First, sorry been out due to IT migration for several days to a new operating system from older ones. Working in IT can result in some very long days. In any event, today we are going to explore this mystical term called "Quantum Computer". So what is a Quantum computer? Well many will describe what Quantum Computer does, but does not describe what it really is. So, I will attempt to do so here.

A quantum computer harnesses some of the almost-mystical phenomena of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. Thus a Quantum computer uses Qubits which is akin to the ones and zeros of a current computer bit. However, a Qubit is different. A qubit uses the quantum mechanical phenomena of superposition to achieve a linear combination of two states. A classical binary bit can only represent a single binary value, such as 0 or 1, meaning that it can only be in one of two possible states. A qubit, however, can represent a 0, a 1, or any proportion of 0 and 1 in superposition of both states, with a certain probability of being a 0 and a certain probability of being a 1. So you may ask, well it is not exactly a one or zero but could be in-between these two states, so how useful is this? First, a qbit is made from trapped ions, photons, artificial or real atoms, or quasiparticles. These qubit systems operate at either really high temperatures and, some implementations need their qubits to be kept at temperatures
close to absolute zero (very, very cold). Note the issue of superposition, that includes interference, and entaglement,

Superposition, interference, and entanglement:

Superposition enables quantum algorithms to utilize other quantum mechanical phenomena, such as interference and entanglement. Together, superposition, interference, and entanglement create computing power that can solve problems exponentially faster than classical computers.

What is Interference?

A consequence of superposition is interference. Qubit states can interfere with each other because each state is described by a probability amplitude, just like the amplitudes of waves. Think of throwing a rock into a pond and the waves around where the rock hit the water is a wave and near the rock the wave is larger and further away the wave is smaller this is called amplitude. Constructive interference enhances amplitude, while destructive interference cancels out amplitude. Interference is used together with entanglement to enable the quantum acceleration promised by quantum computation.

What is Entanglement?

Multiple qubits can exhibit quantum entanglement. Entangled qubits always correlate with each other to form a single system. Even when they're infinitely far apart, measuring the state of one of the qubits allows us to know the state of the other, without needing to measure it directly.

Entanglement is required for any quantum computation and it cannot be efficiently performed on a classical computer. Applications include factoring large numbers (Shor's algorithm) and solving search problems (Grover's algorithm).

Qubits are fragile:

One of the most significant hurdles in quantum computing is the fragile nature of qubits. Entanglement of the qubit system with its environment, including the measurement setup, could easily perturb the system and cause decoherence. Therefore, advancements in quantum computing hardware construction and error-correction methods are currently being developed.

Topological qubits are more stable:

To address the challenge of fragility, Microsoft uses topological qubits, which are stabilized by manipulating their structure and surrounding them with chemical compounds that protect them from outside contamination. Topological qubits are protected from noise due to the quasiparticle topological properties, making the Microsoft quantum hardware more robust against errors. This increased stability will help the quantum computer scale to complete longer, more complex computations to bring more complex solutions within reach.

Microsoft is taking an unique approach by designing such a machine with a new type of qubit—a topological qubit. It’s theorized to be more stable than any other qubit engineered to date, which means this quantum machine will be small enough to fit in a closet and fast enough to solve problems in days to weeks.

A topological qubit is based upon a mathematical concept of topology is a branch of mathematics describing structures that experience physical changes such as being bent, twisted, compacted, or stretched, yet still maintain the properties of the original form. When applied to quantum computing, topological properties create a level of protection that helps a qubit retain information despite what’s happening in the environment. The topological qubit achieves this extra protection in two different ways:

Electron fractionalization is splitting the electron, quantum information is stored in both halves, behaving similarly to data redundancy. If one half of the electron runs into interference, there is still enough information stored in the other half to allow the computation to continue.

Ground state degeneracy is topological qubits are engineered to have two ground states—known as ground state degeneracy—making them much more resistant to environmental noise. Normally, achieving this protection isn’t feasible because there’s no way to discriminate between the two ground states. However, topological systems can use braiding or measurement to distinguish the difference, allowing them to achieve this additional protection.

So as you can see Quantum computers are using rules from quantum mechanics to cause atoms to spin or act in a desired state based on the conduction and energy to change their state be it photon or particle. This is still in its infancy, but as with the qbit discussion above progress is being made where you can have quantum computer the size of a closet that can be mass produced.

This is a blessing and a curse and can change the way we live and are when we introduce AI into this equation. Will we still be human in the future or Borg like or be eliminated totally? Time will tell there is a lot of good that can be brought about with computing computing like cures to illnesses, understanding the universe around us, and reality itself. There is the possibility of evil as well from false information, rewriting history, to the elimination of a race or all humans and life itself. As with all tools they can be used for good or for evil and shades in between. I personally see the good in this technology thou we do not fully understand it yet. What do you think about quantum computers?

References:

• https://www.ibm.com/topics/quantum-computing
• https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/cloud-computing-dictionary/what-is-a-qubit/#future-of-qubits
• https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/solutions/quantum-computing/technology/#overview
• https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/01/29/66141/what-is-quantum-computing/
• https://www.britannica.com/science/quantum-mechanics-physics
• https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/quantum/2018/09/06/developing-a-topological-qubit/