D-Wave, however, stayed clear of claiming quantum advantage, which happens when a quantum processor can demonstrate superiority over all possible classical competition... The real significance of the experiment lies in the proof that a computational advantage can already be achieved using existing quantum methods to solve a valuable materials science problem.
unknownx500
