Riding D-Wave of Quantum Computing ELI EPPERSON ILLUSTRATION BY YUXUAN MEI
W
hat happens when two of the biggest names in science and technology purchase a multimillion-dollar quantum computer? Apparently, a machine capable of solving an algorithm 100 million times faster than a traditional computer can. The computer in question is the D-Wave 2X operated by researchers at the Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab, a joint initiative of Google, NASA, and the Universities Space Research Association. D-Wave Systems, which made history as the world’s first quantum computing company developed the D-Wave 2X . Since its founding in 1999, the company has been working towards ushering in the quantum computing age. Once realized, this goal promises to change the world as we know it, allowing problems to be solved that would otherwise have taken all the time remaining in our universe to crack. Understanding the basics of a quantum computer proves surprisingly simple. Beforehand however, there is a crucial step that must be completed: disregard how you perceive reality at its most fundamental
22
level because quantum particles do not play by our rules. Consider a light switch. In our world, a light switch can be in two states, “on” or “off.” However, a light switch in the quantum world can have another option. It can be on, it can be off, or it can be both on and off. This idea of being both states at once is called superposition, and it is one of the principles that gives quantum computers an edge over classical digital computers. The states of a normal light switch can be represented by a two-symbol numbering scheme, called the binary system. These symbols, called “bits,” take the values 0 or 1. The analog in the realm of quantum computing is the qubit, which can not only take the values 0 and 1 but also a superposition of both 0 and 1. While a digital computer can make one calculation at a time, a quantum computer takes advantage of the principle of superposition, allowing it to make multiple calculations at once. As D-Wave Systems puts it, when their quantum computer (which utilizes 1000 qubits) is given a problem, it can “search
Columbia Science Review