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0:00- We all know that digital computers changed virtually every
aspect of our life.
0:07Well, the arrival of quantum computers could be even more historic than that.
0:12We're now in the initial
stages of the next revolution. We're talking about a new
generation of computers:
0:20the ultimate computer, a
computer that computes on atoms, the ultimate constituents
of matter itself.
0:28The question is: Who's
involved in this race to perfect quantum computers? And the answer is: everyone.
0:36All the big players are part of this race because if they're not, Silicon Valley could
become the next Rust Belt.
0:46Also, anyone who's interested in security is interested in quantum computers.
0:52They can crack almost any code that is based on digital technology.
0:59That's why the FBI, the CIA
and all national governments
1:04are following this very closely. Quantum computers will change everything,
1:12the economy, how we solve problems, the way we interact with the Universe. You name it, quantum
computers will be there.
1:21I'm Dr. Michio Kaku, professor
of theoretical physics at the City University of New York,
1:27and author of "Quantum Supremacy," about the rise of quantum computers.
1:38You see, computers have gone
through three basic stages: Stage one was the analog computer.
1:45So, 2,000 years ago there was a shipwreck, and in the boat that sank was a device,
1:52and when you brushed
away the dirt and debris, you began to realize
that it was a machine,
1:59a machine of incredible complexity. It was, in fact, the world's
first analog computer,
2:06and it was designed to map the
motion of the Moon, the Sun
2:11and the planets to simulate the Universe. But as we primitive peoples
became more prosperous,
2:19we had to count things- count how many cows you had,
count how much profit you made.
2:26Analog computers could be
based on sticks, bones, whatever it took to count.
2:33So, this went on for thousands of years until finally we reached
the work of Charles Babbage.
2:39He creates the ultimate analog computer with hundreds of gears
and levers and pulleys.
2:47And by turning the crank, you could then calculate
longitude, latitude, you could calculate interest rates.
2:54It was very valuable to
have an instrument like that for the banking industry, for commerce.
3:01Then, World War II comes along. Babbage's machine is simply too primitive to break the German code,
3:08so the job was given to
mathematicians like Alan Turing.
3:13Alan Turing was the one who codified a lot of the laws of computation
3:18into what is called and, of course, it's digital.
3:23Now, the digital revolution
is based on transistors. It operates on zeros
and ones, zeros and ones
3:31at the speed of electricity. Every digital computer
is a Turing machine.
3:37The next step beyond digital
computers is the quantum era.
3:43Richard Feynman was one of the founders of quantum electrodynamics,
but also a visionary.
3:50And he asked himself a simple question: How small can you make a transistor?
3:55And he realized that the
ultimate transistor is an atom, one atom that could control
the flow of electricity,
4:04not just on or off, but
everything in-between. We have to go to quantum computers,
4:12computers that compute on atoms
rather than on transistors.
4:19Transistors are based on
zeros and one, zeros and one. Reality is not.
4:26Reality is based on
electrons and particles, and these particles in
turn act like waves.
4:32So, you have to have a
new set of mathematics to discuss the waves
that make up a molecule,
4:41and that's where quantum
computers come in. They're based on electrons,
and these electrons,
4:48how come they have so
much computational power? Because they could be in
two places at the same time-
4:54that's what gives quantum
computers their power. They compute on not just one universe
5:02but an infinite number
of parallel universes.
5:10At the fundamental
level, quantum mechanics can be reduced down to a
cat, Schrodinger's cat.
5:19Let's take a box. In the box, you put a
cat, and the question is:
5:24Is the cat dead or alive? Well, until you open
the box, you don't know.
5:31It is alive and dead simultaneously. It's in a superposition of two states.
5:38In other words, the
universe has split in half. In one half, the cat is alive.
5:45In the other universe, the cat is dead. That's the basis of the quantum theory
5:50that until you make a measurement, the cat can exist in both
states simultaneously,
5:56in fact, in any number
of states simultaneously. The cat could be dead, alive, playing,
6:03jumping, sideways, sick,
any number of states. Now, why am I mentioning this?
6:09'Cause this summarizes the
power of quantum computers. Quantum computers compute
on parallel universes.
6:19That's why they are so powerful.
6:26So, how much faster is a quantum computer over a digital computer? In principle,
6:35When we talk about digital computers, we can measure their
power in terms of bits.
6:41For example, spin up,
spin down, zeros and one would constitute one bit.
6:48For a large digital computer, we're now talking about billions of bits
6:53that are modeled by transistors, except now, quantum computers
talk not just about spin up
7:00or spin down, but everything in between- that's called a qubit.
7:05One qubit represents all the possibilities of an object spinning between up and down.
7:14Thousands of qubits can now be modeled with the latest generation
of quantum computers.
7:21Eventually, we hope to hit a million. And so, we're talking
about exceeding the power
7:28of ordinary digital computers. It is the point at
which a quantum computer
7:36can outrace and outperform
a digital computer on a certain task.
7:42We passed that several years ago, but we want a machine that
could exceed the power
7:48of any digital computer. We're not there yet, but
we're very close to it.
7:56The number one problem
facing quantum computers is the question of 'decoherence.'
8:03Everything is based on
particles like electrons, and electrons have waves
associated with them.
8:10When these waves are vibrating in unison, it's called 'coherence,' and then you can do calculations
8:17of a quantum mechanical nature. But if you fall out of coherence, then everything vibrates
at a different frequency.
8:24And what is that called? Noise. You have to reduce the temperature
8:30down to near absolute zero so everything is pretty much
vibrating slowly in unison-
8:39that's difficult. Now, nature solves this problem: It is the basis of all life on the earth.
8:47Photosynthesis, for example, is a quantum mechanical process.
8:52Mother Nature can create
coherence at room temperature. Amazing.
9:05Mother Nature is still smarter than us when it comes to the quantum theory.
9:14So, let's face it. There are hurdles affecting the
growth of quantum computers,
9:19but they pale in comparison to the benefits that may be
unleashed by quantum computers.
9:27We're talking about
opening the floodgates. Take a look, for example, of food supply.
9:33The 'green revolution'
that allows us to feed the population of the world
is slowly coming to an end.
9:40We're trying to use quantum
computers to unlock the secret of how to make fertilizer from nitrogen.
9:46Take a look at energy. Quantum computers may be
able to create fusion power
9:52by stabilizing the super hot hydrogen inside a fusion reactor.
9:58And take a look at medicine. You realize that life
is based on molecules,
10:04molecules that can create
Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, cancer.
10:10These diseases are beyond the
reach of digital computers. But hey, this is what
quantum computers do.
10:17We'll be able to model diseases
at the molecular level, and that's why we hope
to cure the incurable
10:25using quantum computers. We're talking about turning
medicine upside down.
10:33My personal hope for quantum computers is that we'll be able to create a theory
10:39of the entire Universe, the
theory that eluded Einstein, the theory that would explain
black holes and supernovas
10:47and galactic evolution. But the equations are
so complex that no one,
10:53no one has been able to solve them. Perhaps, they'll be solved in the memory of a quantum computer.