Quantum Computing has been making a lot of headlines nowadays. This is primarily because of the advances in Quantum Computing and the impact it is going to have on every industry and every person. Quantum Computing has widespread applications in the field of Artificial Intelligence/ Machine Learning, Optimization, Chemistry, Cybersecurity, Encryption, Finance, Medicine, and Simulation among others. While Quantum Computing is advancing at a rapid rate, understanding of Quantum Computing is not. To address this disconnect, Google has launched a new game to educate people about Quantum Computing- The Qubit Game. You can play the Quantum Computing game here. Go on, check it out, you can read this article later 😉.
“Build Quantum Computer one Qubit at a time. Click into the world of Quantum Computing with the Qubit Game. Earn points by solving the same challenges Quantum Engineers face by keeping Qubits cool to blocking Cosmic Rays.”
The Google Quantum Computing Game
The game aims to teach the absolute basics of Quantum Computing one step at a time without going into the details of Quantum Mechanics- the science behind Quantum Computing. Throughout the game, the focus solely is on understanding the different parts and components of Quantum Computers such as Qubits and their coherence and entanglement, addressing the issues related to heat and cosmic rays which cause decoherence of Qubits, Measurement Devices, etc.
The game revolves around getting more points(or rather Information), which is obtained by measuring Qubits once they are measured. Following this, they return back to the de-cohered state. The player has to prevent the Qubits from getting hit by heat particles or cosmic rays particles by moving the mouse to deflect these heat and cosmic rays particles. If these particles hit Qubits, the Qubits become de-cohered again and their information is lost, which is a loss of the points that could have been gained by measuring these Qubits. These points or information can be used to upgrade the Quantum Computer setup such as getting a better cooling system for the Quantum Computer, adding Qubits to the Quantum Computer, getting better and faster measuring systems, or increasing the information storing capability of Qubits.
A good news for developers- the game is also available in dark mode.
Quantum Engineers face a lot of challenges when creating Quantum Computers. These challenges include but are not limited to keeping the entire apparatus near absolute zero temperature(about 0 Kelvin or -273.15 degrees Celsius), preventing the Qubits from Decoherence(i.e, where they lose their state spontaneously either due to heat or due to cosmic rays, etc), correcting the noise which results from incorrect measurements. The game effectively covers the issues and challenges with Quantum Computing that Quantum Engineers have to deal with.
The Future of Quantum Computing
While these challenges are difficult, the promises and impact of Quantum Computing are also huge. While classical computers(or just computers) are fast with most types of problems, there are some problems that prove just too difficult for classical computers to solve. And this is where Quantum Computers come into the picture. Quantum Computers can solve some problems much faster than classical computers. And this opens a sea of possibilities and also nightmares. While Quantum Computing will help in solving many problems that humans face, it might as well represent a danger in some fields such as encryption.
Most of the encryption algorithms that are used today are asymmetric key algorithms, which can be broken down by Quantum Computers. While Quantum Computers of today are not powerful enough to pose any threat to the encryption systems of today, the equation might change in the near future. This renders many of the currently used encryption algorithms defenseless to “store today, decrypt tomorrow” attacks wherein an adversary stores the encrypted text they cannot decrypt today but will use Quantum Computers of the future to decrypt them. This has lad to the use of Post Quantum Encryption methods which makes sure that the secrets of today are also safe from the Quantum Computers of tomorrow.
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