quantum computing is a new computing mode that uses the laws of quantum mechanics to regulate quantum information units to perform calculations. Due to the superposition of quantum information units, quantum computing algorithms are better than traditional algorithms, so they are mostly used in the computer field. The efficiency and calculation speed of quantum computers are faster than traditional computers.
But this superiority of quantum computers was broken by a young man's research results not long ago. He developed a new recommendation algorithm that can run and complete calculations on traditional computers. This algorithm can achieve exponential speedups than previous recommendation algorithms.
And because the new algorithm he developed runs at a speed comparable to quantum algorithms, in the past there could only be calculations that could be done by quantum computers, and now ordinary computers can also do it.
For this reason, some scientific magazines called him a young genius who "killed the great progress in quantum computing." The young man's name is Ewin Tang, a Chinese American, whose Chinese translation is Tang Yiwen. He was only 18 years old when he developed this new algorithm.
The growth path of a young genius
Tang Yiwen was born in 2000. Like many talented geniuses since childhood, Tang Yiwen showed his amazing talents in scientific research when he was very young. Since entering elementary school, Tang Yiwen has continuously skipped grades in school. At the age of 12, his SAT score was as high as 1920. When
was 14, he skipped the high school course and entered the University of Texas at Austin at Arlington, becoming the youngest student in the school. From this time on, he officially came into contact with university mathematics and computer science courses, and learned advanced mathematics knowledge such as differential equations and calculus.
obtained a 4.0GPA in the school final assessment, which means that he got full marks in every subject, becoming the youngest student ever to get full marks in every subject at the University of Texas.
Tang Yiwen's excellence comes from his talent and hard work on the one hand, and on the other hand it is inseparable from his father's careful training of him. Tang Yiwen’s father is Tang Liping, a Chinese-American bioengineering professor, whose research interests are nanotechnology, tissue engineering and stem cells.
Tang Liping attaches great importance to the education of Tang Yiwen. Since childhood, he has cultivated Tang Yiwen's ability to think independently and use his brain, which is very strict with him. Before Tang Yiwen entered the university, Tang Liping would personally teach Tang Yiwen some college knowledge.
After entering the university, Tang Yiwen's life became even busier. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Tang Yiwen went to school to learn professional knowledge. Every Tuesday and Thursday, Tang Yiwen follows his father to work part-time in his biological science laboratory.
Although Tang Yiwen is excellent in his studies, as a father, Tang Liping also has some concerns about the growth of his children. Because Tang Yiwen has skipped grades continuously since he was young, and his classmates are not the same age, he is worried that his children will not be able to integrate well into society without friends and social life.
Therefore, in addition to learning knowledge, Tang Liping also paid attention to all aspects of quality education for children, so that Tang Yiwen learned some musical instruments and Chinese courses. In addition, he often let Tang Yiwen participate in some group activities and outdoor activities, such as playing basketball, football, etc., so that he can have more contact with friends.
Under the careful training and teaching of his father, Tang Yiwen has achieved full growth in all aspects, especially in scientific research. Tang Yiwen has achieved many good results when he was a teenager. While in university, Tang Yiwen successfully published 4 papers on biological materials.
In 2014, Tang Yiwen's research on the real-time detection of infection optical imaging probes made important achievements, so he won the Davidson prize for commending young people under the age of 18 for their important contributions in the fields of science and technology, mathematics, and literature. Since its establishment in 2001, only more than two hundred young people have received this award. The new algorithm of
turned out to be
In 2017, Tang Yiwen took an elective course on quantum information taught by Scott Aaronson. Professor Aaronson is an outstanding expert in the field of quantum information. He admired Tang Yiwen very much, calling him an "extraordinary and talented student".
At the same time, Professor Aaronson is also very optimistic about Tang Yiwen's potential in quantum information, so he provided Tang Yiwen with several extremely difficult research topics and projects for him to choose at will.
In September of that year, Tang Yiwen chose among several difficult questions provided by Professor AaronsonStarted research with a relatively low level of difficulty, that is, this question opened Tang Yiwen's subversive journey on quantum computing. When
first started his research, Tang Yiwen also believed that the running speed of traditional algorithms could not be comparable to that of quantum recommendation systems.
However, with the deepening of the research, this view was slowly overturned in his mind. He believed that there may be a fast traditional algorithm that rejects the recommendation problem. This algorithm can replace the quantum phase estimation in the KP algorithm. He told his teacher Professor Aaronson about this idea, but the professor, as an authoritative expert in the quantum field, did not agree with him at the beginning.
However, Tang Yiwen firmly believed that his point of view was correct, and continued to carry out calculations to prove this point of view. With the help of Professor Aaronson, the two repeated calculations and checks, and finally found an algorithm that is many times faster than the traditional algorithm and can run in power logarithmic time.
In order to verify the correctness of this algorithm, Professor Aaronson took Tang Yiwen to the quantum computing seminar at the University of California, Berkeley.
In this seminar that brought together the world’s top experts in the field of quantum computing, the 18-year-old Tang Yiwen calculated and demonstrated the new algorithm he discovered, pointing out that the quantum algorithm is similar to the algorithm he developed on traditional computers. There is no obvious advantage in speed compared to this, and I have debated with authoritative experts and scholars for two days on this algorithm.
Finally, the participating experts agreed with this algorithm and reached a consensus. After the seminar, Tang Yiwen published a paper titled "A Traditional Algorithm for a Recommendation System Inspired by Quantum Computing" in a scientific journal. Evidence that quantum algorithms can bring exponential acceleration has been overturned.
Summary:
Although Tang Yiwen’s research seems to prove that quantum computing has no advantage over traditional algorithms, it seems that there is no need for it. At that time, the scientific journals also claimed that Tang Yiwen’s research "killed" the great progress of quantum computing.
But in fact, Tang Yiwen's research promoted the development of quantum computing. Because Tang Yiwen’s new algorithm was completed under the inspiration of quantum computing, it proved the inseparable relationship between quantum computing and traditional algorithms. The two algorithms influence and promote each other.
Tang Yiwen, who is still young, has officially entered the Ph.D. stage because of this shocking new discovery. He will definitely make more scientific research results in the field of quantum computing in the future, and the future is promising.
