LECTURE 3

This topic is mapped with CO4, CO5 of course

Quantum computing

Quantum computing is the use of quantum-mechanical phenomena such as

superposition and entanglement to perform computation. Computers that
perform quantum computations are known as quantum computers.
Figure 1: IBM’s new 53-qubit quantum computer [1]

A quantum computer harnesses some of the almost-mystical phenomena of

quantum mechanics to deliver huge leaps forward in processing power. Quantum
machines promise to outstrip even the most capable of today’s—and
tomorrow’s—supercomputers.

They won’t wipe out conventional computers, though. Using a classical machine
will still be the easiest and most economical solution for tackling most problems.
But quantum computers promise to power exciting advances in various fields,
from materials science to pharmaceuticals research. Companies are already
experimenting with them to develop things like lighter and more powerful
batteries for electric cars, and to help create novel drugs.

Quantum computers, on the other hand, use qubits, which are typically subatomic
particles such as electrons or photons. Generating and managing qubits is a
scientific and engineering challenge. Some companies, such as IBM, Google, and
Rigetti Computing, use superconducting circuits cooled to temperatures colder
than deep space. Others, like IonQ, trap individual atoms in electromagnetic
fields on a silicon chip in ultra-high-vacuum chambers. In both cases, the goal is
to isolate the qubits in a controlled quantum state.

Qubits have some quirky quantum properties that mean a connected group of
them can provide way more processing power than the same number of binary
bits. One of those properties is known as superposition and another is called
entanglement.

All computing systems rely on a fundamental ability to store and manipulate

information. Current computers manipulate individual bits, which store
information as binary 0 and 1 states. Quantum computers leverage quantum
mechanical phenomena to manipulate information. To do this, they rely on
quantum bits, or qubits.

Here, learn about the quantum properties leveraged by qubits, how they're used
to compute, and how quantum systems scale.

There are a few different ways to create a qubit. One method uses
superconductivity to create and maintain a quantum state. To work with these
superconducting qubits for extended periods of time, they must be kept very cold.
Any heat in the system can introduce error, which is why quantum computers
operate at temperatures close to absolute zero, colder than the vacuum of space.
 Figure 2: wiring up superconducting qubits [2]

Quantum vocabulary and terminology

Following is a brief primer of quantum computing concepts and terms.

Qubits not bits. Quantum computers do calculations with quantum bits, or

qubits, rather than the digital bits in traditional computers. Qubits allow quantum
computers to consider previously unimaginable amounts of information.

Superposition. Quantum objects can be in more than one state at the same time,
a situation depicted by Schrödinger’s cat, a fictional feline that is simultaneously
alive and dead. For example, a qubit can represent the values 0 and 1
simultaneously, whereas classical bits can only be either a 0 or a 1.

Entanglement. When qubits are entangled, they form a connection to each other
that survives no matter the distance between them. A change to one qubit will
alter its entangled twin, a finding that baffled even Einstein, who called
entanglement “spooky action at a distance.”

Types of qubits. At the core of the quantum computer is the qubit, a quantum bit
of information typically made from a particle so small that it exhibits quantum
properties rather than obeying the classical laws of physics that govern our
everyday lives. A number of types of qubits are in development:
• Superconducting qubits, or transmons. Already in use in prototype computers
made by Google, IBM and others, these qubits are made from superconducting
electrical circuits.
• Trapped atoms. Atoms trapped in place by lasers can behave as qubits. Trapped
ions (charged atoms) can also act as qubits.
• Silicon spin qubits. An up-and-coming technology involves trapping electrons in
silicon chambers to manipulate a quantum property known as spin.
• Topological qubits. Still quite early in development, quasi-particles
called Majorana fermions, which exist in certain materials, have the potential for
use as qubits.

History

• As early as 1959 the American physicist and Nobel laureate Richard

Feynman noted that, as electronic components begin to reach microscopic scales,
effects predicted by quantum mechanics occur—which, he suggested, might be
exploited in the design of more powerful computers.
 Figure 3: Caltech physicist and Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman [3]

• During the 1980s and ’90s the theory of quantum computers advanced
considerably beyond Feynman’s early speculations. In 1985 David Deutsch of
the University of Oxford described the construction of quantum logic gates for a
universal quantum computer, and in 1994 Peter Shor of AT&T devised
an algorithm to factor numbers with a quantum computer that would require as
 few as six qubits (although many more qubits would be necessary for factoring
large numbers in a reasonable time). When a practical quantum computer is built,
it will break current encryption schemes based on multiplying two large primes;
in compensation, quantum mechanical effects offer a new method of secure
communication known as quantum encryption. However, actually building a
useful quantum computer has proved difficult.
• In 1998 Isaac Chuang of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Neil Gershenfeld
of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Mark Kubinec of the
University of California at Berkeley created the first quantum computer (2-qubit)
that could be loaded with data and output a solution. Although their system
was coherent for only a few nanoseconds and trivial from the perspective of
solving meaningful problems, it demonstrated the principles of quantum
computation. Rather than trying to isolate a few subatomic particles, they
dissolved a large number of chloroform molecules (CHCL3) in water at room
temperature and applied a magnetic field to orient the spins of the carbon and
hydrogen nuclei in the chloroform. (Because ordinary carbon has no
magnetic spin, their solution used an isotope, carbon-13.) A spin parallel to the
external magnetic field could then be interpreted as a 1 and an antiparallel spin as
0, and the hydrogen nuclei and carbon-13 nuclei could be treated collectively as
a 2-qubit system. In addition to the external magnetic field, radio frequency
pulses were applied to cause spin states to “flip,” thereby creating superimposed
parallel and antiparallel states.

Future research

Quantum cryptography

While the problem of noise is a serious challenge in the implementation of

quantum computers, it isn’t so in quantum cryptography, where people are
dealing with single qubits, for single qubits can remain isolated from the
environment for significant amount of time. Using quantum cryptography, two
users can exchange the very large numbers known as keys, which secure data,
without anyone able to break the key exchange system. Such key exchange could
help secure communications between satellites and naval ships. But the actual
encryption algorithm used after the key is exchanged remains classical, and
therefore the encryption is theoretically no stronger than classical methods.

Image References

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/28/google-quantum-
computer-internet-security-threat
 [2] https://physics.aps.org/articles/v8/87

[3] https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/feynmans-nobel-year-48524

References

1. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/01/21/quantum-computing-opening-new-
realms-possibilities
2. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200423130440.htm
3. https://theconversation.com/a-quantum-computing-future-is-unlikely-due-to-
random-hardware-errors-126503

Video link

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_Riqjdh2oM
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlatlIaqPj8
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnPp73F5cnE

BOOKS

Sahni V., Goswami D. (2008) Nano Computing, McGraw Hill Education Asia
Ltd., ISBN: 978007024892Beiser A., Ghatak A, Garg S.C., Applied Physics,
Edition 1st, (2013), Tata McGraw-Hill, Noida.