In the Ice Cold Belly of the Golden Dragon, it Rumbles, Spins, and Twirls. Light Atoms Spark and Flash – the almost Frozen Creature is at Work.

Description

By William Van Zyl

Read the article online as a blog post:

https://fivehousepublishing.com/2021/04/27/in-the-ice-cold-belly-of-the-golden-dragon-it-rumbles-spins-and-twirls-light-atoms-spark-and-flash-the-almost-frozen-creature-is-at-work/

INTRODUCTION:

Icy cold vapour is trapped in the belly of the Golden Dragon. The temperature is below –200 degrees Celsius. The tummy is cool, very cool. The intestines are frozen. Light and atoms are subjected to the cold. But, it is at this temperature that the beast obeys. It follows instructions at the speed of light. It twirls, spins and dances through computations at a devastating rate. It solves intricate and notoriously tricky problems. Albert Einstein would have been in awe if he had the opportunity to see the golden creature.

From afar, the quantum monster looks like an extravagant golden chandelier. Up closer, it seems like a steampunk light fitting from an artist’s home or business that has come alive. It contains an intricate collection of tubes and wires – probably boxes that carry light atoms. Not only electricity as we know it. Light and atoms culminate in a small container at the bottom. It has to be kept very calm. Crypto-cool. This is the power-belly. It is, in fact, one of the most sophisticated quantum computers ever built I am describing. There are several prototypes around the world today in 2021 – the race to create the first successfully quantum computer is on.

The processor inside the computers has around 50 to 120 quantum bits, or qubits, that process tasks in a (potentially) revolutionary way. The goal is to have millions of qubits working together. Usually, information is created and stored as a series of ones and zeroes – binary code as we know it. Contrary to binary, qubits can represent both values (0 and 1) simultaneously (known as superposition), which means a quantum computer can theoretically test the two simultaneously. Add more qubits, and this hard-to-believe computational power increases.

Google’s Sycamore processor mounted in a cryostat, recently used to demonstrate quantum supremacy and the most significant quantum chemistry simulation on a quantum computer. Photo Credit: Rocco Ceselin.

Interior of IBM Quantum computing system. (Credit: IBM) From Flickr. IBM Research – April 2021. See more stunning images: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ibm_research_zurich/albums/72157663611181258

A 3-d Diagram of a typical quantum computer from the sketchbook of the author. IBM’S quantum computer has a height of approximately 1 m to 1.2 m. Loose ink and watercolour sketch by William Van Zyl with annotations. The cubit has to be kept very cool – a stunning -273 degrees Celcius. Researchers have claimed that the Jiuzhang quantum computer (China) is 100 trillion times faster than the world’s fastest supercomputer. Read the full article online here (blog post): https://fivehousepublishing.com/2021/04/27/in-the-ice-cold-belly-of-the-golden-dragon-it-rumbles-spins-and-twirls-light-atoms-spark-and-flash-the-almost-frozen-creature-is-at-work/