hope this is right place to ask this regarding quantum computing

[gyrados]

now what are the impacts of true quantum computing i mean what will it be able to achieve and i dont just mean for video gaming either i mean what is the impact of it i really dont understand quantum computing so hoping some smart ppl lurk here that can explain it for me ty

[MrPaladinGuy]

Perhaps you should try to understand commas first.

[Keyboardjenkins]

Perhaps you should try to understand commas first.

Always an asshole floating around.

[Soisoisoi]

In the most simple terms, they'll be a lot faster for certain things. Until we get a decent way to make them work and be able to downscale them as well it'll be a bit meh. Though I read something the other day about them being able to use Silicon and overcome two limitations of existing designs - the need for precisely placed Atoms, AND allowing them to be placed further apart whilst still coupled - Google "flip flop qubit".

I'm sure someone knows more about the stuff that just what I've read and can explain.

[MrPaladinGuy]

Always an asshole floating around.

More like I wasn't going to feed the obvious troll and counter trolled them.

[SirCowdog]

Always an asshole floating around.

To be fair, if someone was going to honestly try to explain the effects of such a high level concept as quantum computing, it might not hurt to be aware that the concepts presented could very well be out of the range of someone who doesn't even understand basic grammar.

That being said, there also might have been better ways to explain that....

So, maybe the OP should start by googling "how does quantum computing work" and reading up on some articles. Maybe go read, or listen to, Stephen Hawking's "The Universe in a Nutshell". I like to think of myself as a fairly intelligent person, and some of the things described are still VERY difficult to wrap my head around.

But to jump back to the original point of the discussion: What are the possible effects of quantum computing? Super-fast computers, for one. Very advanced artificial intelligence that can work more of concepts and ideas instead of simple 1s and 0s. Potentially, faster than light communication.

The problem with quantum mechanics is that it doesn't really behave by a good set of rules. Or if it does, we haven't really fully locked down those rules well enough to make good guesses at what's fully possible. So much of it is still theoretical and not hard fact. Guessing what might be possible based only on theories is shaky ground.

And really, unless you think there might be a legitimate quantum physicist lurking around the MMO-champ forums(lol?), chances are pretty good you're not going to get any answers worth a damn.

[BananaHandsB]

There are calculations that classical computers still cannot do in a reasonable amount of time, no matter how much processing power you give them. For example the traveling salesman problem, which is a cute way of presenting a problem with exponential complexity. Even a fairly basic quantum computer, in theory, could solve these problems with ease. For video-gaming, it's not really a big deal. Classical computers can do just about all we need them to do for gaming, and they are still going to get faster and cheaper as time goes on. Some day, quantum computers might overtake classical computers, but that is a LONG way away. Probably not in our life time. For a chip to exist in a quantum state and run quantum calculations, it needs to be almost entirely isolated from outside factors which would break down the quantum state, and as such, even a basic quantum computer takes a huge amount of money going into the means of isolating it. By the time we make a reasonably sized and powerful quantum computer, classical computers will be so much faster and cheaper, it may still only be reasonable to build a quantum computer for very isolated research and data analysis purposes and still use our cheap classical computers for everything else, including gaming.

[dadev]

To be fair, if someone was going to honestly try to explain the effects of such a high level concept as quantum computing, it might not hurt to be aware that the concepts presented could very well be out of the range of someone who doesn't even understand basic grammar.

That being said, there also might have been better ways to explain that....

So, maybe the OP should start by googling "how does quantum computing work" and reading up on some articles. Maybe go read, or listen to, Stephen Hawking's "The Universe in a Nutshell". I like to think of myself as a fairly intelligent person, and some of the things described are still VERY difficult to wrap my head around.

But to jump back to the original point of the discussion: What are the possible effects of quantum computing? Super-fast computers, for one. Very advanced artificial intelligence that can work more of concepts and ideas instead of simple 1s and 0s. Potentially, faster than light communication.

The problem with quantum mechanics is that it doesn't really behave by a good set of rules. Or if it does, we haven't really fully locked down those rules well enough to make good guesses at what's fully possible. So much of it is still theoretical and not hard fact. Guessing what might be possible based only on theories is shaky ground.

And really, unless you think there might be a legitimate quantum physicist lurking around the MMO-champ forums(lol?), chances are pretty good you're not going to get any answers worth a damn.

I'm not a physicist by trade, but do know a thing or two about qed and some things about quantum computing. With how we understand quantum mechanics today, explaining how quantum computer works "in a nutshell" is completely out of the scope for anyone who's asking such question (even without grammar mistakes). That is the harsh truth. Heck, most people wouldn't understand how normal computer works, let alone a quantum one.
Quantum computers are not like classic computers, and their output doesn't look like one of classical computer. They can solve certain problems faster than a classical computer, but with caveats. You never get a straight answer out of it, but a probabilistic one. It's not a real issue in an ideal world, but there are complication in implementation. Also, every problem a classical computer can solve fast, so can a quantum computer, but again in an ideal world where implementation doesn't stand in the way.

With regards to quantum mechanics (qm), it's probably the most exact branch of physics we currently know right after special relativity (but sr is also very simplistic and doesn't try to shoot very far). The set of rules is in fact defined quite well, surprisingly well. The problem is of course intuition, or rather lack of for the uninitiated. I cannot think of any non-statistical physics branch other than sr which has been through more rigor than qm. And no, faster than light local communication is impossible, or otherwise everything we know about physics is incorrect and just an illusion of correctness. Non local communication is a tricky question, and it depends on how qm will integrate with general relativity (gr).

There are calculations that classical computers still cannot do in a reasonable amount of time, no matter how much processing power you give them. For example the traveling salesman problem, which is a cute way of presenting a problem with exponential complexity. Even a fairly basic quantum computer, in theory, could solve these problems with ease. For video-gaming, it's not really a big deal. Classical computers can do just about all we need them to do for gaming, and they are still going to get faster and cheaper as time goes on. Some day, quantum computers might overtake classical computers, but that is a LONG way away. Probably not in our life time. For a chip to exist in a quantum state and run quantum calculations, it needs to be almost entirely isolated from outside factors which would break down the quantum state, and as such, even a basic quantum computer takes a huge amount of money going into the means of isolating it. By the time we make a reasonably sized and powerful quantum computer, classical computers will be so much faster and cheaper, it may still only be reasonable to build a quantum computer for very isolated research and data analysis purposes and still use our cheap classical computers for everything else, including gaming.

Neither there's a known quantum algorithm that can solve traveling salesman in a reasonable amount of time. It is not known whether such algorithm exists (likely not), but pretty much the same can be said about classical computers. Most computer scientists in the field believe that quantum computers will not allow to solve NPC problems in polynomial time. They can solve those problems faster, but not significantly so when the problem at hand is of exponential complexity.

Where quantum computers can help? Searching in unordered sets is one good example. A quantum computer doesn't need to traverse all elements of the set to find a specific one, this has great application to computer graphics. Quantum computers can also factor integers quickly and do some more number theoretical stuff, but that's mostly for cryptographic use. And it's still not known whether a classical algorithm exists to solve these number problems efficiently, it's just suspected to be so.

[Lathais]

I'm not a physicist by trade, but do know a thing or two about qed and some things about quantum computing. With how we understand quantum mechanics today, explaining how quantum computer works "in a nutshell" is completely out of the scope for anyone who's asking such question (even without grammar mistakes). That is the harsh truth. Heck, most people wouldn't understand how normal computer works, let alone a quantum one.
Quantum computers are not like classic computers, and their output doesn't look like one of classical computer. They can solve certain problems faster than a classical computer, but with caveats. You never get a straight answer out of it, but a probabilistic one. It's not a real issue in an ideal world, but there are complication in implementation. Also, every problem a classical computer can solve fast, so can a quantum computer, but again in an ideal world where implementation doesn't stand in the way.

With regards to quantum mechanics (qm), it's probably the most exact branch of physics we currently know right after special relativity (but sr is also very simplistic and doesn't try to shoot very far). The set of rules is in fact defined quite well, surprisingly well. The problem is of course intuition, or rather lack of for the uninitiated. I cannot think of any non-statistical physics branch other than sr which has been through more rigor than qm. And no, faster than light local communication is impossible, or otherwise everything we know about physics is incorrect and just an illusion of correctness. Non local communication is a tricky question, and it depends on how qm will integrate with general relativity (gr).



Neither there's a known quantum algorithm that can solve traveling salesman in a reasonable amount of time. It is not known whether such algorithm exists (likely not), but pretty much the same can be said about classical computers. Most computer scientists in the field believe that quantum computers will not allow to solve NPC problems in polynomial time. They can solve those problems faster, but not significantly so when the problem at hand is of exponential complexity.

Where quantum computers can help? Searching in unordered sets is one good example. A quantum computer doesn't need to traverse all elements of the set to find a specific one, this has great application to computer graphics. Quantum computers can also factor integers quickly and do some more number theoretical stuff, but that's mostly for cryptographic use. And it's still not known whether a classical algorithm exists to solve these number problems efficiently, it's just suspected to be so.

From my very limited understanding, and what you say here seems to back it up, quantum computing is fast and will eventually replace classic computing. It's a matter of it being so different to "program" in though. Since there are not a lot of people with quantum processors out there, there are not a lot of people who want to make software for it right now, as there is no one to sell it to.

It's not like you can just have a quantum PC and install Windows 10 on it and go. Windows would not know how to "talk to" a quantum CPU, if I am not mistaken. Which means we basically need new OSes and other software to even be able to use quantum PCs. Until the cost comes down, I do not think we'll see too many people writing software for it and it will take a large amount of time to transition into this entirely new environment. Likely, early adopters will be businesses that will profit from it, they will write stuff for it then there will be some experienced people out there that can make new stuff for it and sell it. That alone will likely take a decade or so. Then, gradually over the course of the next couple decades start to make there way in to homes and what not.

Please correct me if I am wrong or completely off base here.

[dadev]

From my very limited understanding, and what you say here seems to back it up, quantum computing is fast and will eventually replace classic computing. It's a matter of it being so different to "program" in though. Since there are not a lot of people with quantum processors out there, there are not a lot of people who want to make software for it right now, as there is no one to sell it to.

It's not like you can just have a quantum PC and install Windows 10 on it and go. Windows would not know how to "talk to" a quantum CPU, if I am not mistaken. Which means we basically need new OSes and other software to even be able to use quantum PCs. Until the cost comes down, I do not think we'll see too many people writing software for it and it will take a large amount of time to transition into this entirely new environment. Likely, early adopters will be businesses that will profit from it, they will write stuff for it then there will be some experienced people out there that can make new stuff for it and sell it. That alone will likely take a decade or so. Then, gradually over the course of the next couple decades start to make there way in to homes and what not.

Please correct me if I am wrong or completely off base here.

No, not entirely off. Think how computers looked like in the late 50s, they took halls, required a power plant and their performance wasn't even a fraction of a modern phone.
Quantum computers today, are where I think classical computers were at about 40s, mostly on paper. But the algorithms were developed already. The theory was acquiring shape. This is about 40 years before general use (and even during 80s, general use of computers is very sketchy).
Will quantum computers become the basis? Not sure. I'm not even sure whether they need to be. Quantum computer by definition has error in computations, this is compensated by reiterating. Doesn't seem so OS friendly property. As we see it today it's actually a lot more convenient when the behavior is non probabilistic. There's even a simpler example, gpus. There're no OSs for gpus, because there's no real need for it in the current model of computing. A general purpose cpu can control extensions quite well, while in turn those extensions can perform some calculations much quicker than the cpu. On the flip side, OS has little to gain from going massively parallel architecture but with each core being significantly more limited for general computation.

So in simple terms, do I think quantum computing will become mainstream? Absolutely yes if the technical difficulties will be solved. Will quantum cpus replace classic cpus? Not so sure.
Though predicting things about a technology so far away is futile. This is just by observing how current technology developing and projecting.

[Lathais]

Though predicting things about a technology so far away is futile. This is just by observing how current technology developing and projecting.

Yeah, I did mean to kinda mention that. It will take at least another 5-10 years, IMO, before we even see some good business applications for these things and they are actually getting used, not just tested and played with. That's an eternity in computing terms. So much can change in that time. It's almost not even worth talking about. It's not something I think we'll see in mainstream home usage in the next 10-20 years for sure. For all we know, 5 years from now, someone will come up with an even better and cheaper way of doing things and quantum will just die. We have no way of knowing.