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 a $0$ or a $1$. Here we make the case for a probabilistic computer based on \textit{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 \textit{p-computers} and 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.

中文翻译：

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透视：使用 p 位进行概率计算

数字计算机以 $bits$ 的形式存储信息，可以采用 $0$ 和 $1$ 两个值之一，而量子计算机基于 $qubits$，由复杂波函数描述，其平方幅度给出了测量任一值的概率0 美元或 1 美元。在这里，我们为基于 \textit{p-bits} 的概率计算机提供了案例，它以受控概率取值 $0$ 和 $1$，并且可以使用专门的紧凑型节能硬件来实现。我们为此类 \textit{p-computers} 提出了一种通用架构，并表明它们可以显着加速用于各种应用的随机算法，包括但不限于贝叶斯网络、优化、Ising 模型和量子蒙特卡罗。