Quantum Computing: A Beginner's Guide PDF

What in the World is Quantum Computing? Before writing this blog, I hit a wall on deciding what I wanted to write about for this blog. I asked Google’s AI service Gemini to provide five emerging tech trends and some industries that could have an impact through AI. From this question, I stumbled ont...

What in the World is Quantum Computing? Before writing this blog, I hit a wall on deciding what I wanted to write about for this blog. I asked Google’s AI service Gemini to provide five emerging tech trends and some industries that could have an impact through AI. From this question, I stumbled onto quantum computing, a foreign, alien-like phrase, from there I decided to research it further. Quantum Computing is a type of computing that uses similar mechanics and is based upon principles of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics, the root knowledge, is a type of physics that deals with particles at the atomic and subatomic state. Unlike normal computers, which we will call “classical computers” throughout this blog, quantum computers use quantum bits (qubits) which can represent both 0 and 1 at the same time because of a phenomenon called superposition. This allows these computers to process massive amounts of data at once and can solve complex problems way faster than classical computers. In addition to superposition, quantum computers work under a concept called entanglement, which is where quantum bits are linked and affect other quantum bits quicker than classic computers. Under my research and understanding, it is more like our brain’s neurons where the neurons are all interconnected. Entanglement creates much faster problem solving capabilities for tasks. Key Milestones of Quantum Computing: 1982: Richard Reynmann states a computer can be used to accurately simulate quantum processes and introduces the theory of quantum computing. 1985: David Deutsch proves that quantum computers can “in theory” simulate any physical process. Deutsch created the first formal description and theoretical model. 1994: Peter Shor developed an algorithm that could factor large numbers exponentially faster than classical computers. It was the first step showing quantum computers could help the cryptography industry. 1998: Physicists and computer scientists began building small quantum computers, by creating the first quantum bits (qubits) 2001: IBM created a version of Shor’s Algorithm on a 7 qubit quantum computer. It was not practical or sustainable, but was an improvement and showed the potential quantum computers have. 2012: The phrase “Quantum Supremacy” was coined. It refers to the point where a quantum computer can solve a problem that a classical computer would take too long to solve (e.g: 1000 years) 2019: Google created their quantum computer, Sycamore, that performed a calculation in 200 seconds that would take classical computers about 10,000 years to complete. Sycamore was considered the first example of Quantum Supremacy 2020 & Beyond: Companies like IBM, Google, Microsoft, Intel, and D-Wave Systems are leading the charge in quantum computing. Right now, it’s a race to build quantum computers that are scalable, practical, and useful for real-world applications. One of the biggest challenges they're all working on is quantum error correction. Quantum Computing in the Finance Industry Quantum Computing is used in many industries including: Healthcare and Drug Discovery, Finance, Cryptography, Materials Science, and Supply Chain. For the rest of the blog, I will focus on the role of Quantum Computing in Finance. According to Mckinsey, Quantum Computing could create $625B in the finance industry by 2035. How did I incorporate AI? After reading last week's blog, I read Aiden Kane’s Blog, Search-vival of the Fittest, which discussed how AI could replace the role of search engines. I learned about a new AI tool called Perplexity, a free AI search engine, that I used to research and write this entire blog. I enjoyed using a new tool and will be using it moving forward. Before testing Perplexity, I saw how an AI search engine would be beneficial, but during my research, it created text outputs and provided relevant articles to the questions I asked. In addition to perplexity, I used ChatGPT for the usual grammar check and adjusting the structure of my sentences when finished. Sources: 1. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/tech-forward/quant um-technology-use-cases-as-fuel-for-value-in-finance 2. https://thequantuminsider.com/2020/05/26/history-of-quantum-computing/