When it comes to computing, it is no exaggeration to say that, every day, new components and new hardware – better and more powerful than their predecessors – are developed, that increasingly complex algorithms and programs are designed and that new ways of applying these tools are disseminated and continuously shaping the network architecture.
However, in addition to the constant evolution of “traditional” computing, another way of conceiving computing has been gaining momentum and robustness at an increasingly rapid pace: quantum computing.
To try to understand what quantum computing is and, consequently, the vp compliance email lists quantum internet, we first need to understand some basic principles of traditional computing.
The bit
Our computers essentially use the bit as their basic notation, which is the smallest unit of information that can be distributed or stored. The word bit is an abbreviation for the words Binary and Digit, that is, a bit is a binary digit.
This means that a bit can only assume a dual configuration: it can be 0 or 1, yes or no, on or off, etc. The bit is one thing or another, it is one state or another.
From sequences composed of several bits, lined up side by side, all the logic of computer programming is developed, and all machine languages are created.
It is also through bits that all information storage and processing is carried out, using processors and memory hardware.
We have provided this brief explanation to then introduce the basic notation of quantum computing, which is the quantum bit, popularly known as qubit.
The Qubit
To understand the concept of a qubit, an interesting analogy is to think of a coin. When we observe it, we notice that it has two sides, one that is heads and the other that is tails, just like a bit, which can also assume two positions: in this case, instead of heads or tails, the positions 0 or 1.
Now, to make things a little more interesting, let's toss this coin in the air, making it spin at a very high speed. Then, let's look at it in full motion and try to answer: heads or tails?
The question certainly has no answer to the common human eye. It is both heads and tails at the same time. The result will only be known when the coin falls, when someone holds it in their hands and can see its face.
This coin thrown into the air, in a free spin, therefore represents a qubit: it is also a common bit, 0 or 1, heads or tails, but at the same time it is also 0 and 1, heads and tails, simultaneously! A qubit is therefore a universe of possibilities, a sequence of probabilistic operations, a superposition of zeros and ones.
Perhaps the reader is thinking: “Okay, but what does this mean in practice, how can this change the dynamics of computing?”
Quantum speed
To make the example more concrete, let's think of a computer password made up of 4 bits. Let's imagine that I want to "crack" this password. The sequence we want to know is one of all the possible combinations between the 4 bits, that is, it could be 0000, 0001, 0010, 0100, 0110, 1000, etc.
To “crack” this password through a conventional computational operation, we need to test all possibilities, one by one, until we find the correct answer.
Let us now think about deciphering this password using a quantum computer, which uses 4 qubits. Since each qubit is both zero and one – a superposition of the two possibilities – by aligning the 4 qubits I obtain the password automatically: the password is contained in them, since they are all the possible combinations at the same time!
