Quantum Computing For Dummies

Chapter 3

Examining the Roots of Quantum Computing

IN THIS CHAPTER

Having fun with fundamental particles

Embracing uncertainty

Making history, coherently

Quantum mechanics is not only a scientific accomplishment of the first order but also a philosophical revolution, changing how we see the universe — in ways that people are still disagreeing about today. Our assumptions about the way the world works are, quite naturally, based on our daily experience and traditional scientific methods developed over centuries. But quantum mechanics challenges those assumptions.

At the core of scientific practice is repeatability: If you do the same experiment with the same starting conditions many times, you will get the same result every time. The same is true in daily life: If you hold a heavy weight above your foot and let it go, gravity will always cause it to fall, and the impact will always hurt. Trust in this reliability is called determinism.

But quantum mechanics tells us that the fundamental state of the universe is non-deterministic. When you run experiments on the smallest particles, you can state the probability of different outcomes, but the specific results will vary from one run ...