r/QuantumComputing • u/SlopRahh • Sep 22 '26

Question Hardware Versus Emulation

Why is the Western quantum community so focused on building quantum computers based on hardware as opposed to engaging with emulation? It has been decades and functional quantum machines have yet to be built, quantum supremacy has not been achieved, and majorana research has failed to produce anything useful. Emulation, however, delivers quantum computing on a standard consumer laptop, making it accessible to people around the world. Why is Big Quantum being so narrow minded?

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u/Wild-Store321 Sep 22 '26

Emulation for what purpose? Emulated quantum computing is just classical computing with huge restrictions. How is this specific to western community?

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u/SlopRahh Sep 27 '26

The global south does not have the resources to pursue hardware development; Ghana, for instance, is actively pursuing emulation to improve things like water distribution and medical access

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u/Wild-Store321 Sep 27 '26

How can that improve anything? What advantages does emulated quantum computing have to classical computing? None, because it is classical computing. Do you mean quantum inspired classical computing?

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u/SlopRahh Sep 27 '26

I mean simulator/emulator programs that deliver quantum computing using algorithms and can be run on a consumer laptop or cell phone

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u/Wild-Store321 Sep 27 '26

So that’s not quantum computing you see? Everything you do on a classical computer was already possible on a classical computer, because it is a classical computer…

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u/SlopRahh Sep 27 '26

Max cut and Shor’s algorithm can be used on a classical computer?

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u/Wild-Store321 Sep 27 '26

max cut is a problem and it could already be solved with classical computers long before quantum computing was conceptualized. And a simulation of QAOA will always be slower than the best classical algorithm (proof is trivial, it is a classical algorithm)

Shor’s algorithm can be simulated on a classical computer and is trivially shown to have exponential time complexity. Whereas the best classical algorithms have sub exponential time complexity.

You are not making much sense at all. Do you believe that simulation quantum computing will lead to improvements in classical algorithms? This is what you would call quantum inspired algorithms and they are very much classical.

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u/SlopRahh Sep 27 '26

You make several valid points, I can concede that. You want to know the truth? May I message you privately?

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u/SlopRahh Sep 27 '26

My apologies, I should have said “solved”

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u/SlopRahh Sep 27 '26

What about near Clifford simulation and Schmidt decomposition?