Quantum Computer

Quantum Computer

A quantum computer is a really powerful type of computer that works in a completely different way than the computers we use every day. Instead of using regular bits of information that can be either a 0 or a 1, quantum computers use tiny particles called qubits. These qubits can be in a bunch of different states all at once, which makes them able to do lots of calculations at the same time. This ability to be in multiple states simultaneously is called superposition, and it's one of the key things that makes quantum computers so special. Another important thing is entanglement, which is when qubits become connected to each other in a way that one qubit's state depends on another's, even if they're far apart.

Because of these special properties, quantum computers have the potential to solve really tough problems that regular computers struggle with, like breaking codes, finding the best solutions to complex puzzles, or simulating things like molecules in drugs. However, building and using quantum computers is still really hard, and scientists are still working on figuring out all the details. One of the key principles of quantum computing is superposition, where qubits can represent both 0 and 1 at the same time. This allows quantum computers to perform multiple calculations simultaneously, potentially making them much more powerful than classical computers for certain types of problems.

Another important principle is entanglement, where qubits become correlated with each other in such a way that the state of one qubit is dependent on the state of another, even when they are physically separated. Entanglement enables quantum computers to perform operations on multiple qubits simultaneously, leading to further computational advantages.

Quantum computers have the potential to solve complex problems that are currently intractable for classical computers, such as cryptography, optimization, and simulation of quantum systems. However, building and operating quantum computers pose significant technical challenges, including qubit stability, error correction, and scalability. Major technology companies, research institutions, and governments around the world are investing in quantum computing research and development in hopes of unlocking its full potential and realizing its transformative capabilities in various fields, including cryptography, drug discovery, materials science, and finance.

Google Quantum Computer

Three years ago, our quantum computers were the first to demonstrate a computational task in which they outperformed the fastest supercomputers. It was a significant milestone on our roadmap toward building a large-scale quantum computer, and the “hello world” moment so many of us had been hoping for. Yet in the long arc of scientific progress it was just one step towards making quantum applications meaningful to human progress.

Now, we’re taking another big step forward: For the first time ever, our Quantum AI researchers have experimentally demonstrated that it’s possible to reduce errors by increasing the number of qubits. In quantum computing, a qubit is a basic unit of quantum information that can take on richer states that extend beyond just 0 and 1. Our breakthrough represents a significant shift in how we operate quantum computers. Instead of working on the physical qubits on our quantum processor one by one, we are treating a group of them as one logical qubit. As a result, a logical qubit that we made from 49 physical qubits was able to outperform one we made from 17 qubits. Nature is publishing our research today.

Here’s why this milestone is important: Our quantum computers work by manipulating qubits in an orchestrated fashion that we call quantum algorithms. The challenge is that qubits are so sensitive that even stray light can cause calculation errors — and the problem worsens as quantum computers grow. This has significant consequences, since the best quantum algorithms that we know for running useful applications require the error rates of our qubits to be far lower than we have today. To bridge this gap, we will need quantum error correction.

Quantum error correction protects information by encoding it across multiple physical qubits to form a “logical qubit,” and is believed to be the only way to produce a large-scale quantum computer with error rates low enough for useful calculations. Instead of computing on the individual qubits themselves, we will then compute on logical qubits. By encoding larger numbers of physical qubits on our quantum processor into one logical qubit, we hope to reduce the error rates to enable useful quantum algorithms.

It’s the first time anyone has achieved this experimental milestone of scaling a logical qubit. We’ve been working towards this milestone and the ones ahead because quantum computers have the potential to bring tangible benefits to the lives of millions. Someday, we believe quantum computers will be used to identify molecules for new medicines, create fertilizer using less energy, design more efficient sustainable technologies from batteries to nuclear fusion reactors, and produce physics research that will lead to advances we can’t yet imagine. That’s why we’re working on eventually making quantum hardware, tools and applications available to customers and partners, including through Google Cloud, so that they can harness the power of quantum in new and exciting ways.

Helping others to realize the full potential of quantum will require us to achieve even more technical milestones in order to scale to thousands of logical qubits with low error rates. There’s a long road ahead — several components of our technology will need to be improved, from cryogenics to control electronics to the design and materials of our qubits. With such developments, large-scale quantum computers will come into clearer view. Developing quantum processors is also an excellent testbed for AI-assisted engineering as we explore the use of machine learning to improve our processes.

We are also taking steps to develop quantum computing responsibly, given its powerful potential. Our partnerships with governments and the security community are helping to create systems that can protect internet traffic from future quantum computer attacks. And we're making sure services like Google Cloud, Android and Chrome remain safe and secure in a quantum future.

I am inspired by what quantum computing could mean for the future of our users, customers and partners, and the world. We’ll continue to work towards a day when quantum computers can work in tandem with classical computers to expand the boundaries of human knowledge and help us find solutions to some of the world’s most complex problems.

Learn more : https://blog.google/inside-google/message-ceo/our-progress-toward-quantum-error-correction/

IBM Quantum Computer

Over 50 years of advances in mathematics, materials science, and computer science have transformed quantum computing from theory to reality. Today, real quantum computers can be accessed through the cloud, and many thousands of people have used them to learn, conduct research, and tackle new problems.

Quantum computers could one day provide breakthroughs in many disciplines, including materials and drug discovery, the optimization of complex systems, and artificial intelligence. But to realize those breakthroughs, and to make quantum computers widely useable and accessible, we need to reimagine information processing and the machines that do it. Many problems can’t be solved on a classical computer.  There are problems that today’s systems will never be able to solve. For challenges above a certain size and complexity, we don’t have enough computational power on Earth to tackle them. To stand a chance at solving some of these complex problems, we need a new kind of computing: one whose computational power also scales exponentially as the system size grows.

Quantum computers could one day provide breakthroughs in many disciplines, including materials and drug discovery, the optimization of complex systems, and artificial intelligence. But to realize those breakthroughs, and to make quantum computers widely useable and accessible, we need to reimagine information processing and the machines that do it.

Today, IBM Quantum makes real quantum hardware—a tool that scientists only began to imagine three decades ago—available to hundreds of thousands of developers. Our engineers deliver ever-more-powerful superconducting quantum processors at regular intervals, alongside crucial advances in software and quantum-classical orchestration. This work drives toward the quantum computing speed and capacity necessary to change the world. These machines are very different from the classical computers that have been around for more than half a century. Here's a primer on this transformative technology.

When scientists and engineers encounter difficult problems, they turn to supercomputers. These are very large classical computers, often with thousands of classical CPU and GPU cores capable of running very large calculations and advanced artificial intelligence. However, even supercomputers are binary code-based machines reliant on 20th-century transistor technology. They struggle to solve certain kinds of problems. If a supercomputer gets stumped, that's probably because the big classical machine was asked to solve a problem with a high degree of complexity. When classical computers fail, it's often due to complexity.

Complex problems are problems with lots of variables interacting in complicated ways. Modeling the behavior of individual atoms in a molecule is a complex problem, because of all the different electrons interacting with one another. Identifying subtle patterns of fraud in financial transactions or new physics in a supercollider are also complex problems. There are some complex problems that we do not know how to solve with classical computers at any scale. The real world runs on quantum physics. Computers that make calculations by using the quantum states of quantum bits should in many situations be our best tools for understanding it.

Learn more : https://www.ibm.com/academic/topic/quantum-computing

Thanks for reading. see you soon with a lots of knowledge with Nikhil