Quantum computing

[SpyderTracks]

Hi all

I was chatting about this with a friend today and it's really piqued my interest again.

Quantum Computing is coming along leaps and bounds, they've made some remarkable progress in the last year alone related to Quantum Entanglement which is how data is moved across a quantum network.

Fermilab and partners achieve sustained, high-fidelity quantum teleportation

Quantum information ‘teleported’ at Fermilab, Caltech represents step toward quantum internet

news.uchicago.edu

Then there's advances in Quantum CPU's:

Microsoft Scientists Build Chip That Can Handle Thousands Of Qubits

“Even a slight increase in temperature, vibrations, or even cosmic rays can make qubits lose their quantumness.”

analyticsindiamag.com

And now that they've managed to sustain "Hot Qubits" which can operate at 1.1 Kelvin which drastically reduces the requirement for extreme sub temperatures for the computer to have to run at:

New 'Hot Qubits' Let Quantum Computers Run 15X Warmer Than Before

Quantum computers have to be run at exremely low temperatures because the quantum states they rely on are incredibly fragile.

singularityhub.com

This is all well and good, and I'm loving the advances that are happening. There's no doubt that within my lifetime, I suspect there will be a working Quantum Network, and I want to get stuck in as early as possible.

But here's the drawback!!!

Just the extreme basics, Schroedinger's Cat is the basic principle behind Quantum Mechanics, it gives the idea that anything can be in three states. We're used to the On and Off state, but then there's the quantum consideration that at some point, that value can be BOTH On and Off through a subatomic event that could or couldn't influence that state.

Schrödinger's cat - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Now I'm trying my best with this, but I just can't get my head around it. I have to go seriously down to the basics. Without this fundamental understanding, Qubits and the foundational principles just aren't going to make any sense.

Does anyone know of any seriously dumbed down explanations of quantum theory that I could look into?

 

[AgentCooper]

Hi all

I was chatting about this with a friend today and it's really piqued my interest again.

Quantum Computing is coming along leaps and bounds, they've made some remarkable progress in the last year alone related to Quantum Entanglement which is how data is moved across a quantum network.

Fermilab and partners achieve sustained, high-fidelity quantum teleportation

Quantum information ‘teleported’ at Fermilab, Caltech represents step toward quantum internet

news.uchicago.edu

Then there's advances in Quantum CPU's:

Microsoft Scientists Build Chip That Can Handle Thousands Of Qubits

“Even a slight increase in temperature, vibrations, or even cosmic rays can make qubits lose their quantumness.”

analyticsindiamag.com

And now that they've managed to sustain "Hot Qubits" which can operate at 1.1 Kelvin which drastically reduces the requirement for extreme sub temperatures for the computer to have to run at:

New 'Hot Qubits' Let Quantum Computers Run 15X Warmer Than Before

Quantum computers have to be run at exremely low temperatures because the quantum states they rely on are incredibly fragile.

singularityhub.com

This is all well and good, and I'm loving the advances that are happening. There's no doubt that within my lifetime, I suspect there will be a working Quantum Network, and I want to get stuck in as early as possible.

But here's the drawback!!!

Just the extreme basics, Schroedinger's Cat is the basic principle behind Quantum Mechanics, it gives the idea that anything can be in three states. We're used to the On and Off state, but then there's the quantum consideration that at some point, that value can be BOTH On and Off through a subatomic event that could or couldn't influence that state.

Schrödinger's cat - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Now I'm trying my best with this, but I just can't get my head around it. I have to go seriously down to the basics. Without this fundamental understanding, Qubits and the foundational principles just aren't going to make any sense.

Does anyone know of any seriously dumbed down explanations of quantum theory that I could look into?

Ugh. I hate this subject. As you know, I live and work in Cambridge and as such I meet many interesting people at the top of their field. As a chatty and curious person, I like to ask them about their work. With most people I can get some kind of handle on things but when it comes to the serious physicists I am insanely out of my depth.

The most understandable version I had described to me was still way beyond me but was along these lines...

An experiment is performed where a beam is fired at an object, in that object there’s a hole in the surface, but the aperture is mildly too narrow to accommodate the entire beam.

On the inside of said object (which is operating as a controlled environment), instruments are measuring activity and they pick up the expected beam movements. But they’re also detecting atomic movements from the original beam which don’t fit into the expected pattern. Particles that scientifically shouldn’t have been able to penetrate the aperture appear within the controlled environment at unexpected junctures. Their position can be explained before the event and perhaps justified after the event, but there’s a point in that transition where it’s unaccountable why something that is not scientifically possible takes place. These atomic particles are operating outside what science can currently explain.

So the question is, how do these particles reach their destination? They’re either there or they’re not. Or they’re not obeying the accepted rules of currently accepted theory and for a brief moment existing in a realm parallel to our own.

It makes my brain itch thinking about it.

 

[TomBerry]

..........eh?

 

[steaky360]

At the basic level I believe essentially the "computer" (or network or whatever) spits out essentially a range of probabilities for each of the various states which are all possible. The most probably outcome is typically the 'right' one (or I think thats how it goes)... but thats probably oversimplifying it..

I'm super interested in all of this and its links to astrophysics etc. its all very interesting, sadly it kinda fries my brain.

Some 'related' information on the TBS Spacetime youtube channel (also - top quality science chat can be found here)

and there's also a good video on Kurzgesagt channel (if you've not seen any Kurzgesagt videos, HIGHLY recommended don't let the 'friendly visuals' fool you - they provide a descent sources document in their videos for further reading)

 

[ubuysa]

Ugh. I hate this subject. As you know, I live and work in Cambridge and as such I meet many interesting people at the top of their field. As a chatty and curious person, I like to ask them about their work. With most people I can get some kind of handle on things but when it comes to the serious physicists I am insanely out of my depth.

The most understandable version I had described to me was still way beyond me but was along these lines...

An experiment is performed where a beam is fired at an object, in that object there’s a hole in the surface, but the aperture is mildly too narrow to accommodate the entire beam.

On the inside of said object (which is operating as a controlled environment), instruments are measuring activity and they pick up the expected beam movements. But they’re also detecting atomic movements from the original beam which don’t fit into the expected pattern. Particles that scientifically shouldn’t have been able to penetrate the aperture appear within the controlled environment at unexpected junctures. Their position can be explained before the event and perhaps justified after the event, but there’s a point in that transition where it’s unaccountable why something that is not scientifically possible takes place. These atomic particles are operating outside what science can currently explain.

So the question is, how do these particles reach their destination? They’re either there or they’re not. Or they’re not obeying the accepted rules of currently accepted theory and for a brief moment existing in a realm parallel to our own.

It makes my brain itch thinking about it.

That's very similar to something I read about some time ago.

We all know of the double slit light box experiment which produces interference patterns the other side of the double slit. It's one of the cornerstones for the wave model of light.

If you reduce the brightness of the light (ie. send fewer photons) you still get the interference patterns.

If you reduce the brightness of the light to just two photons you still get the interference patterns apparently.

If you reduce the brightness of the light to just one photon you still get the interference patterns it seems. That means the photon must have travelled through both slits at the same time.....

 

[SpyderTracks]

At the basic level I believe essentially the "computer" (or network or whatever) spits out essentially a range of probabilities for each of the various states which are all possible. The most probably outcome is typically the 'right' one (or I think thats how it goes)... but thats probably oversimplifying it..

I'm super interested in all of this and its links to astrophysics etc. its all very interesting, sadly it kinda fries my brain.

Some 'related' information on the TBS Spacetime youtube channel (also - top quality science chat can be found here)

and there's also a good video on Kurzgesagt channel (if you've not seen any Kurzgesagt videos, HIGHLY recommended don't let the 'friendly visuals' fool you - they provide a descent sources document in their videos for further reading)

Those Kurzgesagt videos are really good, that’s exactly what I need!

 

[steaky360]

Another interesting video that just popped into my youtube feed

 

[SpyderTracks]

Another interesting video that just popped into my youtube feed

So clever!