Quantum computers are here. But could we ever build a quantum laptop?
The globe was at war about 80 years ago. The first electronic computers were being developed by scientists in the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom behind a veil of secrecy. These computers took up entire rooms, consumed enormous amounts of electricity, and made calculations that were previously impossible and conceivable. Not many of the participants could have predicted that computers orders of magnitude more powerful would fit in a backpack decades later, yet that is precisely what happened.
Therefore, may we ever see quantum laptops as we stand on the precipice of truly practical quantum computing? “I think it’s possible,” said Mario Gely, a researcher at the University of Oxford who studied quantum computing before Live Science. I can’t think of a fundamental reason why a quantum laptop wouldn’t be feasible, but that’s just pure speculation.
Scaling up qubit number
Scientists must first create a practical quantum computer before they can create a quantum laptop. The number of qubits, which are the quantum counterpart of digital bits, required to build a truly practical quantum computer that can address a variety of practical, real-world issues that the most advanced superclassical computers are unable to handle is still up for debate. However, it is clearly higher than what is now feasible.
By the end of this decade, theoretical quantum physicist Stephen Bartlett, who is the director of the Nano Institute at the University of Sydney, believes that really practical quantum computers will be available. “That path is somewhat hazy due to a number of open scientific challenges, but we’re getting close.”