Six examples where quantum computers will help us very much

Computers do not exist in a vacuum. They solve problems, and the problems they solve are determined solely by hardware. GPUs process images; artificial intelligence processors provide the work of AI algorithms; quantum computers are designed for ... what?

While the power of quantum computing is impressive, it does not mean that existing software is just so running a billion times faster. Rather, quantum computers also have a certain type of problem, some of which they solve well, some do not. Below you will find the main areas of application in which quantum computers will have to shoot one hundred percent when they become commercially realizable.

Artificial Intelligence

The main application of quantum computing is artificial intelligence. AI is based on the principles of learning in the process of extracting experience, it becomes more precise as feedback works, until finally it acquires "intelligence", albeit computer. That is, he himself learns to solve problems of a certain type.

This feedback depends on the calculation of the probability for a set of possible outcomes, and quantum computations are ideally suited for this type of operation. Artificial intelligence, backed by quantum computers, will turn every industry, from cars to medicine, and say that AI will become for the twenty-first century what electricity has become for the twentieth.

For example, Lockheed Martin plans to use its quantum computer D-Wave to test software for autopilot, which is too complicated for classical computers, and Google uses a quantum computer to develop software that can distinguish cars from traffic signs. We have already reached the point at which AI creates more AI, and its strength and magnitude will only grow.

Molecular modeling

Another example is the exact simulation of molecular interactions, the search for optimal configurations for chemical reactions. Such "quantum chemistry" is so complex that with the help of modern digital computers you can analyze only the simplest molecules.

Chemical reactions are quantum in nature, because they form very intricate quantum states of superposition. But fully developed quantum computers can easily calculate even such complex processes.

Google already makes raids in this area, modeling the energy of hydrogen molecules. As a result, more effective products are obtained, from solar batteries to pharmaceuticals, and especially fertilizers; since fertilizers account for up to 2% of global energy consumption, the consequences for energy and the environment will be enormous.

Cryptography

Most of the systems of cybersecurity relies on the complexity of factoring large numbers into simple ones. Although digital computers that calculate every possible factor can cope with this, the long time required to "crack the code" translates into high cost and impracticality.

Quantum computers can produce this factoring exponentially more efficient than digital computers, making modern methods of protection obsolete. New methods of cryptography are being developed, which, however, require time: in August 2015, the NSA began to compile a list of cryptographic methods that are resistant to quantum computing, which could resist quantum computers, and in April 2016 the National Institute of Standards and Technologies launched a public appraisal process that will last from four to six years.

In the development are also promising methods of quantum encryption, which involve the one-sided nature of quantum entanglement. Networks within the city have already demonstrated their performance in several countries, and Chinese scientists have recently explained that they successfully transferred intricate photons from the orbital "quantum" satellite to three separate base stations on Earth.

Financial modeling

Modern markets are one of the most complex systems in principle. Although we have developed many scientific and mathematical tools to work with them, they still lack the conditions that other scientific disciplines can boast: there are no controlled conditions in which experiments could be conducted.

To solve this problem, investors and analysts turned to quantum computing. Their immediate advantage is that the randomness inherent in quantum computers is congruent with the stochastic nature of financial markets. Investors often want to evaluate the distribution of results for a very large number of scenarios generated randomly.

Another advantage offered by quantum computers is that financial transactions such as arbitrage can sometimes require many successive steps, and the number of possibilities for their calculation is much faster than that allowed for a conventional digital computer.

Weather forecasting

Chief saves NOAA Rodney Weier argues that almost 30% of US GDP ($ 6 trillion) depends directly or indirectly on weather conditions affecting food production, transportation and retail trade, among others. The ability to better predict the weather will have a huge advantage for many areas, not to mention the extra time it will take to recover from natural disasters.

Although scientists have long been puzzling over the processes of weather formation, the equations behind them include many variables, greatly complicating classical modeling. As noted quantum researcher Seth Lloyd, "the use of a classic computer for such an analysis will take so long that the weather will have time to change." Therefore, Lloyd and his colleagues at MIT have shown that the equations controlling the weather have a hidden wave nature that can be solved with the use of a quantum computer.

Hartmut Neven, director of engineering at Google, noted that quantum computers can also help create more advanced climate models that could give us a deeper insight into how people affect the environment. Based on these models, we build our understanding of the future warming, and they help us determine the steps that are required to prevent natural disasters.

Particle Physics

Ironically, an in-depth study of physics with the use of quantum computers can lead ... to the study of new physics. Models of elementary particle physics are often extremely complex, require extensive solutions, and involve a lot of computational time for numerical simulation. They are ideal for quantum computers, and scientists have already laid eyes on them.

Scientists of the University of Innsbruck and the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) recently used a programmable quantum system for similar manipulations with models. To do this, they took a simple version of a quantum computer in which ions perform logical operations, basic steps in any computer calculation. Simulation showed an excellent agreement with the real, described by physics, experiments.

"Two of these approaches perfectly complement each other," says theoretical physicist Peter Zoller. "We can not replace the experiments that are conducted on particle accelerators. But developing quantum simulators, we can one day better understand these experiments. "

Now investors are trying to infiltrate the ecosystem of quantum computing, and not only in the computer industry: banks, aerospace companies, cybersecurity - they all come to the forefront of the computational revolution.

While quantum computing already has an impact on the fields above, this list is not exhaustive in any way, and this is the most interesting. As happens with all new technologies, in the future absolutely unimaginable applications will appear, in time with the development of hardware.

The article is based on materials https://hi-news.ru/computers/shest-primerov-kogda-kvantovye-kompyutery-nam-ochen-pomogut.html.