What’s the big deal about Quantum Computing?
Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to meet a group of undergrads on campus interviewing for jobs at Microsoft and the topic of innovation and our investment in quantum computing came up. These grads and seniors asked me some tough questions…including a simple explanation of how quantum computing works and why it’s so groundbreaking.
Quantum Computing is one of the things Microsoft is working on that makes me really proud to work for the company. It’s cool and edgy, but it’s also kind of a mind-bending. Microsoft began assembling the quantum dream team more than a decade ago. These brilliant physicists, designers, and engineers get really excited talking about the future and the potential to solve big problems. When I talk to them it’s inspirational as they make even the most technically-complex things seem achievable.
They explain it this way. Computers today are based on classical technology – in everyday speak we call it digital technology. It works though calculations which are based on processing bits that are either ones or zeros.
Quantum Computers make calculations on individual atoms using qubits (quantum bits). Like bits, qubits can have a state of ones or zeros. But almost magically, like a parallel universe, a qubit can be a one and a zero at the same time. This is called superposition.
The beauty of this is that instead of comparing one possible solution at a time, a quantum computer could evaluate all solutions to a problem, all at the same time. Something that would take billions of years for a computer using bits, a quantum computer could do in days, hours, or even minutes.
Recently, I heard our CEO Satya Nadella use a simple example to explain the difference. If a classical computer were to try to figure out the world’s biggest corn maze, it would start down a path, hit a wall, back track, start again, hit a wall, and back track again until it exhausted all its options. The answer would be found but it could take a lot of time. A quantum computer unlocks massive parallelism. It could take every path in the maze simultaneously. While the correct exit path might take many years for a classical computer to find, a quantum computer could find the way out in the blink of an eye. That’s the power of quantum.
Quantum Computing is a fairly new field of research, and creating a fundamentally new computer hasn’t been easy. Calculations take place at the sub-atomic level, and at temperatures colder than deep space: 30 millikelvin. They’re very susceptible to small, local variances from vibration, heat, random electric and magnetic fields. There are only a handful of companies and universities that are investing in this technology, but the progress has been steady.
Earlier this year, we shared the progress we have made toward developing the first topological qubit, a robust type of quantum bit that will serve as the basis for a scalable, general purpose quantum computer system. We have already created a new quantum computing programming language that that will be available as a free preview, if you’re interested you can sign up to participate today.
Our vision is to build an ecosystem of hardware and software that will eventually allow developers, scientists and technologists to take advantage of quantum computing’s power to solve problems. Quantum computing will fundamentally change our world. It will impact our economy, our industries, the way we learn, and the way we interact within our societies. It will revolutionize research in healthcare, energy, chemistry and materials, our environment, governments, transportation, and more.
Microsoft is partnering with the best and the brightest to facilitate and develop this groundbreaking technology. Our quantum team is coordinating the efforts of experts in physics, mathematics, cryogenics, programming, computer science, and other fields.
It's really happening, and progress is being made. The quantum economy is coming.
What the world wants to know is what happens when we turn the machine on. We’re as anxious for those revelations to be revealed as the rest of the world. But our hunch is it will be a quantum leap forward. 😊 Some good links below:
Microsoft Quantum Computing video