The progress was actually made known already in September when NASA, probably by mistake, happened to publish an article. Now Google has officially gone out and confirmed that it has for the first time displayed so-called "quantum supremacy" or "quantum superiority" in Swedish. This means that a quantum computer proved far superior to a regular supercomputer - in this case, by doing a three-minute calculation that had taken the supercomputer 10,000 years to perform.

The calculation itself is unusable

However, the calculation itself was completely useless and merely a way of testing capacity, according to Göran Johansson, professor of applied quantum physics at Chalmers.

- It was meaningless, but the enterprise itself is a big step forward.

He says that a strong driving force behind the development of quantum computers is to be able to break the codes that are on the internet.

- But it is something that is far ahead in time. Now the question is when we will have a quantum computer that can really figure out something we need, which a normal computer cannot. When that happens, it's hard to tell, he says.

Will not replace classic computers

At present, the challenge is to continue expanding quantum hardware and locating areas where the technology comes into its own. On the ten-year research project on quantum computers that is ongoing at Chalmers and KTH for two years, research is being conducted, among other things, on the potential of quantum computers to make advanced calculations of molecules' composition, which would be used in drug production.

The purpose of quantum computers is not to replace the classic computers, says Göran Johansson.

- The quantum computer will solve some specific problems, but probably won't be in each man's home.

On the other hand, it is also possible for private individuals to use the technology in the form of a cloud service, to perform different kinds of calculations.

Criticism of Google

The actual execution of Google's test has been criticized by, among others, IBM, which also invests heavily on quantum computers. They believe that the supercomputer used as a comparison would not have needed more than three days if optimized properly. However, IBM has not been able to prove that their claim is correct.

According to Göran Johansson, this is all about a big breakthrough.

"The important thing is not if this shows quantum superiority, but that it is a major advance in the field," he says.