The argument against quantum computers

Gil Kalai

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-34316-3_18

The argument against quantum computers

Gil Kalai

Einstein Institute of Mathematics

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

We give a computational complexity argument against the feasibility of quantum computers. We identify a very low complexity class of probability distributions described by noisy intermediate-scale quantum computers, and explain why it will allow neither good-quality quantum error-correction nor a demonstration of “quantum supremacy.” Some general principles governing the behavior of noisy quantum systems are derived. Our work supports the “physical Church thesis” studied by Pitowsky (lyuun Jerus Philos Q 39:81–99, 1990) and follows his vision of using abstract ideas about computation to study the performance of actual physical computers.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Quantum, probability, logic---the work and influence of Itamar Pitowsky
Publisher	Springer
Pages	399-422
Number of pages	24
ISBN (Print)	978-3-030-34315-6; 978-3-030-34316-3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34316-3_18
State	Published - 2020

Publication series

Name	Jerusalem Studies in Philosophy and History of Science
Publisher	Springer
ISSN (Print)	2524-4248
ISSN (Electronic)	2524-4256

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.

Keywords

Noise sensitivity and stability
Physical Church-Turing thesis
Quantum computation
Quantum error-correction

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10.1007/978-3-030-34316-3_18

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34316-3_18

Cite this

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The argument against quantum computers

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