INSTITUTO EVANGELICO

VIRGINIA SAPP

Name: Emily Castellanos

Teacher: Vilma Sánchez

Grade: 10 C

Date: 09-04-24

Objective:

Table of Contents
Quantum Computing..........................................................................................................................3
What is quantum computing?........................................................................................................3
Why do we need quantum computers?.........................................................................................3
How do quantum computers work?...................................................................................................4
Advantages.........................................................................................................................................5
Disadvantages....................................................................................................................................5
Bibliography.......................................................................................................................................6
Quantum Computing

What is quantum computing?

Quantum computing uses specialized technology—including computer hardware and algorithms
that take advantage of quantum mechanics—to solve complex problems that classical computers
or supercomputers can’t solve, or can’t solve quickly enough.

Today, IBM Quantum makes real quantum hardware—a tool that scientists only began to imagine
three decades ago—available to hundreds of thousands of developers. Our engineers deliver ever-
more-powerful superconducting quantum processors at regular intervals, alongside crucial
advances in software and quantum-classical orchestration. This work drives toward the quantum
computing speed and capacity necessary to change the world.

These machines are very different from the classical computers that have been around for more
than half a century. Here's a primer on this transformative technology.

Why do we need quantum computers?

When scientists and engineers encounter difficult problems, they turn to supercomputers. These
are very large classical computers, often with thousands of classical CPU and GPU cores capable of
running very large calculations and advanced artificial intelligence. However, even supercomputers
are binary code-based machines reliant on 20th-century transistor technology. They struggle to
solve certain kinds of problems.

If a supercomputer gets stumped, that's probably because the big classical machine was asked to
solve a problem with a high degree of complexity. When classical computers fail, it's often due to
complexity.

Complex problems are problems with lots of variables interacting in complicated ways. Modeling
the behavior of individual atoms in a molecule is a complex problem, because of all the different
electrons interacting with one another. Identifying subtle patterns of fraud in financial transactions
or new physics in a supercollider are also complex problems. There are some complex problems
that we do not know how to solve with classical computers at any scale.

The real world runs on quantum physics. Computers that make calculations by using the quantum
states of quantum bits should in many situations be our best tools for understanding it.
How do quantum computers work?
An IBM Quantum processor is a wafer not much bigger than the one found in a laptop. And a
quantum hardware system is about the size of a car, made up mostly of cooling systems to keep
the superconducting processor at its ultra-cold operational temperature.

A classical processor uses classical bits to perform its operations. A quantum computer uses qubits
(CUE-bits) to run multidimensional quantum algorithms.

Superconductors

Your desktop computer likely uses a fan to get cold enough to work. Our quantum processors need
to be very cold–about a hundredth of a degree above absolute zero—to avoid “decoherence,” or
retain their quantum states. To achieve this, we use super-cooled superfluids. At these ultra-low
temperatures certain materials exhibit an important quantum mechanical effect: electrons move
through them without resistance. This makes them "superconductors."

When electrons pass through superconductors they match up, forming "Cooper pairs." These pairs
can carry a charge across barriers, or insulators, through a process known as quantum tunneling.
Two superconductors placed on either side of an insulator form a Josephson junction.

Control

Our quantum computers use Josephson junctions as superconducting qubits. By firing microwave
photons at these qubits, we can control their behavior and get them to hold, change and read out
individual units of quantum information.

Superposition

A qubit itself isn't very useful. But it can perform an important trick: placing the quantum
information it holds into a state of superposition, which represents a combination of all possible
configurations of the qubit. Groups of qubits in superposition can create complex,
multidimensional computational spaces. Complex problems can be represented in new ways in
these spaces.

Entanglement

Quantum entanglement is an effect that correlates the behavior of two separate things. Physicists
have found that when two qubits are entangled, changes to one qubit directly impact the other.

Interference

In an environment of entanged qubits placed into a state of superposition, there are waves of
probabilities. These are the probabilities of the outcomes of a measurement of the system. These
waves can build on each other when many of them peak at a particular outcome, or cancel each
other out when peaks and troughs interact. These are both forms of interference.

A computation on a quantum computer works by preparing a superposition of all possibile

computational states. A quantum circuit, prepared by the user, uses interference selectively on the
components of the superposition according to an algorithm. Many possible outcomes are
cancelled out through interference, while others are amplified. The amplified outcomes are the
solutions to the computation.

Advantages
 Faster problem solving

 Ability to solve complex problems

 Running complex simulations

 Potential applications in materials science, pharmaceutical research, subatomic physics,

logistics, cybersecurity, bio-engineering, AI, finance, and complex manufacturing.

Disadvantages
 Quantum error correction and environmental sensitivity are major challenges.

 Post-quantum cryptography is a national security concern.

 Quantum-powered AI could create unintended consequences.

 Formulating algorithms with quantum precision requires a deep understanding of

quantum mechanics and specialized expertise.

 Requirement for extremely low temperatures.

 Limited accessibility to the public.

 Navigating challenges in Internet security.

Bibliography

What is Quantum Computing? | IBM

What is Quantum Computing? - NASA

What is quantum computing? | Live Science

Advantages and Disadvantages of Quantum Computing: Explained (theknowledgeacademy.com)