Chemists will be the first to appreciate the benefits of quantum computers.


    D-Wave

    Quantum Computer Large companies such as Microsoft, Google and IBM are currently working on creating quantum computing systems. Specialists of the latter managed to develop a 5-qubit quantum computer. Now IBM provides access to it as a service, which is called the IBM Quantum Experience . True, not all developers can work with this computer, but programs for it are already published and laid out in open access. It is believed that quantum computing systems will make most traditional encryption algorithms (RSA, DSA, ECDSA) useless, because quantum computers using the Shore algorithm will be able to select even the most complex cipher in a split second.

    The developers of quantum computers promise a real breakthrough due to the increase in computer performance in many scientific fields. Nuclear physics, mathematics, medicine, cryptography, and chemistry are just a small list of industries where such systems can be useful. As for chemistry, then probably the first quantum computers will start working in this area.

    They will help scientists to develop new chemical compounds, to understand what features a high-temperature superconductor should possess, to create new effective drugs. Even a small quantum system can facilitate the study by chemists of various chemical compounds and the reactions between them. Modern chemists are still using powerful computers to simulate various complex chemical reactions. And quantum computing systems will provide scientists with much more efficient tools for working in this area.

    Scott Crowder, a spokesman for IBM, is confident that chemists will be one of the first, if not the first, to appreciate the benefits of quantum computers over conventional systems. And here also small quantum computers will be useful: “We believe that small systems will be used in chemistry,” says Crowder.

    As mentioned above, scientists have long used the emulation of chemical reactions and individual compounds to develop new materials, drugs, and create unprecedented chemical compounds. The computer model used by scientists reduces the cost of the experiment and reduces the time required for research. For example, in such a field as the creation of antibiotics, specialists need years to develop and market effective drugs.

    Unfortunately, the possibilities of modern, even very productive systems, are limited. The fact is that traditional computers cannot simulate some of the conditions of quantum mechanics when, for example, an electron is present simultaneously in two places. Conventional computers are designed for binary technologies, where the opening or closing of a semiconductor gate means one or zero. As for quantum systems, they use such notions of quantum mechanics as superposition and entanglement.

    Alan Aspuru Guzhik(Alán Aspuru-Guzik), a professor of chemistry at Harvard, believes that only with the help of such systems can a real breakthrough be achieved in such a field as the creation of luminescent molecules for displays or batteries of a new type. Now the scientist and members of his team are looking for the necessary molecules and substances, but they have to work “manually”, selecting the necessary compounds and materials by trial and error. A quantum computer could significantly increase the efficiency of such work.



    The appearance of such systems in our lives is a matter of the near future. As mentioned above, IBM has developed a 5-qubit quantum computer. Google bought such a system from D-Wave, continuing to develop on its own. For several years, corporation experts have studied the method of quantum annealing.and the possibility of its use. Microsoft has also

    achieved some success in this area, and is a proponent of relatively simple quantum computers. Moreover, the company's specialists are developing a hybrid system, with traditional methods of computing and quantum "stuffing", which allows to simulate the passage of chemical reactions. Microsoft says that the company's specialists would like to search for high-temperature superconductors.

    If scientists really succeed in creating a quantum computer that works, it will undoubtedly be snapped up. After all, only a system of this type can literally change the world. So, quantum computers can very effectively solve the so-called "traveling salesman problem", which is to find the most profitable route that passes through the specified cities at least once, followed by return to the source city. A new class of computing systems will optimize business processes, identify factors that affect the climate in a given region, or perform many other tasks, including such a sphere as machine learning.

    According to Chris Monroe , a professor at the University of Maryland and co-founder of the “quantum startup” IOnQ, now quantum computing is at about the same stage of development as the first transistors in its time. And this sphere is gradually developing. For example, in January this year, D-Wave Systems began sellingyour 2000 qubit D-Wave 2000Q computer. The first model was sold for $ 15 million. Perhaps in the near future, scientists around the world will be able to fully appreciate the benefits of quantum systems.

    In the meantime, IBM, Microsoft, Google and other companies continue to invest in quantum computers, hoping to eventually get a result.

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