Not wasting anytime since the last post, where I collected a few baseline terms for quantum computing, let’s jump into an announcement from IBM this week – the commercial release of the IBM Q System One quantum computer. How does our first pass at quantum terms help read an article like this? Before getting to that I have to say: Man, does that box look sweet!
EDIT 9/22/19: The img link from the original post is broken, here is a reference article:
https://www.engadget.com/2019/01/08/ibm-q-system-one-quantum-computer/
I appreciate that the author ( Science, Laser Physicist), expressed sentiment of sci-fi movies when describing quantum computing. Very much the way I reacted and described in my first blog, so we agree on that.
The author describes the notion of bits being in both states simultaneously – that’s superpositioning. Her follow-on statement:
As a result, when more than one quantum bit (qubit) act in a similar manner they can interfere with each other meaning that more than one process can occur at a given time
I don’t quite follow how interference translates to more than one process occurring at a given time. But the next comment…
Therefore, quantum computers are much faster than classical computers since they can carry out multiple processes in one go. This is normally known as parallelism and allows the computer to carry out a million computations at a given time.
…certainly introduces a new, however, familiar one – parallelism. From classic computing, the “goodness” makes immediate sense. The more processes I run in parallel, the faster my workload is completed (yah, yah, I know it depends on the workload. Assume ones optimized for high parallelism.). Assuming this behavior to be true, the relation to optimization problems is clear.
Next:
A qubit is typically either a photon, atoms, ions or electrons and computer scientists control them with control devices. Some of these include ion or optical traps or superconducting circuits.
Ah, this is interesting. There are different types of transistors – different substrate/gate technologies. Seems to be the same for qubits; however, this range of atomic & subatomic structure seems a level more complicated.
One of the main problems faced when building a supercomputer is how fragile qubits are. Qubits have to be made in specific environments that need to be isolated from the outside world. If a quantum system is to interfere with the outside world it collapses back into a classical state and so works like a classical computer, which is not ideal.
Ok, now we’re getting into some practical realities. We haven’t figured out to make qubits stable yet. “Isolated from the outside world” sure sounds like a relationship to ultra-cold operating environments we read about previously.
The Q System One looks very sleek in its half-inch thick glass
That’s for sure!
IBM worked with numerous scientists and engineers and even a Milan-based manufacturer that designed display cases for the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London.
The designer appears to be Goppion. Don’t underestimate the importance of design appeal, ala Apple products.
More on specs:
It sits in a series of independent aluminum and steel framed which help eliminate vibrational interference. IBM’s Q System One has 20 qubits.
Quantum computers are apparently sensitive to vibrational effects in addition to cold – got it. 20 qubits is an interesting point. We’ve read previously that beta quantum systems can go to the hundreds of qubits, so it’s interesting that IBM found 20 to be commercially viable. Could be a first-mover advantage play.
But for it to achieve performance greater than classical computers the number of qubits needs to increase to at least 50 qubits, a milestone known as quantum supremacy.
As expected, there is a threshold where quantum computers outpace classic computers. Apparently that’s around 50 qubits, but there is more to learn on why this number.
In the next post, we’ll run through this follow-up article on Goppion, the Milan-based designer of the IBM Q.
Terms:
- Parallelism: (A refresher) Performing multiple processes at the same time.
- Quantum Supremacy: The point at which quantum computers outpace classical computers
Questions:
- How are the different types of qubits constructed? (photon, atoms, ions or electrons)
- What kinds of problems can be solved with 20 qubits and why is IBM targeting this market?
- Why is 50 qubits the specific threshold for performance outpacing a classical computer?
Quantum Journey Blog 