THE POWER OF QUANTUM COMPUTERS

In a binary world consisting of ones and zeros, quantum computers would be like the Albert Einstein of computing, with extraordinary electronic brains capable of completing tasks that would be almost impossible for ordinary computers to handle.

There’s a reason Google, Microsoft, IBM and governments around the world continue to make significant investments in Quantum Computing they are taking small but important steps — forward, which looks set to revolutionise the world by solving problems that are intractable for today’s classical computers.

Quantum computers will disrupt every industry. They will change the way we do business and the security we have in place to safeguard data, how we fight diseases and invent new materials, and solve health and climate problems.

Let’s take a look at what makes this technology powerful.

1. This new generation of supercomputers uses knowledge of quantum mechanics which makes it possible to perform multiple simultaneous operations and eliminates the tunnel effect that limits current nanometric scale programming.
2. Quantum computing uses the qubit as the basic unit of information rather than the conventional bit. A qubit can be both zero and one at the same time, and in different proportions ,whereas Bits, on the other hand, can only have one value at a time — either one or zero. This multiplicity of states makes it possible for a quantum computer with just 30 qubits, for example, to perform 10 billion floating-point operations per second, which is about 5.8 billion more than the most powerful PlayStation video game console on the market.

In fact, Google has recently made headlines proclaiming the achievement of quantum supremacy, where its computers can perform a task that a conventional computer can’t. IBM is also making noise about their supercomputers, which are blazingly fast. However, we often wonder what are its real-world applications.

1. Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are some of the prominent areas right now, as the emerging technologies have penetrated almost every aspect of humans’ lives. However, as the number of applications increased, it becomes a challenging task for traditional computers, to match up the accuracy and speed. And, that’s where quantum computing can help in processing through complex problems in very less time, which would have taken traditional computers thousand of years.

2. Drug Design & Development

Designing and developing a drug is the most challenging problem in quantum computing. Usually, drugs are being developed via the trial and error method, which is not only very expensive but also a risky and challenging task to complete. Researchers believe quantum computing can be an effective way of understanding the drugs and its reactions on humans which, in turn, can save a ton of money and time for drug companies. These advancements in computing could enhance efficiency dramatically, by allowing companies to carry out more drug discoveries to uncover new medical treatments for the better pharmaceutical industry.

3. Cybersecurity & Cryptography

Companies are establishing necessary security framework in their organisations, the process becomes daunting and impractical for classical digital computers. With our increasing dependency on digitalization, we are becoming even more vulnerable to these threats. Quantum computing with the help of machine learning can help in developing various techniques to combat these cybersecurity threats. Additionally, quantum computing can help in creating encryption methods, also known as, quantum cryptography.

4. Optimization

Imagine, you are a traveling salesman. You wish to visit a handful of cities and want to know what the most optimal routes would be. This would be an example of an optimization problem. It sounds simple enough, but, in reality, the process can get quite involved as you up the number of variables. With only 270 destinations, for example, there are more combinations of travel than atoms in the universe. With quantum computers, however, we could expect a machine to be able to handle almost innumerable permutations and combinations, which could advance system design and analysis in massive ways.

5. Financial Services

D-wave, a company backed by Goldman Sachs and Bezos Expeditions, among others, deployed its first commercial quantum computer: the D-Wave 2000Q, a quantum annealing system with 2000 qubits and advanced feature controls.

Despite their prohibitive price, these computers are being utilized by a small niche, as illustrated by Harvard’s use of D-wave’s first model back in 2012. The systems could be used for complex financial modeling and risk management within the financial industry as well. Quantum computing could be used to find new ways to model financial data and isolate key global risk factors.

Quantum computers, with their huge computational power, are ideally suited to solving these problems. This creates a world of opportunities, across almost every aspect of modern life.

While quantum computing is already impacting various fields, the list is by no means exhaustive, and that’s the most exciting part. As with all new technology, presently unimaginable applications will be developed as the hardware continues to evolve and create new opportunities.