Quantum Computing: A Simplified Explanation

Hello guys,

In this article today, I'm gonna expound on Quantum Computers in a very simplified way for easy ingestion. Quantum Computers are here and its freaking mind blowing that we've come so far.

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Before I can expound on Quantum Computers, I need to explain what a conventional Computer can do. A conventional computer can be your phone, smart TV, desktop computer, laptop, iPad etc. and we've had this technology for decades. What's improved with this technology is the transistors, the number of transistors that we can have in a chip.

The way transistors work, there’re switches that allow current or electrons to come through, if the switch is off, it has a “0” state and if the switch is on, it has a “1” state. (off = 0, on = 1): this is binary or bits and it’s the basis of computing from the beginning. If you have two bits, you can have four state, it can be 00, 01, 10, or 11 and this is the only states these two bits can have.

There's something called “Moore's Law”, and Moore's Law states that every two years, the number of transistors are going to double.

_{[2][Exponential growth with transistor count doubling every two years -Wikipedia]}

We've reached the point where transistors have become as small as atoms, we are eventually going to reach a point where we can't make a transistor any smaller. I think the average transistor now is 14 nanometers, we can only go down to like 5 nanometers, or it won’t work anymore. We won't expand in that technology and we will hit a roadblock therefore, we can't go any further. Here comes quantum computing.

How does Quantum Computing work?

In Quantum Computing, you also have a state of “0” and “1” but these are called “Qubit”. Qubit are “0s” and “1s” but before they are 0s and 1s, they're in a state of superposition.

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Superposition means that these Qubits can either be “0” or “1” at the same time.

How can something be "0" and "1" at the same time?

That's possible but here comes Quantum Physics.

Quantum Physics states that if something is at a superposition, for instance, an electron can either be 0 or 1 and the only way we will know the current position is by observing it. If you view it or try to measure or test it, then it'll reveal its position. If nothing is good, it’s going to stay at superposition, it can be there as 0 or 1 at the same time. That's freaking mind blowing and we've come this far in technology and we're starting to create these types of circuits.

Another thing that is mind blowing with Quantum Computing is something called “Entanglement”. For instance, you have an electron, or you have two electrons together and if they are entangled, it could be at whatever distance apart and whatever you do to one will affect the other. This thing is going to change and revolutionize the way we program, the way microchips work and it's going to take us to that next level.

Quantum logic gate

Let me go over conventional logic first before I get into quantum logic gate.

The way conventional or binary logic work, you have transistors that creates logic gates, these logic gates will have two inputs or bits and it'll help put something depending on what kind of logic it is. It's always going to be the same, depending on the logic gate.

The way that Quantum gates works, they take in a Qubit in a superposition, they flip it and produce another superposition. Mind blowing right? Hopefully, you guys can kind of understand what I mean. This is going to revolutionize the way everything works, Quantum Computers will be able to help us do things faster.

_{[4][Quantum Computing -Wired.com]}

Quantum Computers are more vastly superior than our ordinary computers today. The power of a Quantum Computer is gonna allow us to find cures for cancer and diseases, it's going to allow us to simulate the universe and create artificial intelligence that we can program stuff of the future, the kind of stuff you see in sci-fi movie where you think it will never ever happen, it's actually happening today and I'm excited to be alive today where quantum computing is just coming up.

These are pretty much I could come up with today in an easy-peasy way. I'm eager to see what we do with this technology and I'm eager to see the first computer program that comes out of this. Are you excited about Quantum Computers? Let me know in the comments and if you enjoyed the article, don’t forget to hit that upvote button below.

Have a great weekend.

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References: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

Image sources: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4

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_{GIF made by @foundation}

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Thanks to @camzy for this amazing toon.