The Case Against ‘The Case Against Quantum Computing’

(HPCWire) Ben Criger, a post-doctoral researcher at QuTech, part of the TU Delft in the Netherlands, responds in this article to criticisms of quantum computing and offers an explanation for why such criticisms tend to garner a lot of attention. Specifically Criger discusses an article called “The Case Against Quantum Computing,” written by Mikhail Dyakonov, in IEEE Spectrum. Criger points out two erros in Dyakanov’s thinking: 1) The physics-based criticism of quantum computing was wrong, or had been addressed twenty years ago;
2) The article was appealing despite its technical deficiencies.
Criger reviews in-detail two of the main points that Dyakanov makes:
1) Precision in computing: Criger contends this was one of the first big problems that was ever solved in quantum computing.
2) The Threshold Theorem: Criger points out that Dyakonov has loosely suggested that the theorem is false, without a direct statement, or evidence.
Criger closes with this question: “I hope I’ve argued adequately that there’s not a lot of science behind it, so why is it so appealing?” He points out that people who study quantum computing don’t view it as our responsibility to oppose the unjustified hype building up in the popular press. He suggests that quantum computing professionals must elevate the level of good critiques of quantum computing, and. . ” the only chance we have to elevate the level of criticism is to do it ourselves”.