Quantum Computing 2018 Update

Quantum computing review including major hardware and other announcements since August 2017. Also coverage of businesses investigating future quantum computing applications, and the issues surrounding quantum supremacy.

Links to key sources/websites featured in this video include:

#quantumcomputing #quantumsupremacy #explainingcomputers

[azhaddad]

- Quantum ATM: "do you want to withdraw money?"
Options :
yes -
no -
yes and no - ( call it maybe)

[KowboyUSA]

If J.P. Morgan is rubbing his cold dead hands together in excitement over quantum computing, then it's probably safe to assume the intentions are malevolent ones.

[henrythegreatamerican]

These quantum computing videos should discuss how computers turn "information" from the outside world into data the computer can analyze. A brief discussion comparing computer sensors to our senses would make these videos easier to understand.

[Alex]

I think the first video I watched of yours was the 2017 update on this topic. It got me hooked. This is going to be a good Sunday.

[joedempseysr.]

I certainly hope that the promise of quantum computing doesn't become the computer science equivalent of fusion energy which has been 20 years away for the last 50 years!

That said, this was an excellent synopsis of the advances in quantum computing in the last year. Well done, Christopher!

[Bassotronics]

I can't wait for the 'actual' discovery and containment of Metalic Hydrogen for it is the key to have Quantum Computers in the pocket of each person due to it's 'room temperature' stability.

[AbeDillon]

The power of entanglement is that it allows for a more complex super-position, not that you can learn about one qubit from observing another.

When you entangle 4 qubits, the result is a system in a super-position of 16 states.

[er]

I superposed a like and a dislike on this video.

[AbeDillon]

Quantum supremacy is sort of a misnomer. It's the point where a quantum computer can do one thing better than a classical computer (like: simulate a quantum computer). Researchers are trying to correct this misnomer by calling it "quantum advantage".

Quantum advantage is supposed to be around the 50-100 qubit mark (although that assumes some ideal qubits that have no noise and are in a fully connected graph).

The point at which quantum computers can do "useful" tasks better than classical computers might be quite a bit further down the road at 1k-1M (again "ideal") qubits.

One of the problems with achieving the promised scalability of quantum computers is that assumption of a fully-connected graph. Adding one quibit to a fully connected graph of 1M qubits is significantly more difficult than adding one qubit to a fully connected graph of 10 qubits. That's why a lot of implementations don't use fully connected graphs. D-Wave systems uses some "Chimera" graph. So it takes many more qubits in those systems to represent an ideal qubit.

Also, D-Wave is focusing on a much more limited paradigm of quantum computing and real qubits have noise and can maintain a super-position for only a very short period of time. That makes it hard to do things like: perform computations that involve multiple steps. Let alone store and/or transmit quantum data.

[freesaxon]

You have carried out some serious research !
J.P Morgan interested ? Oh dear....

[peterjansen]

As a Dutch citizen who follows technology I knew that the university of Delft has good expertise in quantum computing (I read a bit about it, I saw a few pictures of the setup), I didn't know that they put it in a private company which works together with Intel. Unfortunately the Dutch government hasn't been interested in financing education and science properly since the 80's and it only has gotten worse. The cost for students has gone up from less than €500 to more than €2000 while the budget of the universities per student has gone down with more than 50%. The universities of technology in the Netherlands mostly depend on private partners and consequently mostly do research with a profit gain, a lot of fundamental research doesn't result in a profit gain.

[Myrslokstok]

And the Porn industry will find a use of it first, you can be both in and out at the same time!

[PlatinumDragonProductions]

I'm really taken aback at the progress they are making in quantum hardware. I really thought this would be a much slower process, but I guess we already have powerful and sophisticated classical computers to assist us in bringing these new machines about. I'm stunned.

[gunnarliljas]

The programming language from Microsoft is pronounced Q-sharp (Q#), not Q-hash. It follows the naming scheme used for C# and F#.

[ericartman]

Good Morning Chris, as usual thanks for the very informative video. What a nice start to my Sunday, tyvm.

[illustriouschin]

The two largest uses for QC: busting encryption and targeting advertisements.

[kaboozle]

Am I the only one who watched this well-researched video till the end and still have no real idea what quantum computers are really capable of? 😂

[Goman]

As always...Thank you for your wonderful updates on the latest computer technology. We all have busy lives and for those of us "techno geeks" your videos make it so we do not have spend endless hours searching the Internet for data and new information. Keep up the great work, it is appreciated.

[icusawme]

Well done! You are the first video about Quantum computers to mention error correction!

[eckligt]

I suspect future quantum computers will still have lots of "plumbing" that is made of up classical circuitry, for I/O, and for inserting input into and extracting output from the quantum circuitry. In this respect, I suppose the quantum circuitry will be sort of like a co-processor for an ordinary computer.

This has me thinking that quantum computing is somewhat similar to the analog computers of old, where certain combinations of pre-made electrical wiring, resistors, etc, were connected, and a voltage applied. The different physical elements would correspond to the different parts of a mathematical expression that should be computed -- often a differential equation, since these are common in engineering yet often impossible to solve analytically. The operator would adjust the input voltage so that the whole analog circuit reaches some sort of equilibrium or a predetermined output voltage, at which point the operator can note down the input voltage and use it further in his or her calculations. (Apologies if this description is inaccurate.)

So my questions are: How deep does this similarity between analog comptuers and quantum computers go? Do some different techniques in quantum computing -- like using annealing or not -- have direct equivalents in analog computers?