• Question: What is a quantum computer and what does it do?

    Asked by anon-239533 to Struan, Douglas on 12 Mar 2020. This question was also asked by anon-239534.
    • Photo: Struan Simpson

      Struan Simpson answered on 12 Mar 2020:

      A quantum computer is a new type of computer that can compute things much faster than our regular computers!

      Regular computers use things called “bits” to calculate things. These bits can be thought of as being on or off, or we normally say they are in a “0” or “1” state. Quantum computers on the other hand don’t just have 0 or 1, they can also exist in a state between 0 and 1.

      It’s a bit weird thinking about what exactly this means, but imagine I were to flip a coin. When I call the coin and catch it with my hand, it will either be heads OR tails – just like the 0 or 1 you can get with a regular computer. While it’s still spinning in the air though, you can’t really decide which one it is – because it’s spinning, it’s alternating between these two different possibilities all the time, so it’s kind of like a combination of heads AND tails. In computer terms, this is like not existing as 0 or 1, but some inbetween number.

      Quantum computers can use this inbetween number, and this advantage is what lets them compute things much faster than regular computers.

    • Photo: Douglas Bray

      Douglas Bray answered on 12 Mar 2020:

      This is slightly out of my area, from what I understand a quantum computer differs from from a regular computer by increasing the number of states that a bit can exist in. This means that it can increase the computing power.

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