What is Quantum Computing and its relevance!

Quantum computing is something that most people will feel is right out of a science fiction book rather than reality. By many scientists it is seen as the future of computing where processing power can be increased exponentially. This sort of technology is essential to keep Moore's Law true which states that

Moore's law describes a long-term trend in the history of computing hardware. The number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit has doubled approximately every two years. The trend has continued for more than half a century and is not expected to stop until 2015 or later.

So while conventional computers process data at a nano scale, quantum physics is all about subatomic scale! Lets see what wikipedia has to saw about Quantum Computing,

A quantum computer is a device for computation that makes direct use of quantum mechanical phenomena, such as superposition and entanglement, to perform operations on data. 

To know further press the read more link.


 What exactly is the quantum phenomenon? Here's what wikipedia says.

Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter.

So basically what we gather from here is that quantum computing is the use of the state of electrons in an on or off position which can be taken as a 0 or 1 bit that is required as the binary code for computing. All this seems out of this world right? Well not really only yesterday David Awschalom from the University of California Santa Barbara announced that they have successfully created technology that allows them to READ the state of the electrons, bringing the science THAT much closer to achieving the goal.


That is all for the science, what is the relevance of all this?
Well for one, you will have blazing fast computers! The power of supercomputers of today will potentially be sitting a processor as small as your smatphones'. Another notable advantage would be that data in the quantum universe is highly secure! In fact it is not copyable. The mere act of copying the data would cause the original to lose its property. Besides that there are things that we cant even imagine right now that will be unlocked with this technology! Maybe one day this will help us find the cures to diseases like diabetes or Alzheimer's. Maybe the fundamental questions facing humanity can be answered like the origins of life!