▁classical ▁computers . ▁Nam ely , ▁it ▁gives ▁a ▁super pol ynomial ▁speed up ▁under ▁the ▁reasonable ▁assumption ▁that ▁R SA , ▁today ' s ▁most ▁common ▁encryption ▁protocol , ▁is ▁secure . ▁ ▁F actor ing ▁has ▁some ▁benefit ▁over ▁other ▁supre m acy ▁propos als ▁because ▁factor ing ▁can ▁be ▁checked ▁quickly ▁with ▁a ▁classical ▁computer ▁just ▁by ▁multip lying ▁integers , ▁even ▁for ▁large ▁instances ▁where ▁factor ing ▁algorithms ▁are ▁int ract ably ▁slow . ▁However , ▁implementing ▁Sh or ' s ▁algorithm ▁for ▁large ▁numbers ▁is ▁in fe as ible ▁with ▁current ▁technology , ▁so ▁it ▁is ▁not ▁being ▁purs ued ▁as ▁a ▁strategy ▁for ▁demonstr ating ▁supre m acy . ▁ ▁Bos on ▁sampling ▁▁ ▁This ▁computing ▁parad ig m ▁based ▁upon ▁identical ▁phot ons ▁sent ▁through ▁a ▁linear - opt ical ▁network ▁can ▁solve ▁certain ▁sampling ▁and ▁search ▁problems ▁that , ▁assuming ▁a ▁few ▁complexity - the oret ical ▁conject ures ▁( that ▁calculating ▁the ▁permanent ▁of ▁Gaussian ▁matrices ▁is ▁# P - H ard ▁and ▁that ▁the ▁polynomial ▁hierarchy ▁does ▁not ▁collapse ) ▁are ▁int ract able ▁for ▁classical ▁computers . ▁However , ▁it ▁has ▁been ▁shown ▁that ▁bos on ▁sampling ▁in ▁a ▁system ▁with ▁large ▁enough ▁loss ▁and ▁noise ▁can ▁be ▁sim ulated ▁efficiently . ▁ ▁The ▁largest ▁experimental ▁implementation ▁of ▁bos on ▁sampling ▁to ▁date ▁had ▁ 6 ▁modes ▁so ▁could ▁handle ▁up ▁to ▁ 6 ▁phot ons ▁at ▁a ▁time . ▁The ▁best ▁proposed ▁classical ▁algorithm ▁for ▁sim ulating ▁bos on ▁sampling ▁runs