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References: A History of Quantum Computing Promises

  1. Timeline of quantum computing and communication - Wikipedia - Comprehensive chronological listing of milestones from Feynman's 1981 proposal through modern hardware demonstrations, providing the factual backbone for this chapter's historical analysis.

  2. D-Wave Systems - Wikipedia - Covers D-Wave's founding, quantum annealing approach, controversial commercial claims, and sales to Lockheed Martin and Google, all key events analyzed in this chapter's D-Wave era section.

  3. Quantum supremacy - Wikipedia - Documents Google's 2019 Sycamore experiment, IBM's rebuttal, and subsequent classical challenges, directly relevant to this chapter's analysis of the supremacy claim and its media impact.

  4. Quantum Computing: Progress and Prospects (2019) - National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine - National Academies Press - Consensus report documenting quantum computing's state of development, resource requirements, and realistic timelines, providing authoritative context for this chapter's timeline analysis.

  5. The Quantum Labyrinth: How Richard Feynman and John Wheeler Revolutionized Time and Reality (2017) - Paul Halpern - Basic Books - Chronicles Feynman's intellectual contributions including his 1981 quantum simulation proposal, the founding moment of the field that this chapter uses as its starting point.

  6. Quantum Supremacy Using a Programmable Superconducting Processor - Arute et al., Nature (2019) - The original Google Sycamore supremacy paper claiming 200-second computation versus 10,000 classical years, a pivotal event analyzed extensively in this chapter.

  7. Leveraging Secondary School Algebra to Simulate Sycamore Circuits - Pan and Zhang, arXiv (2021) - Demonstrates classical simulation techniques that undercut Google's supremacy claims, supporting this chapter's argument about the erosion of quantum supremacy milestones.

  8. IBM's Development of Superconducting Quantum Computers: 2023 Update - IBM Research - Documents IBM's evolving quantum roadmap and the shift from "advantage" to "utility" language, a key example of the goalpost-moving pattern analyzed in this chapter.

  9. Simulating the Sycamore Quantum Supremacy Circuits - Liu et al., arXiv (2023) - Reports classical GPU-based simulation matching Google's Sycamore results, demonstrating how classical advances continually erode quantum supremacy claims as this chapter documents.

  10. The Quantum Computing Bubble - Sankar Das Sarma, arXiv (2024) - A prominent physicist's assessment of the gap between quantum computing investment and demonstrated results, providing expert validation of this chapter's analysis of zero commercial ROI after four decades of promises.