Explainer: What you need to know about Quantum computing

Quantum computing represents a paradigm shift that’s expected to change the nature of computing and even redefine what’s considered a computer. Its potential stretches from desktop computers to the technology in cars, homes, medical and industrial settings.  

There’s a burgeoning quantum computing ecosystem and emerging business use cases, which promise to create significant value for industries, according to a 2021 McKinsey report. Investment dollars are pouring in and startups are proliferating, the research firm has found. Big names in tech, from Alibaba to Amazon, IBM, Google and Microsoft, are also working to develop commercial quantum computing cloud services.  

China and the EU lead in terms of government funding, with Australia ranked eleventh, while private funding is rapidly increasing.  

The limits of supercomputers  

There are masses of computers running our cloud platforms, powering algorithms, serving up our Web browsing, speeding up and carrying more data as we add more processing memory, speed and power along defined mathematical frameworks.  

Yet there are limitations on what you can do with computers, says professor, David Reilly. The revered technologist holds a joint position as principal researcher and director of Microsoft Station Q, Sydney, and is the head of the Quantum Nanoscience Laboratory at the University of Sydney.  

“How far can a computer take us in what's computable? There are types of problems that even with the biggest computers imaginable you still wouldn't be able to compute the answer,” Reilly says. “Indeed, there are many such problems that fall into this category.”  

Quantum computing is increasingly being positioned as the answer to these problems. Quantum computing harnesses the laws of quantum mechanics so that the bits, or the 1s and 0s, can be processed with a higher efficiency than with classical computers. This takes computing beyond the limits of even a supercomputer laden with thousands of CPU and GPU cores.  

One of the challenges facing current supercomputers is they run into roadblocks when trying to solve problems with a high degree of complexity - typically defined as multiple variables interacting in complicated ways. For example, a supercomputer may be able to efficiently sift through masses of data in a database, yet may not identify the patterns or track long, complex sequences when working with the data.  

With classical computers and even supercomputers, there are also certain problems out of reach from the point of view of what we can compute, notes Reilly. He points to the example of fertiliser, which relies on a resource-intensive process to develop but is critically important to the world’s food supplies.  

“Something like 4 per cent of the world's energy from burning natural gas actually goes into the creation of fertiliser. And wouldn't it be great if we could make fertiliser without using all that energy?" Reilly asks.  

By contrast, plants are able to effectively create the chemicals in fertiliser. “They do it very efficiently at ambient temperature using sunlight and other chemical reactions associated with the atmosphere,” Reilly explains.  

However, humans can’t replicate this process because we don’t know the catalyst that unlocks a particular reaction and can make that reaction efficient. Discovering this would revolutionise the production of fertiliser and, in turn, food production and feeding the planet.

Reilly says trying to find the answer to that problem is beyond the fastest supercomputers we have and will have even far into the future.  

“The underlying physics has restrictions so no matter how big the machine is, or how capable or fast it is, certain problems will always still be beyond the way in which we're computing with moving bits, ones and zeros, around,” Reilly tells CMO.  

Instead, Reilly says we need a different way of computing to be able to address some of these problems; computing where the building blocks are elemental constituents of matter and light. That’s where quantum mechanics comes in.  

“If you use these [quantum] systems to build a computer, there's an opportunity to harness them for certain types of problems and to be able to find solutions very efficiently, that with our other way of computing, we know it's not possible,” Reilly explains. “It's a complete paradigm shift because the way in which we're computing is fundamentally different. It’s not faster or bigger, but different.”  

The potential for quantum computing in business and marketing  

Quantum computing promises to revolutionise computing in the way that the pioneering programming language (FORTRAN) standardised computing language and led to the beginning of software that made computers mainstream. It will also lead to a host of innovations across the full spectrum of technology-driven systems, products and services.  

Data analysis and forecasting in marketing

In marketing, it’s expected quantum computing will enable more variables to be accounted for in data analysis. Analysing other sorts of information, such as economic, social or transport of goods or systems with hundreds of datapoints could be processed by quantum computers to find significant features, connections and gaps. 

Forecasting, which relies on large data sets, is also anticipated to improve when applying quantum computing. Scenario planning, for example, can be improved by taking into account many more factors that can be computed for simulations and predictions.

Read more: How Trnsform is tapping quantum computing to improve the customer relationship

Pattern making systems

Similarly, analysis of patterns in large data sets should be improved so it is more accurate and sophisticated with the application of quantum computing. Analysing traffic patterns is one area where this could be applied. Car manufacturer, Volkswagen, is already working with Canadian quantum computing firm D-Wave and Google’s quantum computing unit on a real-time traffic-routing system.

Cryptography

Quantum computing is additionally expected to have applications in the wider business and technology context. One area it has been associated with is cryptography and enabling stronger digital protections.

Software verification

In aviation, as well as in software development in general, the process of verification and validation of software is complex. Quantum computing could make this more efficient. Finding any errors or anomalies in millions of lines of codes, particularly when it relates to aviation, could help with calculating fuel, rerouting and scheduling of aircraft could improve safety, energy efficiency and cost of flying. Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) Lockheed Martin Quantum Computing Center (QCC) are working on the use of quantum computing in aviation.

Medical research

It’s not surprising that in addition to safety and security, health and medical research is another area presenting many opportunities to improve systems and insights using quantum computing. Again, being able to include more variables in drug testing will improve the safety and efficacy of medicines, it could improve genetic analysis of medical conditions and even provide better insight

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