Quibling with Quibits.

in the field

I just read this.

A classical computer has a memory made up of bits, where each bit is represented by either a one or a zero. A quantum computer maintains a sequence of qubits. A single qubit can represent a one, a zero, or any quantum superposition of those two qubit states; a pair of qubits can be in any quantum superposition of 4 states, and three qubits in any superposition of 8 states. In general, a quantum computer with qubits can be in an arbitrary superposition of up to 2different states simultaneously (this compares to a normal computer that can only be in one of these 2 states at any one time). A quantum computer operates by setting the qubits in a perfect drift that represents the problem at hand and by manipulating those qubits with a fixed sequence of quantum logic gates. The sequence of gates to be applied is called a quantum algorithm. The calculation ends with a measurement, collapsing the system of qubits into one of the 2 pure states, where each qubit is zero or one, decomposing into a classical state. The outcome can therefore be at most classical bits of information. Quantum algorithms are often non-deterministic, in that they provide the correct solution only with a certain known probability.

I read this because i was listening to the French radio in my car and they started talking about L’Ordinateur Quantique. I am pretty sure that i don’t have one so i wondered if i should.

So i read the above.

What i understood was this.

A classical computer has a memory made up of bits, where each bit is represented by either a one or a zero. A quantum computer ……………………..….. A single ……. can represent a one, a zero, or ……………………..a pair of ………….can be in any ……………….. and …………………. In general……………………………….. A quantum computer …………………… the ………………………………… The ………………………….The ………………………………………..

So i won’t be buying one just yet.

And i have a feeling that my understanding of the word ‘bit’ is different than the writer’s.

ab/174