Quantum Computing

Time – Quantum Computers Could Solve Lots of Problems and Create Lots of New Ones

Fasten your seatbelts.

"Inside the shimmering aluminum canister of IBM's System One, which sits shielded by the same kind of protective glass as the Mona Lisa, are three cylinders of diminishing circumference, rather like a set of Russian dolls. Together, these encase a chandelier of looping silver wires that cascade through chunky gold plates to a quantum chip in the base. To work properly, this chip requires super-cooling to 0.015 kelvins – a smidgen above absolute zero and colder than outer space.

Whereas traditional computers rely on binary "bits" – switches either on or off, denoted as 1s and 0s – to process information, the "qubits" that underpin quantum computing are tiny subatomic particles that can exist in some percentage of both states simultaneously, rather like a coin spinning in midair. This leap from dual to multivariate processing exponentially boosts computing power. Complex problems that currently take the most powerful supercomputer several years could potentially be solved in seconds."

"Quantum is also more in tune with nature. Molecules – the building blocks of the universe – are multiple atoms bound together by electrons that exist as part of each. The way these electrons essentially occupy two states at once is what quantum particles replicate, presenting applications for natural and material sciences by predicting how drugs interact with the human body, or substances perform under corrosion. Traditional manufacturing takes calculated guesses to make breakthroughs through trial and error; by mirroring the natural world, quantum computing should allow advances to be purposefully designed."