Emerging Technologies: Quantum Computing Basics

Quantum Computing

• Basic unit of quantum information: Qubit
• Superposition principle: allows qubits to be in a superposition of states
• Quantum entanglement: a phenomenon where particles remain connected so that the state of one affects the other
• Founding fathers: Richard Feynman
• No-cloning theorem: quantum information cannot be copied exactly
• Shor's Algorithm: factors large numbers exponentially faster than classical algorithms
• Grover's Algorithm: known for searching unsorted databases efficiently
• Physical implementation of qubits: Photon
• Quantum gates: change the state of a qubit, create superposition (Hadamard gate), and entangle qubits (CNOT gate)
• Decoherence: interaction with the environment causing loss of quantum behavior
• Primary challenge: maintaining quantum coherence
• Quantum circuits: sequence of quantum gates

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Bayesian Networks

• Components: nodes, edges, conditional probability tables
• Bayesian inference: updated belief about a parameter after observing data

Machine Learning Algorithms

• Supervised learning: focused on prediction
• Estimation methods: Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) for linear regression

Probability and Statistics

• Basic rules: sum rule, product rule, chain rule
• Gaussian distribution: known as Normal distribution
• Conjugate priors: posterior distribution is in the same family as the prior distribution
• Classification algorithms: logistic regression, support vector machines (SVM), decision trees
• Logistic regression: sigmoid function maps predicted values to probabilities
• Hidden Markov Models (HMMs): hidden states represent the underlying system states not directly observed

Blockchain

Fundamental Concepts

• PBFT: practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance
• Essential properties: cryptographic security

Generations and Applications

• Blockchain 2.0: financial services and smart contracts
• Blockchain 3.0: applications beyond financial industry

Technical Aspects

• Cryptography: symmetric key cryptography uses a single key for both encryption and decryption
• Hash function: creates unique identifiers for data
• Wallets: cold wallet known for offline storage

Scalability and Solutions

• Off-chain solutions: increase transaction throughput
• Sharding: partitioning the blockchain database to improve performance
• Blockchain Trilemma: balancing decentralization, scalability, and security

Renewable Energy

Energy Sources and Processes

• Primary sources: solar energy, geothermal energy, tidal energy, wind energy
• Photosynthesis: process responsible for energy stored in plants, involving chlorophyll and producing ATP and NADPH

Atmospheric and Biological Energy

• Earth's magnetic field: influences the movement of atmospheric gases
• Conductivity in the atmosphere: high region typically found at 100-200 km above ground
• Biological conversion: solar energy as the main source in the biosphere

Energy Storage and Conversion

• Stored energy: non-renewable energy resources
• Energy flow: replenished at the same rate as used, e.g., hydroelectricity and solar energy cycle