quantum computing offers the possibility
of exponential speed ups in certain
types of calculations or what you could
ever be achieved on the classical
computer
the basic difference between quantum and
classical computers is how they
manipulate information in a classical
computer if you have a series of
decisions you can only make one set of
decisions one path and in that decision
space at a time and in lots of problems
the number of decisions you need to make
grows exponentially if they depend on
each other in a quantum system you don't
have to do one at a time you can take
both paths and so you can consider the
case this is true and false and then you
can look at the consequence of that true
and false and so on and just like in if
the chinko parlor the rather than taking
one path down for that ball in the
quantum case you can take all paths and
in the very end of the calculation you
use what's called quantum interference
that to collect your result about say
the optimal route through through that
decision space quantum computing is hard
in order to do a calculation we have to
come in from the classical world give
the quantum system instructions without
messing it up and get it to come to some
result quantum computing still in its
infancy it's a bit like the early days
of classical competing when the
transistor was first developed we have
the basic building blocks but we need to
figure out how to put them together and
that challenge is something that spans
many disciplines from basic science to
engineering computation high-performance
computing
and applications and the lab is a place
where we have those capabilities and so
it's an ideal place to to pursue this as
a and move the field forward another key
aspect of the lab that's relevant for
this kind of work is that we have a
mission and so everything we're doing is
geared towards realizing that mission
means we have an objective and that
actually has a strong impact on how we
perform the work and how we move it
forward
the main component of our quantum
testbed is a superconducting aluminum
quantum processor what makes our quantum
processor unique is its elegant
simplicity it is a resource efficient
design so that we get the most
computational power in the smallest
footprint the rest of the system is
designed so we can make the processor
work we put the processor inside a
cryogen free dilution refrigerator and
the compressor reduces the temperature
inside the refrigeration tank to about
three Kelvin the electronics around our
quantum test bed serve two purposes the
first is a classical to quantum
converter so that we can ask our
processor a question the second is as a
quantum to classical converter so we can
see the answer to that question a
quantum testbed didn't come configured
there isn't an instruction manual for
how to put together a quantum computer
instead we use the labs mission need to
drive our unique design choices and all
of the electronics that make up the con
computing system
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