Chapter 1
Quantum Computing Boot Camp
IN THIS CHAPTER
Adding strangeness to our agenda
Calculating the power of quantum computing
Identifying quantum computing’s advantages
Taking stock of quantum computer types
Overcoming barriers to new capabilities
Picture flipping a coin in the air. As it’s spinning, is it showing heads or tails? Well, you can't know the answer while the coin is spinning. Only when the coin lands and settles down does it display a definite result.
The uncertainty you see while the coin is spinning is like the uncertainty we capture and use in quantum computing. We put many processing elements — qubits — into a state of uncertainty. Then we program the qubits, run the program, and capture the results — just like when the coin lands.
Quantum computing is different from the fixed 0s and 1s, bits and bytes, used in today’s devices. Quantum computing is based on quantum mechanics, a branch of physics that can be hard to comprehend. But the way in which quantum computing ...
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