IBM Q – Video Review of Quantum Computer Working Through the Cloud
IBM has long been studying the possibility of creating quantum computers that could be used in science and business. If earlier it was only a purely scientific research, now this project has already passed into the implementation phase. The company’s specialists announced their intention to create a commercial quantum computer, which can be operated in the cloud. This computer is called IBM Q. Third-party developers will be able to connect to a quantum computer using a special API, which opens the possibility of creating interfaces between a 5-qubit quantum system and ordinary computers. In addition, IBM has also created a simulator that simulates configurations up to 20 qubits.
As for the cloud through which the connection to IBM Q will be made, it is the IBM Cloud platform. Developers who have access to the IBM Quantum Experience will be able to run algorithms, conduct various studies and work with individual quantum bits. For users of the system will be given examples of working with IBM Q. By the way, now the number of users of the platform IBM Quantum Experience is 40 thousand.
Thanks to the versatility of IBM Quantum Experience can solve a number of tasks much more efficiently than conventional computers can do, even over-productive ones. Basically, these are the tasks of the following character:
- Fast processing of huge databases;
- Optimization of processes, the nature of which is close to the so-called traveling salesman problem;
- Analysis and processing of scientific data with the identification of certain patterns;
- Decomposition of numbers into prime factors using the Shore algorithm;
If quantum systems begin to work with such operations, cryptography in its modern form will have to be forgotten.
In the course of working on the creation of a quantum computer, IBM is trying to increase the index, which is called the “quantum volume”. It reflects the power of a new type of computer. The quantum volume describes both the number and the connectivity of qubits, plus the quality and the so-called parallelism of quantum computations.
The 5-qubit system is good, but in the next five years, IBM is going to increase the performance of IBM Q, expanding the system up to 50 qubits. As part of this project, the corporation plans to work with other companies to develop applications that rely on quantum acceleration.
About what a quantum computer is and why it is needed, Habré and Giktimes already wrote. The fact is that despite the high performance of modern computers, this is not enough, and the possibility of increasing the performance of traditional PCs is limited. Quantum systems have a significant advantage in relation to such computers in many areas.
- For example, a quantum computer can be used to model the quantum states of molecules of chemical compounds. This will allow, for example, pharmacists to quickly create new effective drugs, modeling complex molecular and chemical reactions. Simulation on a quantum computer can help to develop high-temperature superconductors that retain the state of superconductivity at room temperature. If such materials are found, then in the electric power industry and other spheres a real revolution can be made.
Work with a quantum computer will be able to nuclear physicists, astronomers, meteorologists and many other representatives of various fields of science. Specialists working on the creation of artificial intelligence can perform their work more efficiently using quantum systems. Businesses will also benefit from quantum computing, for example, for developing complex supply chains, modeling financial data, and other areas of work.
In general, quantum computing will be another impetus that will allow science and technology to take a step forward by going through another stage of evolution.
