DOES IT WORK? IBM’S SENIOR MANAGER OF
EXPERIMENTAL QUANTUM COMPUTERS
EXPLAINS.
EXPLAINS. >> TODAY WE’RE IN MIXED REALITY
STUDIO TO GET THE BIG PICTURE ON
QUANTUM COMPUTING.
QUANTUM COMPUTING. HOW DOES THIS TYPE OF COMPUTING
WORK AND WHY IS IT SO DIFFERENT
FROM WHAT WE HAVE TODAY.
SO, JERRY, FIRST RIGHT OFF THE
BAT, LET’S BREAK DOWN THE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BINARY BIT
AND Q-BIT.
AND Q-BIT. >> IN CLASSICAL COMPUTING, WHEN
WE USE BITS IT CAN ONLY BE IN
ONE OF TWO STATES.
IT CAN BE EITHER ZERO OR ONE.
IN THIS CASE, THE BLUE OR THE
YELLOW.
YELLOW. >> RIGHT.
>> RIGHT. >> BUT IN THE CASE OF QUANTUM
BITS OR Q-BITS, YOU FOLLOW THE
LAWS OF QUANTUM MECHANICS AND
WHAT THAT LETS YOU DO IS
ACTUALLY MAKE INFORMATION LIVE
IN A SUPER POSITION.
SO YOU CAN ACTUALLY BE IN STATES
OF ZERO AND ONE AT THE SAME
TIME.
TIME. ACTUALLY LIVE ON -- ANYWHERE ON
THE SURFACE OF THIS SPHERE
YOU’RE LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW.
>> ANYWHERE WITHIN THAT.
>> YEAH, THAT’S CORRECT.
WHAT’S CRAZY ABOUT IT IS WHEN
YOU ACTUALLY MEASURE THESE
Q-BITS, EVEN THOUGH YOU CAN BE
IN ALL THESE STATES, AT THE END
IT STILL DECIDES, AM I ZERO OR
ONE?
ONE? YOU STILL GO BACK TO THAT BIT
REPRESENTATION AT THE END.
ENTANGLEMENT IS ACTUALLY ANOTHER
SPECIAL TYPE OF SUPER POSITION.
AND IT’S SOMETHING YOU NEVER SEE
IN CLASSICAL COMPUTING.
IT ACTUALLY INVOLVES TWO Q-BITS
THAT BECOME PERFECTLY CORRELATED
WITH ONE ANOTHER.
IF YOU WERE TO MEASURE ONE QBIT
YOU KNOW EXACTLY THE STATE OF
THE OTHER QUBIT.
>> THEY’RE ALWAYS MIRRORING EACH
OTHER.
OTHER. >> WHAT’S MORE, IF YOU WANTED TO
JUST LOOK AT ONE ON ITS OWN,
IT’S RANDOM, YOU LOST ITS
INFORMATION.
INFORMATION. >> NOW THAT WE KNOW HOW SUPER
POSITION AND ENTANGLEMENT WORK
WITH QUBITS, HOW DOES THAT HELP
US MOVING FORWARD WITH QUANTUM
COMPUTING?
COMPUTING? GIVE US SOME ABILITY WE DON’T
HAVE RIGHT NOW WITH CLASSICAL
COMPUTERS.
COMPUTERS. >> WHAT’S REALLY INTERESTING IS
THERE ARE PROBLEMS OUT THERE,
LIKE UNDERSTANDING MOLECULES,
WHICH ARE VERY, VERY DIFFICULT
FOR REGULAR COMPUTERS.
BUT THE THING IS IN THIS
MOLECULE WE’RE LOOKING AT HERE.
THIS IS THE CAFFEINE MOLECULE,
WHICH WE KNOW AND LOVE IN OUR
COFFEE.
COFFEE. THERE ARE A LOT OF INTERACTIONS
BETWEEN ALL THE DIFFERENT
ELECTRONS IN THIS MOLECULE.
THOSE INTERACTIONS FOLLOW THE
LAWS OF QUANTUM MECHANICS WE
JUST HEARD ABOUT WITH QUBITS.
WE CAN USE THESE QUBITS TO MIMIC
THE BEHAVIOR OF THIS MOLECULE
AND STUDY SOME OF THOSE
INTERACTIONSES OF THE UNDERLYING
ELECTRONS.
ELECTRONS. THAT WE CAN’T REALLY DO IN A
SCALEABLE WAY WITH REGULAR
CONDITIONAL BITS, ZEROS AND
ONES.
ONES. >> WHAT ARE CHALLENGES WITH
TRYING TO MAKE A QUANTUM
COMPUTER WORK?
COMPUTER WORK? >> YEAH, SO REALLY ONE OF THE
MOST CHALLENGING PARTS OF
BUILDING THESE QUANTUM COMPUTERS
IS GETTING THESE QUBITS TO
SURVIVE AND LAST LONG.
THE SYSTEM THAT WE BUILD AT IBM,
THEY’RE BASED OFF SUPER
CONNECTING TECHNOLOGY.
CONNECTING TECHNOLOGY. IN ORDER TO HAVE THE QUANTUM
PROPERTIES UNLOCK, WE HAVE TO
ACTUALLY COOL THEM DOWN TO
EXTREMELY LOW TEMPERATURES.
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING AT IS ONE OF
OUR DILUTION REFRIGERATORS.
THE INSIDE OF THE DILUTION
REFRIGERATOR, WHICH WE USE TO
COOL THESE QUBITS --
>> THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE?
>> THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE.
ABOUT THE SIZE.
>> IN TERMS OF WHAT’S GOING ON
INSIDE OF THIS, WALK US THROUGH
WHERE THESE SIGNALS ARE GOING
AND WHERE THEY REACH TO MAKE THE
QUBITS ACTUALLY ACT THE WAY YOU
WANT THEM TO.
>> I HAVE A QUBIT CHIP HERE.
IT GOES AND SITS AT THE BOTTOM
OF THIS DILUTION REFRIGERATOR.
THE REASON IT’S THERE, THAT’S
WHERE THE SYSTEM IS THE COLDEST.
>> SO ALL OF THIS INFRASTRUCTURE
IS TO BE ABLE TO GET THAT CHIP
AS COOL AS IT NEEDS TO.
>> AND ALSO TO BRING DOWN
SIGNALS TO CONTROL THE STATES OF
THE QUBITS.
THE QUBITS. THERE’S SOME WIRES AND MICROWAVE
SIGNALS GET SENT DOWN THESE
WIRES, IN FACT, OVER TO FLIP THE
STATE OF THE QUBIT.
WHEN WE PROGRAM IT, THEY DO WHAT
WE WANT IN A QUANTUM PROGRAM.
>> THINKING ABOUT THE COMPUTER,
TELL US ABOUT WHAT QUANTUM
COMPUTING IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE
AND HOW WE’LL SEE THIS TYPE OF
COMPUTING.
COMPUTING. >> FOR THE LONGEST TIME WE WERE
IN THIS PERIOD OF UNDERSTANDING
THE UNDERLYING QUANTUM SCIENCE,
TRYING TO BUILD THESE ACTUAL
SYSTEMS AND THEN RECENTLY WHEN
WE WERE ABLE TO START TO RELEASE
IT TO THE CLOUD, THAT’S WHEN WE
TRANSITION INTO THIS PHASE WHERE
WE WANT TO GET PEOPLE READY FOR
USING QUANTUM COMPUTING.
HOPEFULLY WITHIN FIVE YEARS OR
SO THAT WE’LL BE ABLE TO FIND
REAL PROBLEMS, WHICH WE CAN USE
QUANTUM COMPUTERS TO HAVE
ADVANTAGE OVER CLASSIC
COMPUTERS.
COMPUTERS. >> GIVE US A COUPLE EXAMPLES OF
WHAT KIND OF PROBLEMS YOU’RE
TALKING ABOUT IN TERMS OF WHAT
QUANTUM COMPUTING CAN SOLVE.
>> YEAH, THE PROBLEMS WE WANT TO
LOOK AT WITH QUANTUM COMPUTERS
ARE ONES WHICH EFFECTIVELY HAVE
A VERY LARGE SPACE FOR
EXPLORATION.
EXPLORATION. THEY’RE VERY DIFFICULT IN TERMS
OF THE NUMBER OF VARIABLES YOU
MIGHT HAVE.
MIGHT HAVE. SAY THOSE MOLECULES WE MIGHT
HAVE, LIKE CAFFEINE AND
UNDERSTANDING MOLECULAR
UNDERSTANDING MOLECULAR STRUCTURE, THAT IMPLICATIONS FOR
DRUG DISCOVERY OR FOR
DISCOVERING NEW MATERIALS.
ALSO THERE’S A LOT OF WORK IN
LOOKING AT HOW QUANTUM AND AI
CAN MESH TOGETHER, THINKING
ABOUT EURO NETWORKS AND THE
GROWING SPACE OF
CHARACTERIZATION.
CHARACTERIZATION. THAT’S SOMEPLACE WHERE WE SEE A
LOT OF INTEREST WITH USING
QUANTUM COMPUTING FOR THINGS
LIKE FINANCIAL MODELING AND
OPTIMIZATION OF ROUTES AND
LOGISTICS.
LOGISTICS. I THINK WHAT WE’RE GOING TO SEE
IN THE FUTURE WITH QUANTUM
COMPUTERS IS IT’S NOT GOING TO
GO AND REPLACE YOUR COMPUTERS
TODAY.
TODAY. YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE PROBLEMS
AND YOU’RE GOING TO TAKE THOSE
PROBLEMS AND BREAK THEM DOWN ON
A TRADITIONAL, CLASSIC COMPUTER
AND THERE ARE THE DIFFICULT AND
CHALLENGING PARTS WE’LL TRY TO
RUN ON THE QUANTUM PROCESSOR.
THOSE ARE THE ONES THAT REALLY