Explain how quantum computers compute like I am 10

IIRC, quantum computers essentially end up using parallel universes to do what they do... that may sound far fetched but hey, I'm not clever enough to understand it correctly... but I'm sure that is what I read.

I also have a memory that, since the 60's or so there is a held belief that when a proper (whatever that means) quantum computer comes along it will somehow be able to communicate with other quantum computers from other parrallel universes.

If this is so, there can only be two outcomes (okay maybe a third but slim chances of two things happening at exactly the same time) which are A: Ours is the 1st and must wait for another to be built elsewhere or B: there is already a quantum computer in existance which will be able to communicate with ours.

Essentailly, quantum computers will mean that communication betweeen parallel universes will be possible.

There could already be an infinite amount of quantum computers existing within an infinite amount of parrallel universes just waiting for ours to get online to join the club.
 
Im inclined to think that concurrent parallel universes of consciousness with periodic meshing are the norm of human existence.

Ala U2 ("we live in different worlds") but x 8 billion. The physical earth and our standards being the common physical and behavioral 'gravitational' mesh.

e: not U2. I think it was from Dire Straits - Brothers in arms.
 
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Basically ... the easiest way to explain it is.
You have a keyboard, mouse and box for the computer.
You use the keyboard and mouse to ask the computer to do something then short while later a cat pops out of the box.

Thats pretty much the gist of it, i think.
 
Imagine a person running through a forest blindfolded.

There is a high probability the person will run head first into a tree and unlikely they will find the only clear path through on their first attempt.

Say there are 100 possible paths to take, a standard binary computer would have to calculate the 1st path, then the 2nd path, then the 3rd path until it finds the correct path or finishes the compute... in such a scenario it would likely run all 100 and then pass on the information of which path to take... but shortcuts have been made.

A true quantum computer is essentially able to process all 100 paths simultaneously and then the wave form collapses into the correct result in the time it takes to process 1 path. That’s the ideal, they don’t quite function like that just yet.


A non-accurate over-simplification of it would be to look at linear numbers. Example offered just as a way to visualise the difference in how quickly the compute power can increase.

Think of moving from binary to trinary.

A basic binary computer with 8 compute bits operating at 1 Hz, could feasibly operate at 2^8 per second, or 256 possibilities per second.

A trinary system with 8 compute bits... would be able to offer 3^8 per second, or 6,561 possibilities per second.
 
It always boggles my mind how we came from cavemen to this and, believe it or not, I passed 3 years of honours physics. That means little though as it's just passing exams.
 
jsmoke said:
I thought quantum used less power than traditional, but you say huge amounts are needed?
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Since they can (potentially) calculate things fstser they would use less per "thing worked out" the recent "did it in x hours rather than x centuries" is a good example thought if you look at what they calculated it seems pointless (though I'm sure it's not)
 
Eurofighter said:
Of course we will have quantum computers in the home eventually. People said the same things about compiters in general back in tbe day. Not for decades though.
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But quantum computers are only useful for certain types of computation. they are inefficient and doing every day computer tasks.


The real future of computing will still be utility based, renting from Amazon or Google.
 
They won't replace modern computers though. These things are built for complex and specific tasks.
Cancer research, weather prediction......cracking foreign governments encryption.
 
If you take a cat, split it in half and ram it through two slits - it can act both as a wave and a dead cat.
 
eandt.theiet.org: quantum for dummies the basics explained said:
[...]based on several engineering applications of the different quantum principles: superposition (quantum computing), entanglement (networking, quantum key distribution), illumination (quantum radar) and so on.

...

When an electron is in superposition, it is both up and down at once – it is a complex combination of both. Only when it is measured does it drop out of superposition and adopt one position or the other. If you build algorithms in the right way, it’s possible to effectively harness the power of that superposition.

...

A qubit is a quantum bit that is the basic unit of information in a quantum computer. It has something – a particle or an electron, for example – that adopts two possible states, and while it is in superposition the quantum computer and specially built algorithms harness the power of both these states.

...

Particles in superposition is the main way to store information in quantum computers.
However, storing a quantum state – i.e. particles in superposition – is very difficult. Any interaction with the universe will disrupt it and cause errors. This is why quantum computers are shielded electromagnetically and cooled down to almost absolute zero.
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Clicky
 
jsmoke said:
I should have worked harder in school I know. I learned next to nothing in english after the age of around 12.
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jsmoke said:
It always boggles my mind how we came from cavemen to this and, believe it or not, I passed 3 years of honours physics. That means little though as it's just passing exams.
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Call me cynical, but I'm going with not, as the non-superposition binary answer
 
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