What is quantum computing?
- 2. Before we go over Quantum Computing, let’s go over some basics of Quantum Mechanics
- 3. What is Quantum Mechanics? Quantum computing relies on the principals of quantum mechanics Quantum Mechanics: study of the behavior of matter and light on the subatomic level. Term Created by Max Planck while studying the “Ultraviolet Catastrophe” His solution: Assume light is both a particle and a wave
- 5. De Broglie’s Wave hypothesis Matter has the properties of both wave and particles and the wavelengths are related to their linear momentum.
- 6. Schrödinger equation Erwin Schrödinger equation devised an equation to explain the de Broglie’s Wave Hypothesis, where: N= Size of the Orbital L= Shape of the Orbital M=Where the orbital is oriented in space
- 7. Schrödinger's cat Imagine that there is a cat trapped in a steel box, with a Geiger Counter linked to a bomb. There is radioactive material but the rate of decay is completely random. Once the radiation reaches a certain level, the cat will die. If the box is opened, the cat will die. There is no way to verify that the cat is alive, guaranteeing the cat’s demise, so you will have to assume that the cat is both alive and dead. This analogy illustrate a superposition, the idea that an object can exist in many states at once.
- 8. Spin Paul Dirac illustrates that there is a 4th number that defines quantum particles ms which denotes spin.
- 10. Qubits Non-classical computing uses the ability of particles to exist in multiple states at once. It uses quantum bits(Qubits) to store information. However, unlike classical bits, qubits can be either 0, 1, or they can be both a 0 and a 1 at the same time. This allows for vastly superior processing power in comparison to a classical computer because 1 qubit would be able to hold more information than a classical bit.
- 11. Quantum Entanglement If one particle spins in one direction, then the other particle will spin in the opposite direction. If we were to know everything about the particle, then the superposition would be lost. Quantum computing relies on this to work, if everything was known about both particles, then we would have a classical machine.
- 12. Applications of Quantum computing Discovering new Drug treatments Reduce damage caused to healthy cells by Chemotherapy Can help weathermen better predict the weather. However, regular computers will not be replaced because quantum computers run through every possible scenario whereas classical machines use linear equations for their calculations.
- 13. For more information Quantum Computing, please click here.