These qubits – encased in a modestly sized chip – are particles such as electrons or photons that can be in several states at the same time, a property of quantum physics known as superposition. In quantum computers, however, the information is contained in a quantum bit, or qubit. A text message, email or even a Netflix film streamed on your phone is a string of these bits. “If you can use the principles of quantum physics to process information then you can do a range of types of calculations that you cannot do with normal computers,” says Leek.Ĭlassical computers encode their information in bits – represented as a 0 or a 1 – that are transmitted as an electrical pulse. Work on quantum physics, however, has given us a new and more powerful way of processing information.
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Peter Leek, a lecturer and quantum computing expert at Oxford University, says “classical” computing (the common term for computing as we know it) has been an incredible 20th-century achievement, but “the way we process information in computers now still doesn’t take full advantage of the laws of physics as we know them”. The UK will need to get a move on though: big steps have been taken in the field this year by the technology superpowers of China and the US. Last week, the prime minister promised the UK would “go big on quantum computing” by building a general-purpose quantum computer, and secure 50% of the global quantum computing market by 2040. Quantum computing is based on quantum physics, which looks at how the subatomic particles that make up the universe work. He will need to push the boundaries of his linguistic dexterity to explain it. But an alternative method of computing is advancing rapidly, and Boris Johnson is among the people who have noticed. T he technology behind everyday computers such as smartphones and laptops has revolutionised modern life, to the extent that our day-to-day lives are unimaginable without it.