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Quantum Computing - the Qubit

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Quantum computing - The potential and complications of the Qubit
Introduction
A Quantum computer (QC) is a computer that utilises quantum phenomena to perform operations on data and increase the computational power beyond that which is attainable by traditional computers.
QCs differ from traditional computers, which use transistors and diodes to store information in binary form (1 or 0), by using quantum properties to represent data and perform operations (Rice University, 2000).
While no QCs currently exist they have the potential to overtake current computers in terms of size and computing capabilities. The creation of a fully functional QC would change the way people communicate and the encryption methods used to secure valuable data. This report will discuss the basic unit of the QC, the qubit, and the potential a working QC has while also touching on the complications inherent in trying to manipulate objects at a quantum level and whether the quantum phenomena used are necessary to improve computational power or if merely making
The Qubit and the Bit
The basic unit of computing is called the bit and is usually represented by a transistor or diode; the transistor could represent a 0 while off and a 1 while charged. By using 8 bits (8 bits make up a byte) together it is possible to create 256 different combinations that can be used to represent text and instructions for a computer to run.
When using 8-bit binary code the most commonly used format is the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII). Bits work by representing either 0’s or 1’s and performing operations that are translated via ASCII into binary code (benenti, 2004)
The Quantum bit (Qubit) is the quantum equivalent of a bit and can represent atoms, photons or the spin direction of an electron (rather than the traditional diode) and their respective control devices that are working together like a computer memory and processor. While the Qubit may seem similar to the bit they differ in size and potential. Transistors are currently on the nano scale (22nm for Intel) (Intel, 2011) but qubits have the potential to be a lot smaller. The diameter of an electron is less than 1x10-13 metres, massively smaller than transistors. (Hypertextbook, 2000)
The qubit also exploits two resources offered by the laws of quantum mechanics, the principles of superposition and entanglement.
The qubit, with its arsenal of quantum phenomena, can vastly outperform the standard bit meaning a QC with relatively few qubits, compared to the number of bits contained in a standard computer, can perform the same calculations much faster. This is due to the qubits ability to basically be in all positions between one and zero simultaneously as shown in figure 1.

Figure 1: Qubits explained
(Universe Review, N.D)

Figure 1 shows how a typical qubit can use a superposition of states to process more data than a traditional computer bit by increasing the number of states possible.
Superposition
Superposition is the principle of quantum theory that describes the nature and behaviour of particles at the sub atomic level.
The principle says that while an objects state is unknown it occupies all possible states simultaneously. This means it is possible for the qubit to exist as a one, a zero and all the states in-between simultaneously. (Nielsen and Chuang, 2011)
The pitfall of this superposition is that the qubits have a tendency to revert from their quantum state back into their classic state causing the reading to be simply a one or a zero. This is called decoherence and can be caused by even the simplest interactions with the outside environment such as observation or measurement. (Nielsen and Chuang, 2011)
Successfully reading a qubit in superposition would lead to far greater computational power that is attainable using a classical transistor.
In 1935 Erwin Schrödinger proposed a thought experiment which provides a good example of the decoherence principle. Figure 2.

Figure 2: Schrödinger’s cat (Kent Chemistry, N.D)
Figure 2 shows the Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment. Until the box is opened the cat is in a superposition of states being both alive and dead.
Initially proposed as a reductio ad absurdum by Schrödinger and is now used as a common example.
Quantum Entanglement
While decoherence is a problem for the QC it is possible to overcome this by entangling the quantum states of two or more qubits.
Quantum entanglement allows qubits that are separated by vast distances to interact with each other immediately. No matter how great the distance between the correlated particles they will remain entangled as long as they are isolated (McMahon, 2007)

In quantum physics if you apply an outside force to two atoms it can make them become entangled, causing one atom to take on properties of the other. By itself an atom will spin in all directions but once a measurement is taken the atom chooses one spin, or value, and at the same time the other entangled atom will choose an opposite value. This would allow scientists to know the value of a qubit by looking at its entangled counterpart.
Einstein called this “spooky action at a distance” and it could allow scientists to read multiple qubits without breaking their superposition (McMahon, 2007)
According to Jozsa and Linden a speed up in computational power may be achievable without utilizing quantum entanglement and that it may not be necessary to develop a fully functioning QC (2002).
Types of Qubit
Rather than the traditional diode and transistor set up qubits are much smaller and can potentially be made out of anything. It has even been theorised that when you break the universe down into smaller and smaller pieces these pieces are in fact bits and the universe itself is a quantum computer (Lloyd, 2006).
Currently qubit candidates are limited to microscopic particles such as the components of atoms. The most prominent of which is the quantum dot; a microscopic structure made to contain an electron and release it to another section when the structure is polarised (Nielsen and Chuang, 2011).
The spin of an electron has also been suggested for use as a qubit and the increased knowledge of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has made this idea more feasible. Some companies have already had limited success using NMR to control the spin directions of atomic nuclei (Nec, 2001).

While these potential qubits seem promising no one has been able to create a fully working QC because of the problems trying to scale these techniques up to a size big enough to run quantum algorithms.
Currently the only implementation of a quantum algorithm has been at the IBM Almaden research centre where they successfully implemented Shor’s algorithm (discussed below) to factorise 15 into 3 times 5. This may not seem impressive until you realise it was done with only seven nuclei of a molecule and a NMR machine (Vandersypen, et al, 2001)
Applications of a Quantum Computer

The main application of a QC would be in the cryptography.
RSA (Each letter is taken from the surnames of the inventors) is an algorithm used to encrypt and decrypt information and relies on the difficulty of factoring large numbers (often 100’s of digits long). While this method of encryption is breakable by a standard computer it would take years to break even a 128-bit RSA encryption (Tph, n.d.). This encryption method is one of the most widely used on the Internet and cracking it would require an over hall of RSA security.
In 1994 a mathematician named Peter Shor devised a quantum algorithm, Shor’s algorithm, which could crack the RSA encryption. It does this by using the quantum parallelism of the QC to factorise these large numbers in a single step as opposed to the exponential number of steps a classic computer would require to calculate the factors of a large integer (Qu, 2006)
The one advantage of this is the creation of a QC would mean the QC could be used to create more secure encryption methods that truly would be unbreakable by a standard computer.

Another use for a QC would be in the communications field. When two qubits are entangled any disturbance on one will instantly be shown on the other.
A quantum communication device can send entangled qubits to each recipient and they will receive it at the same time. Currently devices exist that can send entangled photons to separate recipients but they are very much still in the experimental stage (Research.att.com, 2010).
Using this its possible for a communication device to be impervious to eavesdropping because any measurement taken along the communication line will break the entanglement and reveal a potential listener (Benenti, 2004).
Decoherence
Decoherence is the main hurdle when trying to create a QC because any change in environment can cause a qubit, or multiple qubits, to fall out of entanglement or superposition thus rendering a fancy quantum computer nothing more than an expensive computer.
To combat decoherence the qubits have to be isolated from everything around them as even a stray light wave can cause the qubits to decohere and the loss of the superposition.
One successful attempt at protecting qubits from decoherence has been to use a diamond (Van Der Sar, T. et al. 2012).
They created two qubit using the electron spin of two electrons in a 1mm by 1mm diamond. While this was successful it would not be feasible to scale this up to many qubits it is a step in the right direction.

Conclusion

While quantum computers are still very much in their infancy they have the potential to vastly outperform even the most powerful supercomputer of today.
Making a QC with enough qubits to be worthwhile is currently eluding the greatest scientists of today. One company claims to have created a working QC but have yet to prove themselves to the satisfaction of the scientific community. The clear advantages of the QC are the increase in computational power and the increased speed in which algorithms can be run to complete complex problems not solvable by a standard computer and the creation of smaller bits.
Disadvantages of the QC are the much high cost of development and maintenance, the complexity of the design that can decohere extremely simply and the difficulty of trying to control quantum particles.
All in all the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.
Utilising quantum phenomena may not be necessary to increase computational power. The creation of smaller bits, such as the ability to use an electron to encode a one and a zero, will vastly increase our calculating ability without the complexity of trying to contain superposition or entanglement. Using an electron as a single bit would create smaller processers with less power consumption because an electron naturally has spin whereas a diode or transistor requires charge to change values. These processers would mean smaller devices could be created than those currently in use be it mobile phones to laptops.

References I. David McMahon, 2007. Quantum Computing Explained. 1st Edition. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.

II. Giuliano Benenti, 2004. Principles of Quantum Computation and Information - Vol.1: Basic Concepts. Edition. World Scientific Pub Co Inc.

III. Hypertextbook.com (2000) Diameter, Radius of an Electron. [online] Available at: http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2000/DannyDonohue.shtml [Accessed: 10 February 2012].

IV. Imperial College London (1997) What Use is My Quantum Computer Now I Have it?. [online] Available at: http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~nd/surprise_97/journal/vol2/mjc5/ [Accessed: 1 April 2012].

V. Intel.com (2011) Intel Announces New 22nm 3D Tri-gate Transistors. [online] Available at: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/silicon-innovations/standards-22nm-3d-tri-gate-transistors-presentation.html?wapkw=transistors [Accessed: 10 February 2012].

VI. Jozsa, R. and Linden, N. (2002) On the role of entanglement in quantum computational speed-up. Proceedings of the Royal Society A, 459 (2036).

VII. M, Nielsen and I, Chuang, 2011. Quantum Computation and Quantum Information: 10th Anniversary Edition. Cambridge University Press.

VIII. Nec.co.jp (2001) Research & Development, Quantum Computer, Innovative Engine | NEC. [online] Available at: http://www.nec.co.jp/rd/en/innovative/quantum/03.html [Accessed: 6 Apr 2012].

IX. Ou, G. (2006) Is encryption really crackable? | ZDNet. [online] Available at: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/ou/is-encryption-really-crackable/204 [Accessed: 04 Apr 2012].

X. Qubits Explained.(image online) Available at: http://universe-review.ca/R13-11-QuantumComputing.htm (accessed 7th January 2012)

XI. Research.att.com (2010) AT&T Labs Research - Photon Entanglement over the Fiber-Optic Network. [online] Available at: http://www.research.att.com/articles/featured_stories/2010_12/201101_Entangled_photons.html?fbid=IprzZVaMSTJ [Accessed: 06 Apr 2012].

XII. Rice University, (2000) Introduction To Quantum Computing. [Online] Available at: http://www.cs.rice.edu/~taha/teaching/05F/210/news/2005_09_16.htm#qc (Accessed 25th December 2012)

XIII. Seth Lloyd, 2006. Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes on the Cosmos. Edition. Vintage

XIV. Schrödingers Cat. (image online) Available at: http://www.kentchemistry.com/links/AtomicStructure/schrodinger.htm (Accessed 7th January)

XV. Tph.tuwien.ac.at (n.d.) Shor's Algorithm for Quantum Factorization. [online] Available at: http://tph.tuwien.ac.at/~oemer/doc/quprog/node18.html [Accessed: 04 Apr 2012].

XVI. Vandersypen, L. et al. (2001) Experimental realisation of Shor's quantum factoring algorithm using nuclear magnetic resonance. Nature, 414 p.883 - 887.

XVII. Van Der Sar, T. et al. (2012) Decoherence-protected quantum gates for a hybrid solid-state spin register. Nature, (484), p.82-86.

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