Google makes quantum computer simulation web app

Google has released the Quantum Computing Playground, software that allows users to simulate working with a quantum computer. It is possible to run quantum scripts or write them yourself.

The Quantum Computing Playground has been classified as an experiment by Google and is available as a WebGL-based app in the Chrome browser. The software uses GPU acceleration and simulates a quantum computer with up to 22 qubits. For novice users without much programming knowledge, Google has put together a demo that shows how scripts can be loaded into the simulated quantum computer and what the output looks like.

Google has added existing scripts for quantum computers to its simulation tool, such as the well-known quantum algorithms from Grover and Shor. In addition, users can write their own scripts, for which a simple idea is available, which includes a debugger. Code must be written in Qscript, which is similar in syntax to Bash. The software also visualizes in 2d or 3d exactly what code is being executed.

It’s not the first time Google has released software for quantum mechanics simulation. Previously, the internet giant released a modpack for Minecraft that simulates quantum mechanical phenomena such as superposition, entanglement of particles and observations whose properties depend on how they are observed.

Google, together with NASA, has opened a research lab on quantum mechanics. The company is interested in quantum computing because of the potential computing power of quantum computers.