IBM has announced a “road map” that will lead it to build a 1,000-qubit quantum computer by 2023.
The state of the art now: a year ago, Google claimed its 53-qubit quantum computer solved in 200 seconds a calculation that would have taken a conventional supercomputer 10,000 years to complete.
IBM’s plan is to build a 127-qubit machine next year and a 433-qubit computer in 2022, leading to the 1,000-bit machine the year after.
A quantum computer is one that can calculate using quantum bits or “qubits,” which are subatomic particles such as electrons or photons.
A conventional computer calculates using a series of ones and zeroes, one after the other. But qubits avail themselves of the quirks of quantum physics: under certain conditions, a qubit can be a one and a zero at the same time, a characteristic called “superpositioning.” This allows calculations to be made simultaneously instead one at a time.
Quantum computers also capitalize on “entanglement,” which means that two qubits can be linked, even across space, so that changing one instantly changes the other – what Einstein called “spooky action at a distance.”
Combing superpositioning and entanglement speeds calculations exponentially, allowing quantum computers to solve staggeringly complex problems in a matter of minutes.
But don’t look for a quantum computer at Staples. To control qubits precisely requires lasers, finely tuned electromagnetic fields, and temperatures near absolute zero. The machines will be reserved for tackling the most urgent and complex problems.
TRENDPOST: By 2030, engineers will combine artificial intelligence and quantum computing. The combination will raise the power, speed, and “intelligence” of computers to unimaginable levels. The ethical and social issues this will raise will need to begin to be addressed now to anticipate and avoid unintended consequences.
