Can Quantum Computer Overshadow PC in the Distant Future?
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. Traditional computers shuffle information in the form of binary numbers, the digits 1 and 0, which are remembered by the “on” and “off” positions of tiny switches, or “bits“, on the circuit boards. Quantum computers use atoms and subatomic particles as the switches that perform the memory and processing tasks. This is called “qbits” ((quantum binary digits). 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.
Despite the dazzling potential of such technology, quantum computers have remained little more than a possibility on paper. Building a quantum computer has proven far more challenging than the theory, leading scientists to doubt whether they would ever find a practical purpose.
But the world’s foremost experts in the field are now revising their predictions and believe that we could see quantum computers within years.
“A few years ago, I would have said that quantum computing would be of little use for anything practical,” says Professor Anton Zeilinger, a quantum physicist at Vienna University, who is regarded as one of the godfathers of quantum computing.
Thereby, quantum computers will emerge as the superior computational devices at the very least, and perhaps one day make today’s modern computer obsolete. Quantum computation has its origins in highly specialized fields of theoretical physics, but its future undoubtedly lies in the profound effect it will have on the lives of all mankind.
Source: The Telegraph
Filed under Hardware, Quantum Computer