Quantum Computing

Last week, there was an article about physicists making a breakthrough in the world of quantum computing. (The article can be found here: http://motherboard.vice.com/read/physicists-trim-the-noise-from-quantum-computing)

For many, quantum computing seems to be the revolutionary, “next big thing” in the world of computers. The general concept of quantum computing is that it uses quantum-mechanical phenomena, like superposition and entanglement, to store and manipulate data. General computing uses binary digits (bits – 0 or 1) to store information, while quantum computing uses quantum bits (qubits) which can be either “up”, “down”, or any quantum superposition of the two states. Superposition is the quality of quantum particles to be in two positions or states at once. Since these quantum particles are much smaller than electrons and exhibit these strange characteristics, they have the potential to radically change the way we use computers.

A quantum computer with n qubits can be in a superposition of up to 2ⁿ different states, as opposed to a normal computer that can only be in one state at a time. This means that it would take exponentially fewer qubits to hold as much information as it does for standard bits. With quantum computing, you could store virtually infinite amounts of data into a handful of molecules.

This feature of quantum computing also allows for calculations to become nearly instantaneous. In the fields of logistics and distribution, this completely changes how the businesses would run their companies. Telecommunications would become practically hassle free with quantum computing devices connecting people instantly. Many believe that quantum computing, with all of its capabilities, will be able to perfect speech recognition, making service jobs, publishing, and a whole host of other fields either obsolete or entirely different.

Socially, the development of quantum computing will probably follow the path that many advanced technologies have followed: at first being available only to the extremely wealthy who can afford purchasing such powerful technology. Once it becomes available to the general public however many years down the road, the implications become hard to foresee. The possibility of accessing the internet literally anywhere at any time without worrying about data providers charging extra certainly becomes a nice dream. There are so many other factors that could play into the way that our species accepts and adapts to this new technology, it is hard to predict what can happen.

One of the issues of quantum computing is that because of its speedy computing power, many algorithms used to encrypt passwords or confidential data can be hacked with incredible ease. If this sort of power gets into the wrong hands, before cyber security systems can implement new anti-quantum computing measures, the consequences could be devastating. The cyber-attacks of today, resulting in the loss of hundreds of billions of dollars every year, would be miniscule compared to the damage that could be done if most cyber security systems would open to attack by quantum computing powered hackers.

Fortunately, this sort of technology still has a way to go. The most recent update from the article stated that physicists were able to remove the “charge noise” that accompanies the manipulation of qubits. This allows for quantum information to be stored and switched at high speeds with high fidelity. Although this latest development is important to the overall goal of effective and efficient implementation of quantum computing, there are still many obstacles standing in the way before this goal becomes a reality.