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John Preskill names the "NISQ" era of noisy, intermediate-scale quantum computers

Jan 2, 2018

In a paper posted in January 2018, based on a keynote talk the month before, Caltech's John Preskill coins NISQ, for noisy intermediate-scale quantum. It describes machines of 50 to 100 qubits that may beat classical computers at some tasks, but whose errors limit how long a program can run.

Why it matters

It gave a name to the stage between lab demos and error-corrected machines, while warning that the 100-qubit quantum computer "will not change the world right away".

John Preskill · Caltech

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Related

Sources (3)

  • arXiv (John Preskill) Quantum Computing in the NISQ era and beyond
    Primary sourceJan 2, 2018
    “Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) technology will be available in the near future. Quantum computers with 50-100 qubits may be able to perform tasks which surpass the capabilities of today's classical digital computers, but noise in quantum gates will limit the size of quantum circuits that can be executed reliably.”
  • Quantum Quantum Computing in the NISQ era and beyond
    Primary sourceAug 6, 2018
    “NISQ devices will be useful tools for exploring many-body quantum physics, and may have other useful applications, but the 100-qubit quantum computer will not change the world right away - we should regard it as a significant step toward the more powerful quantum technologies of the future.”
  • Quanta Magazine (column by John Preskill) Why I Called It 'Quantum Supremacy'
    Independent coverageOct 2, 2019
    “I thought it would be useful to have a word for the era that is now dawning, so I recently made one up: NISQ. (It rhymes with risk.) This stands for "noisy intermediate-scale quantum."”

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