Wikinventia — Atlas of discoveries and inventions · Global Age

Quantum simulation — Richard Feynman

1981 AD · Transmission: Global
ComputingPhysicsTheoryNorth American

In May 1981, at MIT's First Conference on Physics and Computation, Richard Feynman delivers "Simulating Physics with Computers" (published 1982): simulating a quantum system on a classical computer requires exponential resources, so only a computer operating by quantum-mechanical laws can efficiently simulate quantum systems. Feynman proposes no concrete design or algorithm — that comes with Deutsch (1985) and Shor (1994) — but establishes the foundational rationale for quantum computing as a field.

InstitutionMIT / Caltech
Historical regionUSA
Primary sourceFeynman, R.P. — "Simulating Physics with Computers" (1982). DOI: 10.1007/BF02650179
Secondary sourcePreskill, J. — "Quantum Computing in the NISQ era and beyond" (2018)
Original languageEnglish
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