It suggests quantum computers can transition from being very advanced number crunchers to systems capable of executing logical mathematical reasoning: starting with an initial set of rules, and taking verifiable steps to an outcome.
"Here we report the experimental realization of automated geometry theorem proving on a fully programmable superconducting quantum processor," write the researchers in their paper.
"As illustrative examples, we prove two theorems on a superconducting quantum processor: the perpendicularity of the diagonals of a square and a 1978 International Mathematical Olympiad geometry problem."
The researchers got their quantum system to do this using a hybrid implementation of a well-known approach called Wu's method.
"These results show that structured mathematical reasoning can be formulated as an executable quantum process rather than merely verified through classical post-processing," write the researchers.