Quantum Computing, The Future of All Technology

There is no doubting the potential that Quantum computing will have of the digital world we know today. In a nutshell, a standard computer calculates possibilities one after another cycling through every input combination until it arrives at a solution, this means that the most complicated calculations take forever to complete. Quantum computers however, work in qubits (where it can be a 0 and a 1 at the same time an advanced stage of binary code) to enable the processor to compute all possibilities simultaneously.

Currently quantum computers are estimated to cost around £10 million and are often deemed as too expensive/overpowering for a vast amount of business tasks. On the other hand, they enable large organisations to crunch large complex databases, gain revolutionary insights and perform other multifaceted tasks.

One advantage they have in a scenario that can be understood is finding the shortest way to a destination. If an organisation has a number of salesman who need to arrive at a particular place and if they also have thousands of employees with even more vacationers, it becomes a time consuming task to calculate the shortest routes. With a quantum computer it calculates every single possibility and within a matter of seconds solves the complication.

In a more relevant and complex scenario, they will also undoubtedly smash all internet security codes and algorithms. Standard internet codes work on the principal of having an extraordinary long prime number. This would be answer to the multiplication of two other prime numbers, to break the code the two original prime numbers must be calculated. As the current largest prime number stands at 17,425,170 digits it is nigh on impossible for current computers to solve calculations of this magnitude. Only the people who know the original combination can gain access to a particular network. This is the basic principal of how internet banking and other such industries maintain the highest levels of security.

This is where things get interesting. As mentioned above, quantum computers eventually will breakdown the parameters we currently work to. As the machines evolve over time, they will be able to calculate every single combination of prime numbers divisible by the original number, all at the same time and instantly crack the code. With this kind of staggering power, governments and organisations will have to adapt techniques to avoid potential system meltdowns should this technology be developed or fall into the wrong hands.

They also have the ability to simulate a whole world in a holographic environment, replicate biological systems to understand diseases and find cures, solve multiple equations necessary to create extremely accurate weather forecasting and simulate how subatomic particles interact, exhibiting fundamentally how everything in the universe works.

On a final internet related point, potentially linking together multiple computers to create a quantum Internet so powerful that search engines would respond to queries almost like a human being, answering questions immediately and in any language.