Über kleine Teilchen und kleine Physiker:innen
On quantum technologies.
WROUM, Schi, Schi, Schi, WROUM, Schi, Schi, Schi, Jiiii, Jiiii, Jiiii, Jiiii – No, we’re not at a techno concert, but in an MRI tube. Anyone who has ever had the questionable pleasure of having done an MRI scan will know what I’m talking about. As if it wasn’t bad enough to feel like Dracula in a coffin, you’re subjected to the most boring techno music in the world. As I lay there trying not to sway to the beat, I asked myself: Does it have to be that loud?
Physics and medicine have a close but changing relationship. Many discoveries in physics are regarded as major breakthroughs precisely when they bring medical benefits. Stethoscopes use membranes to amplify acoustic waves, thermometers utilize the thermal expansion of mercury to measure temperature, and sonography uses ultrasound to take a first look at the unborn baby. However, some discoveries in physics turn out to be a double-edged sword. X-rays, for example, allow us to look inside the body to recognize and correctly treat bone fractures. There is only one small disadvantage: X-rays destroy our bodies and can kill us.
It may surprise you: quantum technology is more than just quantum computing. I like to get upset that quantum technology is often equated with quantum computing because there are many ways to improve technology using quantum physics. Here, I want to talk about quantum computing’s big, modest sister: quantum simulation. They are closely related, and…
As Andy Williams sang: It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, not Christmas – the Nobel Prizes were awarded! This year, the Nobel Prize Committee had a special gift for us: A Nobel Prize for Quantum Physics! Exactly 10 years after the last big Nobel Prize was awarded to the quantum physicists Serge Haroche and David Wineland. No question that we have to take a closer look.
Everyone is talking about quantum computers. Do you sometimes feel like you’ve missed the boat and no longer dare to ask how a quantum computer actually works and what it’s supposed to be good for? Then my blog series “FAQ: Quantum Computer” is for you! Many news articles on quantum computing do not (or no longer) go into sufficient detail about the new quantum machines, which quickly leads to misunderstandings and confusion.
I have gone into the details of the “miracle machines” in three articles. Here you will find an overview of the questions I have tried to answer – including a short version of the answer.
The quantum computer as the holy grail: with it everything will be better, everything will be faster, unsolvable problems will become child’s play, banks beware – your encryption is finished! Is that really the case? In what are quantum computers really better than classical computers and in what are they perhaps not? In my series “FAQ: Quantum Computers” series, I try to clear up common misconceptions and erase question marks. This is the last part of the series and it’s about the differences between classical and quantum computers.
Many articles on quantum computing are rushing quite a lot. “A qubit can be in the states 0 and 1 at the same time, and that’s why quantum computers are better than classical ones.” Sure…? Um, no, that was a bit too quick. In my series “FAQ: Quantum computer” I try to clear up common misconceptions and erase question marks. This article is about how to make a quantum computer out of many qubits.
Quantum computers bring quantum physics into the spotlight. Because tech giants as Google, IBM, Microsoft, and Amazon are all over them, they are the talk of the town. In addition to scientific journals, daily newspapers and gossip magazines also report on qubits and their friends. Quantum computers are always explained “simply and compactly”. I could also write an article like this, but more specifically, I would like to address the misunderstandings and confusion that such articles often cause. This is not (necessarily) the fault of the authors because no one can adequately explain quantum physics in 5000 characters. Others, however, blatantly sell the quantum computer as a holy grail or Pandora’s box. As so often, the truth lies somewhere in the between.
When you think of quantum technology, you think of quantum computers. Or science fiction, light sabres and half-dead cats. But quantum technology is more than the chase for the quantum computer. The second quantum revolution is about breaking boundaries and taming nature’s smallest building blocks. What emerges is a superlative technology: smaller, faster, safer, more precise. And not to forget: more incomprehensible.
Quantum technology is on everyone’s lips. Boulevard newspapers report on quantum computers under the factual title “Computers will dominate mankind!” In most cases, quantum technology is presented mysteriously, as a product of the future: science fiction. But one point most articles keep quiet about: Quantum technology already exists and we all have it at home.