Leaps and Bounds in Quantum Computing

Emir Can Aksoy

London, UK

Photo by Manuel on Unsplash

Quantum computing has been around for a while. As a concept, it was first introduced in the 1980s by notable physicists such as Richard Feynman. In the following decades, innovation in the quantum realm led to the development of the first 2-qubit and 3-qubit quantum computers in the late 1990s. In the past 5 years, IBM has made a huge leap by opening the Quantum Computation Centre and Quantum System Two, representing their dedication to the development of quantum processors. Despite it being around for decades, it is still not fully understood in practice.

This year, a team from the California Institute of Technology designed an array of 6100 qubits, a device of groundbreaking proportions, which promises to pave the way for the creation of the largest quantum computer to date. Team member Kon Leung even claims that within a decade, the size of this array can be scaled to 1 million qubits.

Fittingly, this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics were awarded to a team of researchers who showed how quantum particles can tunnel through matter. This is a key process in quantum computing and mechanics, and so goes a long way toward the development of future quantum computers.

The quantum realm may seem far off to many, especially to students who are interested in the field of engineering. However, recent years of development and discovery have fuelled a drive to design and surpass what was previously thought possible. One small step in the quantum world, a giant leap for the scientific community.