What is Quantum Computing?
Quantum Computing is an Emerging Computing Technology that is focused on developing computer technologies based on quantum principles. Quantum principles explain the behavior of energy on the subatomic level. In classical computing, the computation process is simple binary computing that works with the traditional approach, information is stored in bits that are represented logically by either a 0(off) or a 1(on). just like classical computers, a quantum computing system uses ones and zeros, but it uses a qubit(a quantum version of a classical bit that can hold up to 2 bits of data and transmit data between qubits up to 1400 meters apart). They have a third state called “superposition” that allows them to represent zero and one at the same time. A superposition state can achieve by cooling the material at nearly absolute zero temperature.
Figure 1: Qubits
Figure 2: classical bit
Figure 3: Representation
Quantum computing calculates with qubits which represent o and 1 at the same time but on the other hand, classical bit computing is calculated by transistors, which can represent either 0 or 1 at a time. so the Power increases exponentially in proportion to the number of qubits in quantum computing .this is the reason why quantum computers could drastically outperform classical computers at some tasks like optimizing delivery routes or simulating chemical processes, cryptography, cyber security, Financial modeling Logistics optimization. Quantum computing uses Quantum State Properties such as Super Position and Entanglement for the computation process.
Qubits
How it was built:
- To create a qubit, the surrounding solid is built up in layers made of two semiconducting materials like silicon and germanium and cooled to the temperature up to one-tenth of a degree above absolute zero-and the free electron is held in place using electrical fields. Scientists find a spot in the material where they can access and control quantum properties. Once they succeed, with the use of a photomagnetic or magnetic field they can create superposition, entanglement, and other quantum properties. It is the basic unit of Quantum Information (data for Quantum State). It can be built using any two-level quantum system. There are many ways to build qubits, but we can‘t find a proper optimal method to build qubits.
Environment to form qubit:
- Quantum bits(qubits) can not easily stay in a superposition where it contains both 0 and 1 because of fast decoherence time, their ‘memory’ is very short-lived. And also hard to maintain such a lower temperature. so it is hard to make such hardware that can maintain that lower temperature level. In a real-life scenario, we cannot make such kind of hardware till now. That’s the reason behind the high error rate compared to the classical computing method. Recently IBM built such a Quantum processor ‘Eagle’ which can handle 127-Qubits.
What is Quantum Superposition?
- Quantum Superposition is the state where a quantum particle exists in 2 distinct locations at the same time. Qubits have this property, which is why quantum computers have Exponential computation speed. It allows qubits to simultaneously exist in more than one state.
Figure -i: Qubit in Super Position
What is Quantum Entanglement?
- Quantum Entanglement is one of the important quantum properties in quantum computing. It allows two or more quantum particles (qubits) to become entangled. When these quantum particles become entangled, they become a single system. It means they are described as one unit in entanglement. Quantum entanglement gives quantum particles more computing power because it adds more qubits. Whenever we apply an operation to one particle (qubit), it correlates to the other entangled particles (qubit) as well.
Use cases of Quantum Computing
Cybersecurity and Cryptography:
- Nowadays online security space is quite vulnerable because of the increased number of cyber-attacks occurring across the world, on a daily basis. so companies are making necessary security frameworks in their organizations, it becomes daunting and impractical for classical digital computing techniques. So cybersecurity has continued to be an essential concern. With our increased dependency on digitalization, we are becoming even more vulnerable to these threats. Quantum computing with the help of machine learning can develop various methods to resist these cybersecurity threats. With the help of Quantum computing, we can also create some most secure encryption methods which are known as quantum cryptography.
Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning:
- Some of the widespread applications we can see in daily life activities are voice, image, and handwriting recognition. However, as the number of applications increased, it becomes a challenging task for classical computers, to compute accurately and fast. Quantum computing can help in processing complex problems in very less time, which would have taken classical computers many years.
Quantum Simulation:
- We can simulate other quantum systems like photosynthesis and superconductivity with quantum computers because they have quantum phenomena in computation.
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