In this Article I want to look at Quantum computing what it is and how we actually use it.
Quantum Computers Explained – Limits of Human Technology. Since the 1960's, the power of our brain machines has kept growing exponentially, allowing computers to get smaller and more powerful at the same time. But this process is about to meet its physical limits. Computer parts are approaching the size of an atom. To understand why this is a problem, we have to clear up some basics.
Before Quantum Computing:
A computer is made up of very simple components doing very simple things. Representing data, the means of processing it, and control mechanisms. Computer chips contain modules, which contain logic gates, which contain transistors. A transistor is the simplest form of a data processor in computers, basically a switch that can either block, or open the way for information coming through.
This information is made up of bits which can be set to either 0 or 1. Combinations of several bits are used to represent more complex information. Transistors are combined to create logic gates which still do very simple stuff.
For example, an AND Gate sends an output of 1 if all of its inputs are 1, and a output of 0 otherwise. Combinations of logic gates finally form meaningful modules, say, for adding two numbers. Once you can add, you can also multiply, and once you can multiply, you can basically do anything. Since all basic operations are literally simpler than first grade math, you can imagine a computer as a group of 7-year-olds answering really basic math questions.
A computer is made up of very simple components doing very simple things. Representing data, the means of processing it, and control mechanisms. Computer chips contain modules, which contain logic gates, which contain transistors. A transistor is the simplest form of a data processor in computers, basically a switch that can either block, or open the way for information coming through.
This information is made up of bits which can be set to either 0 or 1. Combinations of several bits are used to represent more complex information. Transistors are combined to create logic gates which still do very simple stuff.
For example, an AND Gate sends an output of 1 if all of its inputs are 1, and a output of 0 otherwise. Combinations of logic gates finally form meaningful modules, say, for adding two numbers. Once you can add, you can also multiply, and once you can multiply, you can basically do anything. Since all basic operations are literally simpler than first grade math, you can imagine a computer as a group of 7-year-olds answering really basic math questions.
What is Quantum Computing:
Quantum computing promises to completely transform computing as we know it. And computing has already been an exponential growth growth curve in terms of its power. So if you think about the smartphones we have in our pockets today, 50 years ago the same computing power an entire room full of super computers.So what we've seen is that everything has gone smaller and smaller. However at the basic of modern computers is basically just a calculator that processes things in sequence and it basically calculates whether this is the answer isone or zero and we talk about this as bits.These have come smaller and smaller and smaller so nowadays. A switching unit or memory unit that helps you to compute one of these bits is the size of an atom what is interesting is when we get to quantum computing we go to the sub-atomic level which completely transforms the way computers operate. At this stage things particles operate in a very peculiar way.So in a computer you can either have a one or zero but in a bit in quantum computers we talk about quantum bits or qubits basically.
We are approaching a real physical barrier for our technological progress. At a subatomic level the particles can stay in multiple locations or in multiple states at the same time and this basically gives us computing power that could be over a million times faster than even the fastest super computers today. At the same time it won't just simply take over what we know as computers today. They will carry on being faster and will use them for lots of everyday things.
We are approaching a real physical barrier for our technological progress. At a subatomic level the particles can stay in multiple locations or in multiple states at the same time and this basically gives us computing power that could be over a million times faster than even the fastest super computers today. At the same time it won't just simply take over what we know as computers today. They will carry on being faster and will use them for lots of everyday things.
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Computer and Quantum Computer:
In normal computers, bits are the smallest unit of information. Quantum computers use qubits which can also be set to one of two values. A qubit can be any two level quantum system,such as a spin and a magnetic field, or a single photon. 0 and 1 are this system's possible states, like the photons horizontal or vertical polarization.
In the quantum world, the qubit doesn't have to be just one of those, it can be in any proportions of both states at once. This is called superposition.
But as soon as you test its value, say, by sending the photon through a filter, it has to decide to be either vertically or horizontally polarized. So as long as it's unobserved, the qubit is in a superposition of probabilities for 0 and 1, and you can't predict which it'll be.
In normal computers, bits are the smallest unit of information. Quantum computers use qubits which can also be set to one of two values. A qubit can be any two level quantum system,
such as a spin and a magnetic field, or a single photon. 0 and 1 are this system's possible states, like the photons horizontal or vertical polarization.
In the quantum world, the qubit doesn't have to be just one of those, it can be in any proportions of both states at once. This is called superposition.
But as soon as you test its value, say, by sending the photon through a filter, it has to decide to be either vertically or horizontally polarized. So as long as it's unobserved, the qubit is in a superposition of probabilities for 0 and 1, and you can't predict which it'll be.
Quantum Computer and Complex Tasks:
However what quantum computers can do is they can address some of the really complex computing tasks that modern computers can't cope with so. For example modern computers can't really do accurate weather predictions we have the most advanced computers in our weather centers but there's so many variables that change so quickly that sequential computing makes this really difficult. A quantum computer could do this and address this it could solve really complex problems like predicting traffic in our mega cities forecast our weathers or it could help us with crypto crop cryptography as well. So keeping our things safe our data safe at the moment we have really complex algorithms that protect our data. Quantum computers could break those algorithms all the algorithms we have today because it can so quickly process complex algorithms.
Uses of Quantum Computing:
So a quantum computer sets up some qubits, applies quantum gates to entangle them and manipulate probabilities, then finally measures the outcome, collapsing superpositions to an actual sequence of 0s and 1s.
What this means is that you get the entire lot of calculations that are possible with your setup, all done at the same time. Ultimately, you can only measure one of the results and it'll only probably be the one you want, so you may have to double check and try again. But by cleverly exploiting superposition and entanglement, this can be exponentially more efficient than would ever be possible on a normal computer.
So, while quantum computers will not probably not replace our home computers, in some areas, they are vastly superior. One of them is database searching. To find something in a database, a normal computer may have to test every single one of its entries. Quantum computers algorithms need only the square root of that time, which for large databases is a huge difference.
The most famous use of quantum computers is ruining IT security. Right now, your browsing, email, and banking data is being kept secure by an encryption system in which you give everyone a public key to encode messages only you can decode.
The problem is that this public key can actually be used to calculate your secret private key. Luckily, doing the necessary math on any normal computer would literally take years of trial and error. But a quantum computer with exponential speed-up could do it in a breeze.
Another really exciting new use is simulations. Simulations of the quantum world are very intense on resources, and even for bigger structures, such as molecules, they often lack accuracy. So why not simulate quantum physics with actual quantum physics?
Quantum simulations could provide new insights on proteins that might revolutionize medicine. Right now, we don't know if quantum computers will be just a specialized tool, or a big revolution for humanity. We have no idea where the limits of technology are, and there's only one way to find out.
So a quantum computer sets up some qubits, applies quantum gates to entangle them and manipulate probabilities, then finally measures the outcome, collapsing superpositions to an actual sequence of 0s and 1s.
What this means is that you get the entire lot of calculations that are possible with your setup, all done at the same time. Ultimately, you can only measure one of the results and it'll only probably be the one you want, so you may have to double check and try again. But by cleverly exploiting superposition and entanglement, this can be exponentially more efficient than would ever be possible on a normal computer.
So, while quantum computers will not probably not replace our home computers, in some areas, they are vastly superior. One of them is database searching. To find something in a database, a normal computer may have to test every single one of its entries. Quantum computers algorithms need only the square root of that time, which for large databases is a huge difference.
The most famous use of quantum computers is ruining IT security. Right now, your browsing, email, and banking data is being kept secure by an encryption system in which you give everyone a public key to encode messages only you can decode.
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The problem is that this public key can actually be used to calculate your secret private key. Luckily, doing the necessary math on any normal computer would literally take years of trial and error. But a quantum computer with exponential speed-up could do it in a breeze.
Another really exciting new use is simulations. Simulations of the quantum world are very intense on resources, and even for bigger structures, such as molecules, they often lack accuracy. So why not simulate quantum physics with actual quantum physics?
Quantum simulations could provide new insights on proteins that might revolutionize medicine. Right now, we don't know if quantum computers will be just a specialized tool, or a big revolution for humanity. We have no idea where the limits of technology are, and there's only one way to find out.
Applications of Quantum Computer:
So we know that some of the most advanced computer security we have today. Supercomputers need thousands of years to try to break those codes quantum computers because they can do all of these codes at the same time simultaneously. It only takes them a few minutes.
A computer or program that could solve problems that traditional computers can't do what we now have is we now have quantum computers that are able and they're being used in practice that to solve really complex problems.
Things like in material science we are using this like chemical composition of of batteries for electric cars to optimize them.
We're also seeing is that in pharmaceutical companies they use quantum computers to develop new drugs and try out all the different variations of these drugs.
Companies are using quantum computers to provide a service to predict the optimal routes of buses around cities and companies like airbus. Airbus are using quantum computers to simulate and identify the best paths for planes to take off and land in order to minimize the fuel consumption.
So there are lots of real world applications at the same time. It can take day and night too if I wrote all of them.
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