Skip to footer

IBM wants to bring quantum computing to the masses

The computing company announced public access via its cloud service to an early quantum computer model, allowing people to use and better understand the developing technology.

|
Courtesy of IBM Research
IBM scientist Stefan Filipp looks at the dilution refrigerator, which will keep qubits needed for quantum computing at temperatures colder than the deepest parts of outer space.

For the first time, the general public will be able to access previously theoretical quantum computing systems through International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)'s quantum processor on its cloud service.

"This moment represents the birth of quantum cloud computing," IBM Research senior vice president and director Arvind Krishna said in a company release. "By giving hands-on access to IBM's experimental quantum systems, the IBM Quantum Experience will make it easier for researchers and the scientific community to accelerate innovations in the quantum field, and help discover new applications for this technology."

The quantum computing field was opened in the early 1980s and involves the use of quantum bits, or qubits, in place of the traditional binary digits used for modern computing. Qubits are not locked into set states, and have the potential to be the base of much more powerful computers than ever before.

"Quantum computers are very different from today's computers, not only in what they look like and are made of, but more importantly in what they can do," Mr. Krishna said. "Quantum computing is becoming a reality and it will extend computation far beyond what is imaginable with today’s computers."

The new computers are much more complex than current ones as well, taking up a larger amount of space and requiring certain conditions to function properly. Qubits must work around absolute zero, or they won’t return the correct results, and the movement of data within the system makes it hard to keep track of information or store it.

IBM's quantum processor is one of the first functional machines in the discipline, and through its IBM Quantum Experience will allow users to jump in on one of the first major steps in the new wave of computing. Through the IBM Cloud, people can experiment with the technology, run simulations, be taught about the possibilities of the platform, and, in the future, participate in community sharing experiences based around the quantum device.

"It is a beautiful challenge to pursue the path to build the first universal quantum computer, but it requires us to change how we think about the world. Access to early quantum computing prototypes will be key in imagining and developing future applications," IBM Research vice president of science and solutions Dario Gil said. "If you want to understand what a true quantum computer will do for you and how it works, this is the place to do it. You won’t experience it anywhere else."

The IBM system currently operates with five qubits, but a machine running off of 50 to 100 of the quantum information units will surpass even today's best supercomputers, according to IBM's quantum computing group manager Jerry Chow, although more work on managing qubits would need to be done before reaching that point.

"It is a beautiful challenge to pursue the path to build the first universal quantum computer, but it requires us to change how we think about the world. Access to early quantum computing prototypes will be key in imagining and developing future applications," Mr. Gil said.

Users interested in taking the Quantum Experience for a test drive can request an invitation from IBM.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to IBM wants to bring quantum computing to the masses
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2016/0504/IBM-wants-to-bring-quantum-computing-to-the-masses
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe