Quantum computing and the mysteries of “very small things”

The world is on the cusp of a computing revolution based on quantum mechanics, the physical theory that describes the behavior of matter and energy at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles.

Quantum science has also been explained by a US Government scientist as the “rules that describe how really small things behave.”

This field is full of surprises, even for experts. Richard Feynman, the late theoretical physicist, Nobel laureate, and pioneer of quantum computing, described this field as “peculiar and mysterious to everyone, both the novice and the experienced physicist”because it is very different from how people experience and perceive the behavior and properties of larger objects.

Quantum mechanics was gradually developed in the early decades of the 20th century by some of the biggest names in physics.

In recent decades, a series of possible applications have emerged, including computing, which are being investigated in more than a dozen countries, according to a report by the Center for Strategic & International Studies, based in Washington.

For quantum computing, a turning point was 1994, when American mathematician Peter Shor developed an algorithm – a mathematical procedure for performing a calculation – that demonstrated that quantum computers could be used to solve problems outside the reach of classical computers.

Code breaking will probably be one of the first major applications. According to cybersecurity experts, these computers are expected to be able to decipher encryption codes in a matter of minutes, instead of the thousands of years it would take current computers.

North America is the epicenter of quantum computing, according to industry experts. US companies manufacturing quantum processors include IBM, Amazon, Intel, Google, Quantinuum, IonQ, Microsoft, Quantum Computing Inc and Rigetti Computing. In Canada, D-Wave Systems and Xanadu Quantum Technologies have been pioneers.

The United States, Canada and Great Britain were home to the largest number of startups in this field through 2022, according to a recent McKinsey report.

In January, Chinese company Origin Quantum Computing Technology in Anhui province announced that it had delivered a completely homemade quantum computer to a user, state-controlled Chinese media reported. Some of the Chinese tech giants, such as Baidu and Tencent, are also working on quantum computing.

Origin Quantum did not respond to a request for comment.

Undoubtedly, significant engineering challenges will have to be overcome before computers become truly useful. Until now, only small ones with a relatively small number of qubits have been made in laboratories, according to physics researchers.

These computers are very fragile and the hardware is prone to “noise”, such as fluctuations in the Earth’s magnetic field or other electromagnetic signals, which cause errors. Furthermore, they are still too small to solve some complex problems, such as code breaking.

But some of these early quantum computers are already being used in early research in various fields. Automotive giant Mercedes-Benz, for example, is using IBM quantum computers to design better batteries, according to IBM.

Some technologists predict that these computers could soon become even more useful. They claim that combining these first machines with traditional processors can lead to significant improvements in solving complex problems.

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) predicted in May that companies will profit from quantum computing as early as 2025. Quantum data processing has the potential to generate revenue of up to $850 billion for users around 2035, the year for which that BCG expects the technology to be mature, the company states in the report.