Quantum ComputingA gentle-ish introduction!

Tony T. Tran3/12/16 South Bay Learning Night

Who am I?

Warning!• Quantum Mechanics is hard/weird/unintuitive!• “I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum

mechanics” (Richard Feynman)• “Physics is really figuring out how to discover new things that are

counterintuitive, like quantum mechanics. It's really counterintuitive.” (Elon Musk)

• “Quantum physics is a bit of a passion of mine. It's extraordinary. There's a branch of mathematics that is based on lunacy, and that's wonderful.” (Bob Hoskins)

• “OMGWTFBBQSAUCE!!!!” (Tony Tran)

Classical Computers• Bit string – The fundamental building blocks of a classical computer

Quantum Computers• Quantum bit (qubit) - Fundamental building block of a quantum

computer

Observing/Measuring a Qubit

0 or 1=+Collapse of the state

Quantum EntanglementQubits can be entangled so that they affect one another

Computation

So what is it good for?• Cyber Security

Most cryptographic protocols rely on integer factorization, e.g., RSA-based public keys

Relies on integer factorization being difficult No known classical algorithm that has polynomial complexity

(not easy)

• Shor’s Algorithm (Quantum) Finds prime factors for numbers in polynomial time (easy)

• A whole field of quantum cryptography exists!

Don’t worry, quantum

computers that can do

this don’t currently exist!

Current State of Quantum Computing• No general quantum computer currently exists with a

practical number of qubits (~10 qubits)

D-Wave: Quantum Annealer 1152 qubits (actually less) Anneal time: 20 microseconds 15 millikelvin (colder than space)

Quantum Annealing• Slowly let the system evolve over time so that it can search solutions

Adiabatic Quantum Computation

What do I do?• Hybrid Quantum-Classical computing algorithms

Mars Lander Task Scheduling Satellite Resource Management

Come talk with me after if you want to get into more details! Tony T. Tran