Quantum computing has the potential to solve some of the world’s most complex problems. So how are quantum computers different from the traditional computers we use today?
Quantum physics describes how the world works at its most fundamental level.
Quantum computing has become one of the leading applications of quantum physics.
Quantum computers are not going to replace classical computers. But their radically different way of operating allows them to calculate in ways that classical computers cannot.
Classical computers encode information in bits. And each bit can represent a 0 or 1 (on or off).
Instead of bits, quantum computers have qubits, which make use of two key principles of quantum physics: Superposition and entanglement.
Superposition means that each qubit can represent a 0 or 1, or both at the same time.
Entanglement occurs when two qubits in a superposition are correlated with one another, meaning the state of one (whether 0, 1 or both) depends upon the state of another qubit.
Using these two principles, qubits can solve problems that are virtually impossible with classical computers.
In brief, quantum computers can examine exponentially more states than classical computers.