Quantum Computing

You may have heard of the word Quantum, either from movies such as ‘Interstellar’ or from discoveries studying quantum physics/quantum mechanics. But what really is quantum?

Quantum is the Latin word for amount and, in modern terms, means the smallest possible discrete unit of any physical property, such as energy or matter. In this article, we will be discussing quantum computing.

Image Source: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/games-round-quantum-computing

Quantum computing is the exploitation of collective properties of quantum states, such as superposition and entanglement, to perform computation. The devices that perform quantum computations are known as quantum computers.

It began in 1980 when physicist Paul Benioff proposed a quantum mechanical model of the Turing machine. Richard Feynman and Yuri Manin later suggested that a quantum computer had the potential to simulate things a classical computer could not possibly do. In 1994, Peter Shor developed a quantum algorithm for factoring integers with the potential to decrypt RSA-encrypted communications.

Quantum computing was listed as one of the top technology trends in 2021. It’s involved in preventing the spread of the coronavirus and developing potential vaccines, thanks to its ability to easily query, monitor, analyze and act on data, regardless of the source. Another field where quantum computing is finding applications in banking and finance, to manage credit risk for high-frequency trading and fraud detection.

Quantum computers are now a multitude times faster than regular computers and huge brands like Splunk, Honeywell, Microsoft, AWS, Google, and many others are now involved in making innovations in the field of quantum computing. The revenues for the global quantum computing market are projected to surpass $2.5 billion by 2029. And to make a mark in this new trending technology, you need to have experience with quantum mechanics, linear algebra, probability, information theory, and machine learning.

Sources

https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/quantum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_computing

https://www.simplilearn.com/top-technology-trends-and-jobs-article

Written by Chanisda Von Der Luehe and Amanda Y