Quantum Computing's Promise and Hurdles: From Qubits to Advantage

Key Quotes

"What are recent advances in the field of quantum computing and high performance computing? And what Python tools can you use to develop programs that run on quantum computers? This week on the show, Real Python author Negar Vahid discusses her tutorial, "Quantum Computing Basics With Qiskit.""

This quote introduces the central themes of the podcast episode: recent developments in quantum computing and high-performance computing, and the role of Python tools in this domain. The host, Christopher Bailey, sets the stage by highlighting the guest, Negar Vahid, and her tutorial on quantum computing basics using Qiskit.

"Well quantum advantage is when a quantum computer performs better than a classical computer and this could mean like it's more cost effective it's more accurate or it's just faster so it could be you know any of that."

Negar Vahid explains the concept of quantum advantage, defining it as a scenario where a quantum computer surpasses a classical computer in performance. She clarifies that "better" can encompass improvements in cost-effectiveness, accuracy, or speed, indicating a multifaceted definition of advantage.

"Actually it was very difficult for me because when I started learning about quantum computing I was very scared because it's very intimidating to look at textbooks and even blog posts are filled with mathematical notations and yeah they'd require a deep knowledge of quantum mechanics which well it is necessary I mean eventually if you want to you know be a pro but to understand that first I believe it's just kind of intimidating and makes people just not want to learn quantum computing so it's kind of being gatekept behind all this mathematics."

Negar Vahid discusses the challenges of learning quantum computing, noting that the field is often perceived as intimidating due to its heavy reliance on mathematical notation and advanced quantum mechanics. She expresses her goal in writing the article was to make the subject more accessible by avoiding overly complex mathematics initially.

"So in parallel computing you have a bunch of data and you're just basically processing them in parallel but then in quantum computing you have probabilities of the state they're not the states themselves but say you want to reach like a certain desired state okay or a desired result and what quantum computing does is that it cancels out the probability of getting that result wrong and it amplifies the correct result so it's the probability of them it's not like the states themselves which is again it's kind of difficult to visualize but it's just how nature works."

Vahid clarifies a fundamental difference between parallel and quantum computing. She explains that while parallel computing processes data simultaneously, quantum computing manipulates probabilities of states to cancel out incorrect outcomes and amplify correct ones, a concept she acknowledges is difficult to visualize but is rooted in natural principles.

"So basically because we have superposition we can have entanglement and entanglement is when two qubits are related in a way that if you even like put them in another planet like for example qubit one is on earth and qubit two is in Jupiter if you measure or just look at that qubit and see if it's a zero or a one then the other one will also reveal in relation to what you see like for example if qubit one is zero depending on how you designed your your program you're going to know if the other one is zero and one so basically you measure one but you get two results so that already gives us advantage and also interference well imagine the qubits as waves okay and just so like you get interference with waves you can design your program in a way where the wrong results get cancelled out and the right results like the desired result gets amplified so you get to that result faster."

Vahid elaborates on the core quantum properties that enable quantum computers to perform better. She describes entanglement as a relationship between qubits where measuring one instantly reveals information about the other, regardless of distance, and explains interference as a mechanism to amplify desired results while canceling out incorrect ones, leading to faster problem-solving.

"And a lot of actually a lot of researchers are leaving the field I mean with the current news maybe you know we're gaining researchers but before these two main uh results that we got a lot of researchers were leaving the field saying oh it's just theory but okay I mean look at AI now I mean you can kind of compare it with that because back in like 60s to maybe 90s even we had something called AI winters and people had this huge expectations that they're going to get very human like robots back in the 60s especially and well they didn't and even even afterwards spoiler alert yeah exactly and a lot of funds were taken away from research institutes then and also again like they had a breakthrough with specialized robots where they could do like healthcare related things but then they realized oh they don't generalize well they don't do well with new data and also it's just very expensive for them to make them so they kind of were disappointed again right until now I mean everyone is using AI it's the new bloom so I think it's it's helpful to look at quantum and the same way and realize how rapidly it's changing and we're getting new results left and right so I think there's absolutely hope."

Vahid addresses skepticism in the quantum computing field by drawing a parallel to the history of Artificial Intelligence (AI). She notes that researchers have left quantum computing due to its theoretical nature, similar to "AI winters" where initial high expectations were not met, leading to reduced funding. However, she points to the current widespread use of AI as proof that such fields can eventually bloom, suggesting quantum computing may follow a similar trajectory of rapid advancement and eventual widespread application.