This month we need to deal with a big concept: quantum supremacy. Not the story of a subatomic particle trained as the CIA’s ultimate assassin but now suffering amnesia and uncovering a conspiracy. No, it’s the idea that a quantum computer might be able to solve some task that a classical computer cannot, or at least couldn’t do within the remaining lifespan of the universe.
Without this, you may ask, what’s the point of spending billions on developing quantum computers? And that’s a good point. The idea that quantum supremacy will one day happen, and that no calculation, no matter how complex, will be beyond us, is behind all the efforts to get one working. Quantum computing hinges on the idea that subatomic particles are weird, and that weirdness can be marshalled to do sums. Theoretically, a correctly configured quantum machine could do sums that ordinary computers would find impossible. Explanations for how it works vary from the idea that a calculation is being run in many parallel universes simultaneously, to the metaphor of ripples in a lake interfering with one another until only one possibility is left – which must be the answer. None of them are a satisfying explanation.
This story is from the March 2020 edition of PC Gamer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 2020 edition of PC Gamer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
BITING BACK
The tooth is out there in adventure TEETH OF GLASS
SMOKE ALARM
THE INVISIBLE SMOKE FACTORY is back in a Flash
MECH ME OVER
Move over Mario, here's mech-based platforming in ARMORED SHELL NIGHTJAR
"I like Pillars of Eternity better than Baldur's Gate III"
PILLARS OF ETERNITY deserves a bigger space in the CRPG pantheon
"A harrowing dark fantasy about hapless, bright-eyed children"
Spelunking into hell with MADE IN ABYSS: BINARY STAR FALLING INTO DARKNESS
THE IMMORTAL LOCK
A massive, meaty game in a single horrific Quake map.
NEW MANOEUVRES
Building a dedicated sim racing space in an average family house
OVERWATCH 2
Save me space girl.
REET GOOD TIME
THANK GOODNESS YOU'RE HERE is a riotous recreation of Yorkshire
THE PLUCKY SQUIRE
How many games let you make friends with a MtG card?