Written by: Arunesh Manandhar - 2022002, Grade X
Posted on: 04 August, 2020
A quantum computer is a device for computation that makes direct use of distinctively quantum mechanical phenomena, such as superposition and entanglement, to perform operations on data. In a classical computer, information is stored as bits; in a quantum computer, it is stored as qubits.
The basic principle of quantum computation is that the quantum properties can be used to represent and structure data and that quantum mechanisms can be devised and built to perform operations with this data. Although quantum computing is still in its infancy, experiments have been carried out in which quantum computational operations were executed on a very small number of qubits. If a large scale of quantum computers can be built, they will be able to solve certain problems exponentially faster than any of our current classical computers.
Quantum computers are different from other computers as DNA computers are traditional computers based on transistors. Some computing architectures such as optical computers may use classical superposition of electromagnetic waves but without some specifically quantum mechanical resources such as entanglement, they have less potential for computational speed-up then quantum computers.
It has been shown that a quantum computer will be able to perform any task, if we use our classical computer, it will simply perform the calculation in a similar manner to a classical computer. Some types of algorithms are not easy to formulate, but it is possible from quantum computers. The power of quantum computers integer factorization is believed to be computationally infeasible with an ordinary computer for large integers that are the product of only a few prime numbers. A quantum computer could solve this problem more efficiently than a classical computer using shoe’s algorithm to find its factors. In particular, most of the popular public key ciphers are based on the difficulty of factoring integers, including forms of RSA. These are used to protect secure web pages, encrypted email, and many other types of data. Classical computers have to solve one problem at a time in sequence, but quantum computers can solve multiple problems at the same time. That kind of speed has the potential to revolutionize entire industries.
Quantum Computers could also analyze all the data at once and give us a better idea of when and where bad weather will strike. We’d have advanced notice of major storms like hurricanes and the extra preparation time could help save lives. A quantum computer would be able to map out trillions of molecular combinations and quickly identify the ones that most likely work, significantly cutting down the cost and the time of drug development. It could sequence and analyze a person's genes much faster than the methods we have now, and that could also help make personalized drugs and healthcare more available to the masses. Astronomers have discovered nearly 2000 confirmed planets outside our solar system using “Kepler space telescope”. A quantum computer could tackle more data in any given telescope view, scope more exoplanets, and help quickly to identify which ones have the most potential to harbor life. So, it will change the world.
After the above all these points, the quantum computer is a very new technology or in other words, we can say that it is a very advanced technology of a new generation which is very fast to do any work and capable to solve any complex problem and more powerful device compared to today’s classical computer.
