Introduction
As seen, quantum computers are much more powerful and much faster than their current classical counterparts, even faster than any current supercomputer. However speed is only one of the reasons why quantum computers outclass their classical counterparts.
The most interesting fact is that you’ll probably be indirectly using quantum thechnology, long before it makes it’s way into homes. In fact quantum technology is already being used in certain fields, one of those is digital security.
Digital Security
Quantum technology has the unique ability of communicating and transmitting information in a completely secure way. Due to the strange property of superposition (i.e the property which allows the atom to be both 1 and 0 at the same time), has a useful property where if it is measured (e.g intercepted) it will collapse to a single digit, either a 1 or 0. This means when the communication or transmission is intercepted by a third-party, the data itself with become a single value, and will alert the end users that there is an unwanted presence!
Quantum technology is that it is already in use by banks today! This is useful for banking where the upmost security is required, and due to the incredible processing power of this technology, it can be used to generate encryption that even the most powerful computers could not break at all. So you can be sure that your money is in safe hands.
Another interesting feature of quantum computing is the ability to dechipher even the most complex classical encryptions used on computers today, demonstrating once again the processing power of this technology.
Computations and Simulations
Due to a quantum computer’s ability to carry out multiple calculations at once, this makes it more efficent when running certain algorithms. However, an area where quantum computers will be functional much sooner consist of the area of simulating other physical systems. An example of where this is useful may be the understanding of chemical reactions and the creation of new pharmaceuticals.
At the moment, even with all the technological advances in medicine, there is alot we do not know about how certain chemicals and other compounds work. At the moment, even though simulations of these chemical reactions are done on supercomputers, it can take years to make a single breakthrough. However using quantum computers of a similar size can cut the processing time to just a fraction of what it currently takes.
What this will allow is the development of new medcines which are much more effefctive than their current counterparts, as well as being able to see how biological systems, like viruses and bacteria, behave allowing us to provide better treatments, as well as being able to treat previously incurable diseases, and allowing for a much better quality of life.