Quantum Computers: How Close Are We? Do They Already Exist?
We have some insanely powerful computers these days, the most powerful currently being the Japanese supercomputer Fugaku, according to the World Economic Forum. In order to evaluate the processing capabilities of a machine of this size, a unit called the teraflop is used, and one teraflop is equivalent to one trillion floating-point operations per second (DigitalTrends). Fugaku’s computation performance is rated at 442,010.0 teraflops, meaning that the supercomputer can compute 4.4201e+17 (that’s a massive number, by the way) floating-point operations per second. Let’s compare this with ENIAC, the massive computer built in 1945 for the United States Army’s Ballistic Research Laboratory: ENIAC had a computing power of 5,000 additions per second, which is puny in comparison to its modern counterpart. When ENIAC was built, the occasion was celebrated by the press and heralded by scientists. If we acquired the capabilities to build atomic-scale quantum computing systems, that system would be to Fugaku as Fugaku is to ENIAC: a massive improvement and a leap forward.
So, what in the world is a quantum computer?
Tech giant IBM defines quantum computing as “a rapidly-emerging technology that harnesses the laws of quantum mechanics to solve problems too complex for classical computers,” while New Scientist explains the computers themselves as “machines that use the properties of quantum physics to store data and perform computations.” In other words, in today’s common computers, the integrated circuits contain transistors roughly the size of a bacterium or smaller in its calculations, whereas some quantum computers do not use transistors at all.
What makes a quantum computer a quantum computer is really something called a qubit. In a classical computer, a computer stores and manipulated data using transistors using a number system called binary, a number system computed in powers of 2. (For an explanation of binary, check out this article on Medium here.) While the computers the average person uses day-to-day approaches a problem by looking at all the possibilities individually, and then finding the answer (essentially by the process of elimination), a quantum computer would look at all the possibilities at one time and then return the correct answer. Here’s an article that explains more thoroughly how quantum computers operate. To learn more about qubits, here is a better explanation.
“So why should I care?”
If quantum computers became readily available to everyone, it would enable advances in research and technology in virtually every field of science and daily life. Sciences that would grow include data science, machine-learning, design, virtual reality, among others, and problems unable to be solved up to this point could easily be answered by quantum computing systems. In essence, it will help us find the missing puzzle pieces to answer questions that traditional computers did not have the capabilities to answer.
Simply, quantum computers would push us forward astronomical leaps and bounds in all areas of technology and science.
That’s why scientists and engineers alike have been searching for this holy grail of computing.
Do Quantum Computers Already Exist?
Yes: quantum computers have been built. But are they practical and accessible to anyone and everyone? Not yet.
Below are a few of the quantum computers that have been built to date.
Fascinating, Already-Built Quantum-Based Processors
- IBM’s Eagle (127 qubits, November 2021).
- IBM’s Osprey (433 qubits, November 2022).
- Xanadu’s Borealis (216 qubits, 2022).
- D-Wave’s D-Wave Two (512 qubits, 2013)
- D-Wave’s D-Wave 2X (1152 qubits, 2015)
- D-Wave 2000Q (2048 qubits, 2017)
- THE BIG ONE: D-Wave’s D-Wave Advantage (5760 qubits, 2020)
Now if it isn’t obvious, D-Wave seems to have an edge on the other companies trying to develop their quantum systems, including Google, IBM, Xanadu, and Rigetti. D-Wave uses a process called quantum annealing to make their systems, which is further explained in this article from the company.
When Can Everyone Use Them? Will We Ever Have Personal Quantum Machines?
You can — right now — use a quantum computer: IBM has added its first quantum machine to the cloud. Try it out on their website! It’s awesome!
Here’s what it looked like when I logged in and got everything set up.
You can use the interface to run Python scripts, as well as for many other uses. (If you don’t know the Python programming language, you are missing out! Find out more on the official Python website.)
As for personal quantum computers such as quantum smartphones or laptops, the answer is still unknown, due to the large challenges in engineering that must be overcome (Science Focus).
For now, as Cosmos Magazine states, personal quantum computing is “tantalizingly out of reach.”
But who knows? Maybe you could be the solution to the problem.
Only time can tell.
