2021/08/22 by Jan Kaiser, J.H. Kaiser, Supriyo Datta · 1 voice · 3 citations
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Error Correcting Code Techniques #Quantum Computing Algorithms and Architecture #Stochastic Gradient Optimization Techniques #cond-mat.dis-nn #cs.ET #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1063/5.0067927
arxiv published 2021/08/22 · openalex publication_date 2021/10/11 · arxiv updated 2021/10/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Digital computers store information in the form of bits that can take on one of two values 0 and 1, while quantum computers are based on qubits that are described by a complex wavefunction, whose squared magnitude gives the probability of measuring either 0 or 1. Here, we make the case for a probabilistic computer based on p-bits, which take on values 0 and 1 with controlled probabilities and can be implemented with specialized compact energy-efficient hardware. We propose a generic architecture for such p-computers and emulate systems with thousands of p-bits to show that they can significantly accelerate randomized algorithms used in a wide variety of applications including but not limited to Bayesian networks, optimization, Ising models, and quantum Monte Carlo.