Google’s Quantum AI Team has introduced the world’s first quantum algorithm proven to have real-world applications beyond the reach of even the most powerful classical supercomputers.
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| Google CEO Sundar Pichai beside the company's quantum computer |
The new algorithm — called the Out-of-Order Time Correlator (OTOC) or Quantum Echoes algorithm — marks the first verifiable instance of quantum advantage demonstrated through a practical use case.
The development was announced by Google on October 22 and simultaneously published in the prestigious journal Nature.
According to Google Quantum AI founder and lead Hartmut Neven, the Quantum Echoes algorithm stands out because of three key characteristics: speed, verifiability, and practical utility.
“This algorithm is a breakthrough because it combines several features,” Neven said. “Its raw run time, verifiable nature, and potential practical applications make it a milestone in the quantum era.”
Running on Google’s Willow Quantum Chip, the algorithm performed 13,000 times faster than the best available classical algorithm executed on one of the world’s fastest supercomputers.
Tasks that would take years on classical systems can now be completed in just a few hours on Willow.
The algorithm earns its “echo” moniker from the way it processes quantum information. A signal is sent through qubits in the Willow chip to perturb one, and the same operation is then run backward to measure the resulting “echo.”
This echo is amplified through constructive interference — a quantum phenomenon where overlapping waves strengthen each other — making the algorithm sensitive enough to detect patterns and relationships previously impossible to observe.
Beyond theoretical modeling, Google’s team successfully tested the algorithm through a proof-of-principle experiment: using quantum computation to determine molecular geometry via many-body nuclear spin echoes.
The experiment, conducted with experts from UC Berkeley’s Pines Magnetic Resonance Center, Dartmouth, QSimulate, and Google DeepMind, validated the Quantum Echoes algorithm as a “molecular ruler” for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.
“Just as the telescope and the microscope opened up unseen worlds, this Quantum Echoes algorithm is a kind of Quantum Scope,” said Charina Chou, director and COO of Google Quantum AI. “It allows us to learn and reveal previously unknown molecular structures.”
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| Google’s latest quantum computer chip is named Willow |
The implications of this discovery extend across industries. The algorithm could revolutionize drug discovery, materials science, and energy research by enabling scientists to compute molecular structures with unprecedented precision.
Tatyana Polenova, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Magnetic Resonance and vice president of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance, described the results as “revolutionary.”
“The ability to significantly extend the information content of NMR experiments through quantum computing is a groundbreaking development,” she said.
Following the successful debut of the Quantum Echoes algorithm and the 2024 release of the Willow chip, Google’s Quantum AI team is accelerating toward Milestone 3 on its hardware roadmap: the creation of a long-lived logical qubit capable of performing one million computational steps with fewer than one error.
With optimism running high, Google researchers believe that real-world quantum applications could emerge within the next five years — ushering in a new era of computation where quantum systems finally achieve their long-promised potential.
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