The Present and Future of Quantum Computing

Quantum computing may sound like movies and science fiction. There we have the new Marvel movie Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Mania, but the truth is that this is something that is already being used to solve certain problems.

Among the tasks of quantum “computers” is the training of artificial intelligence, but they are also used in research environments to perform extremely complex operations in a short period of time.

There are very powerful companies like Google, Intel or IBM that are constantly fighting to achieve quantum supremacy, which also happens with supercomputers, and at the last quantum summit, IBM announced that everything was going according to its plans.

They showed Ospreytheir latest development, but they also gave us a glimpse of what’s to come and the bugs they’ll face in the coming years.

The Present and Future of Quantum Computing:

• A brief reminder of what quantum computing is
• Where are we now in quantum computing?
• We have 433 qubits, but in three years we will reach 4158
• And all this for what?

A brief reminder of what quantum computing is

The first thing to see is what quantum computing is. If you know anything about “calculations” with lots of quotes, you know that classical calculations have the binary language of 0 and 1.

In classical computing, there are two possible states (or 1 or 0) and with their combination we can perform different operations like AND, NOT and OR. However, in quantum computing, let’s assume that they overlap both can happen at the same time.

They can have many ones and several zeros, vice versa or parity, but in the end … both states at the same time. The measure is a qubit or qubit (quantum bit) And, as you might guess, the more… the better. What is this for? Well, to give multiple solutions to the same problem at the same time.

Of course, building such computers is difficult, because in addition to the need for a powerful cooling system (lack of liquid cooling like that in your PC, here we are talking about systems that keep it at -273º), we need to scale the power of quantum processors, improve transmission to create modular systems, and reduce error correction.

And that’s what these quantum computers make mistakes when performing operations and one of the goals of the big quantum computing companies is to keep that to a minimum, although as I’ll tell you later, they still have a few more years to get serious about fixing bugs.

Where are we now in quantum computing?

One of the most striking things about quantum computing is how fast it is evolving. by creating ever more powerful processors with more modular capabilities.

Obviously, the most powerful companies are behind this, and we have giants such as Microsoft, Google, Intel, IBM or Honeywell, as well as Chinese companies constantly striving for quantum supremacy.

Taking as an example the IBM processors presented at the Quantum Summit, in 2019 they introduced the Falcon with 27 qubits, in 2020 they launched the Hummingbird with 65 qubits, Eagle launched a year ago with 127 qubits and now they have reached 433 qubits with Osprey..

The company’s roadmap is progressing according to plan, and at present, quantum computers from various companies are used primarily for training in artificial intelligence, natural sciences, process optimization, and even in finance.

From 2021 to 2022, IBM processors experienced monstrous progress in power, but also in what they can do. However, this is only the beginning.

IBM introduces Osprey with 433 qubits, but we will reach 4158 in three years

And it is that, as the company announced, by 2025 they want to get Kookaburra, a set of processors that receive a block of 4158 qubits.

Something that IBM is working on is communication between different systems.what they want to achieve with Kookaburra as a modular processor that allows you to combine multiple systems to get a total of 16,632 qubits.

With the Flamingo processor due in 2024, which is said to have 1386 qubits, IBM plans to start bug fixing and work on bug fixing after the release of Kookaburra.

And all this for what?

In the end, quantum computing is what “begins”, but it is used to solve some current problems. AI training is one of them, but it can also be used for biomedicine and scientific research.

Studies and data have already been presented showing that a quantum computer can solve a problem in seconds that would have taken traditional computers thousands of years to solve.

Right now, quantum computing is like starting a business and research computing back then. NASA sent a man into space with 4 KB of RAM and 72 KB of memory and the capacity of two NOR logic gates.

Today it seems ridiculous, but at one time computers were not very powerful and were limited to certain segments.. Now we all carry it in our pocket, and gradually quantum computing will become more “commercial”, but it can also be used for more everyday tasks.

For example, designing cars and planes in a more efficient and optimal way, very accurate calculation of mobility routes in real time, computer security systems with highly secure encrypted information, and, in general, operations that are currently performed by supercomputers, but taking much less time.