Quantum Computing By Nicholas Jenson What is Quantum

Quantum Computing By: Nicholas Jenson

What is Quantum Computing? • Computers today work by manipulating bits that exist in one of two states: a 0 or a 1 • Quantum computers are not limited to two states; they encode information as quantum bits, or qubits, which can represent a 0 or a 1 or any superposition of 0 and 1 • This superposition can in turn give quantum computers their inherent parallelism. • According to the physicist David Deutsch this parallelism allows a quantum computer to work on a million computations at once, while your desktop PC works on one.

Breaking down a qubit • Qubits are a unit of quantum information – they represent atoms, ions, photons or electrons and their respective control devices that are working together • These work together to act as the computer memory (RAM, ROM, Cache, etc. ) as well as a processor (CPU) • The Bloch sphere is a visual representation of a qubit • A qubit spin may either be in alignment with the field, which is known as a spin-up state, or the opposite of the field which is known as a spin-down state

Superposition • Changing the electron’s spin form one state to another is achieved by using a pulse of energy • If a pulse of energy doesn’t completely move the qubit form one state to another – according to quantum law, the particle then enters a superposition of states. In which this behaves as if it were in both states simultaneously • Each qubit utilized, could take a superposition of both states simultaneously meaning that it can undertake 2 n states • If a quantum computer contained 500 qubits would have the potential to do 2500 calculations in a single step

Traditional Binary • Binary numbers and arithmetic let you represent any amount you want using just two digits: 0 and 1. • Each digit "1" in a binary number represents a power of two, and each "0" represents zero: - 0001 is 2 to the zero power, or 1 - 0010 is 2 to the 1 st power, or 2 - 0100 is 2 to the 2 nd power, or 4 - 1000 is 2 to the 3 rd power, or 8. • When you see a number like "0101" you can figure out what it means by adding the powers of 2: - 0101 = 0 + 4 + 0 + 1 = 5 - 1010 = 8 + 0 + 2 + 0 = 10 - 0111 = 0 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 7

Video Quantum Computing -- Veritasium You. Tube

Why is this a big deal? • • • On the quantum level you’re able to program the atoms to represent all possible input combinations, and to do so simultaneously. When running an algorithm -- all possible input combinations are tested at once. With a regular computer you’d have to cycle through every possible input combination to arrive at your solution, meaning it would take longer to complete the most complicated calculations.

References How Does a Quantum Computer Work? (n. d. ). Retrieved from https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=g_Ia. Vep. NDT 4 How Quantum Computers Work. (2000, December 7). Retrieved December 1, 2015, from http: //computer. howstuffworks. com/quantum-computer 1. htm Hsu, J. (n. d. ). A Big Step Toward a Silicon Quantum Computer. Retrieved November 29, 2015, from http: //spectrum. ieee. org/computing/hardware/a-bigstep-toward-a-silicon-quantum-computer IBM Solves Quantum Computing | EE Times. (n. d. ). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http: //www. eetimes. com/document. asp? doc_id=1326468&image_number=6 What is qubit? - Definition from What. Is. com. (n. d. ). Retrieved November 27, 2015, from http: //whatis. techtarget. com/definition/qubit (n. d. ). Retrieved November 13, 2015, from http: //www. nature. com/nature/journal/v 393/n 6681/full/393133 a 0. html