As the saying goes, “it’s not brain surgery, folks.”
Instead it’s quantum physics. Easy stuff. You’ve got this. Let’s jump into it.
According to this article in Futurism, Google has developed a quantum computer so fast it was able to process a complex math formula that would have taken today’s fastest supercomputers 10 septillion years to complete. That’s literally older than time and the universe itself so we’re talking about a looooong time – and a really fast computer.
But that’s not all. The Google team also hints at the claim that this extraordinary achievement “lends credence to the notion that quantum computation occurs in many parallel universes” at the same time. That’s how it can do it so fast. It parses the work out to parallel universes – millions or billions or trillions of them, I suppose – and they all just put their heads down and get to work.
Eventually they come back with the solution, but it only feels like a short time here on earth. This is due to one of the principles of quantum physics called “superposition”.
It means quantum states can be in multiple configurations at the same time. This is why they consider them parallel universes. They are in different states, or “universes”, simultaneously. Unlike computers we know and use today which use binary code, i.e. 0s and 1s placed in an infinite number of different configurations to create a language and meaning, quantum computing suggests that things can be both 0s and 1s at the same time. That exponentially expands something that was already potentially infinite.
Whoah!
Like most research, there are detractors and naysayers. According to one German physicist, “The result of this calculation has no practical use,” referring to Google’s work.
Of course it doesn’t. It’s research. It’s meant to lead to the next breakthrough, which leads to the next breakthrough, which may eventually lead to something new or different or practical. Or maybe it just leads to the next breakthrough.
So there you go. An update on quantum computing and an intro to quantum physics.
If you really want to learn more about quantum computing, here’s a fun explainer video on YouTube that explains to five different audiences: a young child, a teenager, a college student, a grad student, and a professional.
