solve that problem in two and a half days on that same supercomputer. Criticisms Susceptibility to error Quantum computers are much more susceptible to errors than classical computers due to decoherence and noise. The threshold theorem states that a noisy quantum computer can use quantum error-correcting codes to simulate a noiseless quantum computer, assuming the error introduced in each computer cycle is less than some number. Numerical simulations suggest that that number may be as high as 3%. However, it is not yet definitively known how the resources needed for error correction will scale with the number of qubits. Skeptics point to the unknown behavior of noise in scaled-up quantum systems as a potential roadblock for successfully implementing quantum computing and demonstrating quantum supremacy. Criticism of the name Some researchers have suggested that the term "quantum supremacy" should not be used, arguing that the word "supremacy" evokes distasteful comparisons to the racist belief of white supremacy. A controversial commentary article in the journal Nature signed by thirteen researchers asserts that the alternative phrase "quantum advantage" should be used instead. John Preskill, the professor of theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology who coined the term, has since clarified that the term was proposed to explicitly describe the moment that a quantum computer gains the ability to perform a task that a classical computer never could. He further explained that he specifically rejected the term "quantum advantage" as it did not fully encapsulate the meaning of his new term: the word "advantage" would imply that a computer with quantum supremacy would have a slight edge over a classical computer while the word "supremacy" better conveys complete ascendancy over any classical computer. "Quantum primacy" was coined in February 2021, in a Scientific American opinion piece as a more suitable replacement. Nature's Philip Ball wrote in December 2020 that the term "quantum advantage" has "largely replaced" the term "quantum supremacy". See also Gottesman–Knill theorem List of quantum processors Sycamore processor Jiuzhang (quantum computer) Noisy intermediate-scale quantum era References Quantum computing Computational complexity theory