In the early 90’s there was a popular tv show called “Quantum Leap”, based on a physicist who leaps through “spacetime” during time travel experiments and temporarily takes the place of other people to correct historical mistakes. Spacetime is just an explanation for why observers see where and when events occur differently. While a quantum leap means a dramatic or sudden move forward, such as with the moon landing. Now, whether this definition can be applied to the show or not is up to you. However, we may soon be experiencing our own quantum leap in the way see computing, potentially altering the future of just about everything.
That, might be a dramatic way of putting things but the wonders of quantum computing can lead to breakthroughs in various fields such as in artificial intelligence, chemistry, materials science and even down to the logistics in factories. The odds are since science is “cool” nowadays, you have heard of the term “quantum computing” before, but you probably are not entirely sure what it means. Well to explain it simply, quantum computing allows us to obliterate the existing speeds of computers by encoding more information using less space. The prime minister of Canada Justin Trudeau explains the ideas behind the physics quite well.
Justin Trudeau explaining the basics of quantum computing Source: YouTube “CBC NEWS”
So what can these super fast and small computers do? A lot actually, to start with some of their exciting uses, they can decrypt secret keys. Such as the keys websites use when you’re online shopping. You see the method these websites use relies on factoring large numbers. While multiplying 2 large numbers is easy for most computers, when it comes to factoring very big numbers (such as 500 digits) it is seen as impossible for any modern computer.
As a result, this challenge in factoring big numbers is what modern cryptography is based on. Websites use this is by giving you a large public (that anyone can access) key, this key is a product of two large prime numbers, to encode your credit card information. So the only way to hack your information is to know the two prime numbers that were used, but they are only known to the vendor. Well a quantum computer can factor this key quite easily, since it can encode more information than modern computers .However, quantum computers can also solve fill this hole it will create. By making new super secret one-time-use keys that can’t be deciphered by anyone. Creating new keys that will in way “self-destruct” if attempted to intercept
Secret keys and quantum computing explained Source: YouTube “Physics Girl”
What about uses other than secret keys? Quantum computers will allow us to efficiently simulate quantum systems, letting us see the interactions between atoms and molecules in detail. This effectively makes huge leaps in the discovery of new drugs and materials possible.
Possible configuration of quantum chips Source: No known copyright
While having a quantum computer in your pocket might not be possible tomorrow or even ever (how many of us use a super computer daily anyways), the advancements of these computers can have far reaching implications in our lives.
By: Mohamed Mohamoud
