What Is Quantum Computing?

Quantum computing is an area of computing focused on developing computer technology based on the principles of quantum theory (which explains the behavior of energy and material on the atomic and subatomic levels). Computers used today can only encode information in bits that take the value of 1 or 0—restricting their ability.

Quantum computing, on the other hand, uses quantum bits or qubits. It harnesses the unique ability of subatomic particles that allows them to exist in more than one state (i.e., a 1 and a 0 at the same time).

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Quantum computing is the study of how to use phenomena in quantum physics to create new ways of computing.
• Quantum computing is made up of qubits.
• Unlike a normal computer bit, which can be 0 or 1, a qubit can be either of those, or a superposition of both 0 and 1.
• The power of quantum computers grows exponentially with more qubits.
• This is unlike classical computers, where adding more transistors only adds power linearly.

Understanding Quantum Computing

Superposition and entanglement are two features of quantum physics on which these supercomputers are based. This empowers quantum computers to handle operations at speeds exponentially higher than conventional computers and at much lesser energy consumption.

The field of quantum computing started in the 1980s. It was then discovered that certain computational problems could be tackled more efficiently with quantum algorithms than with their classical counterparts.

Quantum computing could contribute greatly in the fields of finance, military affairs and intelligence, drug design and discovery, aerospace designing, utilities (nuclear fusion), polymer design, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data search, and digital manufacturing.

Its potential and projected market size have engaged some of the most prominent technology companies to work in the field of quantum computing, including IBM, Microsoft, Google, D-Waves Systems, Alibaba, Nokia, Intel, Airbus, HP, Toshiba, Mitsubishi, SK Telecom, NEC, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Rigetti, Biogen, Volkswagen, and Amgen.

40% Percentage of large companies planing to create initiatives around quantum computing by 2025, per Gartner.

Alphabet Has a Second, Secretive Quantum Computing Team

IN OCTOBER, GOOGLE celebrated a breakthrough that CEO Sundar Pichai likened to the Wright brothers’ first flight. Company researchers in Santa Barbara, California, 300 miles from the Googleplex, had achieved quantum supremacy—the moment that a quantum computer performs a calculation impossible for any conventional computer.

That was both notable science and a chance for Google to show prominence in a contest among big tech companies, including IBM and Microsoft, to deliver the wild new power promised by quantum computing. The usually low-profile Pichai threw himself into marking the moment, penning a blog post, taking part in a rare media interview, and posting an Instagram photo of himself alongside the shiny machine that scored the result.

Just over a month later, Pichai was named CEO of Google parent Alphabet. But neither the company nor its quantum-happy boss have said much about another quantum computing team at Alphabet, at its secretive lab X.

X, formerly known as Google X, is dedicated to incubating “moonshot” technologies that might underpin new Google-scale businesses. Its small group of quantum researchers is not building its own quantum computing hardware. The group’s leader is more interested in creating new algorithms and applications to run on quantum computers, and building software libraries that allow conventional coders to use the exotic machines.