Quantum science and the mysteries of very small things – 12/25/2023 – Science

The world is on the brink of a revolution in computing based on quantum mechanics — the physics theory that describes the behavior of matter and energy at the level 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 the field as “peculiar and mysterious to everyone—both the novice and the experienced physicist” because it is so different from the way people experience and perceive the behavior and properties of larger objects.

Quantum mechanics was gradually developed in the first decades of the 20th century by some of the biggest names in physics. In recent decades, a number of potential applications have emerged, including computing, with research underway in more than a dozen countries, according to a report by the Washington-based Center for Strategic & International Studies.

For quantum computing, a turning point occurred in 1994, when American mathematician Peter Shor developed an algorithm — a mathematical procedure for performing a calculation — that showed that quantum computers could be used to solve problems beyond the reach of classical computers.

Code breaking will likely be an important application early on. These computers are expected to be able to crack encryption codes in minutes rather than the thousands of years it would take current computers, according to cybersecurity experts.

North America is the epicenter of quantum computing, according to industry experts. American companies building 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 the United Kingdom were home to the largest number of startups in the field as of 2022, according to a recent McKinsey report.

In January, China’s Origin Quantum Computing Technology Company, based in Anhui province, announced that it had delivered a completely homemade quantum computer to a user, according to reports in Chinese state-controlled media. Some of China’s tech giants, including Baidu and Tencent, are also working on quantum computing.

Undoubtedly, substantial engineering challenges must be overcome before these computers are truly useful. Until now, only small computers, with a relatively small number of qubits, have been built in laboratories around the world, 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 leads to errors. And they are still too small to solve some challenging problems, including code breaking.

But some of these first quantum computers are already being used for initial research in several areas. Auto giant Mercedes-Benz, for example, is now 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 early machines with traditional processors could lead to important improvements in solving complex problems.

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) predicted in a May report that businesses will reap benefits from quantum computing as early as 2025. Quantum data processing has the potential to generate up to $850 billion in revenue for users by about 2035 , the year BCG expects the technology to be mature, the company said in the report.