Quantum Computing. Work, Importance, and Uses

Utilizing the properties of quantum particles, quantum computing calculates computational outputs.

Quantum computing is defined as a computational technology that employs the principles of quantum mechanics, such as entanglement, superposition, and interference, to process, store, and manipulate large amounts of data and execute complex calculations that conventional computing systems and supercomputers are unable to perform. This article describes quantum computing, including its operation, significance, and applications.

How Does Quantum Computing Work?

Quantum computing is a computational technology that employs the principles of quantum mechanics, such as entanglement, superposition, and interference, to process, store, and manipulate large amounts of data and perform complex calculations that conventional computing systems and supercomputers are unable to perform.

Ordinary computers of today are powered by chips that do computations with bits. These bits can take on the values zero or one, with zero representing the "off" state and one representing the "on" state. Multiple bits representing a combination of ones and zeroes are the fundamental building blocks of any website, application, and image we use or access.

While bits are convenient to utilize, they do not reveal the true essence of our reality beyond the on and off states. Our world is intrinsically uncertain. Nevertheless, even the most advanced supercomputers cannot process this uncertainty, resulting in a computing void.

In the last century, scientists discovered that physical laws do not apply at the subatomic level and are separate from those we witness on a daily basis, so revealing the uncertainty factor. This resulted in the creation of quantum mechanics, which deciphered the science of subatomic elements. It established the basis for physics, chemistry, and biology.

Now that the concept of uncertainty was observable, technologists required a method for doing calculations while regulating the uncertainty. Consequently, quantum computing was born. It is based on the physical laws that govern the subatomic world, in which fundamental particles can exist in multiple states and locations simultaneously. The technology observes the quantum behavior of matter and energy and uses it in a model of quantum computing.

Consequently, quantum computing technology leverages, manipulates, and regulates these quantum theory laws in order to perform uncertain complex tasks and computations. Although quantum computing is a relatively new technology, IBM, Google, D-Wave, and Microsoft, among others, are making substantial advancements in this field.

IBM took a big step forward in quantum computing in January 2019 when it announced the launch of the first commercial quantum computer. In contrast, Google revealed in October 2019 that it had constructed a quantum machine that could solve a typically complicated problem in 200 seconds, whereas it would take the world's fastest supercomputer roughly 10,000 years.

How do quantum computers operate?

Today's computers encode data using binary systems. This binary framework operates on processors that do computations using transistors. The transistors operate as switches in the computer's circuitry, generating 0s and 1s to process the logic of computing. Quantum computers, however, replace these 0s and 1s with quantum bits, also known as qubits, which encode quantum information and process distinct quantum states.