Context:
Article on Hindu about Quantum gates – the Devices that translate quantum effects to computing awesomeness
Conventional Computers and transistors
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify or switch electrical signals and power. It is one of the basic building blocks of modern electronics.
A bit is the smallest piece of information storage
- Modern computers use semiconductor transistors to build circuits that function as bits. A semiconductor chip hosts more than 100 million transistors on 1 sq. mm.
- As transistors become smaller, they become more susceptible to quantum effects.
- This is not desirable as the existing technology will then become unreliable for computational tasks.
- So there is a limit to how many transistors a computer can have.
Quantum theory is the theoretical basis of modern physics that explains the nature and behavior of matter and energy on the atomic and subatomic level. The nature and behavior of matter and energy at that level is sometimes referred to as quantum physics and quantum mechanics.
Quantum computing
- Quantum computers are machines that use the properties of quantum physics to store data and perform computations.
- This can be extremely advantageous for certain tasks where they could vastly outperform even our best supercomputers.
- Classical computers, which include smartphones and laptops, encode information in binary “bits” that can either be 0s or 1s.
- In a quantum computer, the basic unit of memory is a quantum bit or qubit.
- A fundamental limitation of conventional computing architecture is that each bit can exist in only one of the two states, 0 or 1. But according to quantum physics, a qubit can also be in a superposition of its two states at the same time.
Superposition is the ability of a quantum system to be in multiple states at the same time until it is measured. this essential principle of quantum mechanics concept is difficult to understand,
Quantum gates
- A quantum gate is a physical process or circuit that changes the state of a qubit or a collection of qubits.
- In the quantum-computing context, if particles or superconducting qubits are the physical qubits, the gate is often an electromagnetic pulse.
Moore’s law
- Moore’s law (announced in 1965) states that computing power increases tenfold every five years.
- This law no longer holds as we have already slowed to a two-fold increase every five years.
- But this doesn’t have to mean we are nearing the end of computing development: the quantum revolution is coming.
Source: The Hindu
Previous year question
Which one of the following is the context in which the term “qubit” is mentioned?
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2022 Prelims]
(a) Cloud Services
(b) Quantum Computing
(c) Visible Light Communication Technologies
(d) Wireless Communication Technologies
