Understanding quantum technology, a new battleground between the United States and China – News



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Information Only Available in Specialty Vehicles: The US National Science and Technology Council released its new Quantum Computing (CIC) Development Strategy in September.

The 15-page report recommends objectives that the Donald Trump government must pursue to develop and strengthen its capabilities in quantum technology – which essentially consists of shifting the current binary system from traditional computation to a small molecule-based system. that would allow an exponential

In order to discuss the strategies presented, government officials and representatives of the country's leading financial and technology companies, such as Alphabet (Google's holding company), IBM, JP Morgan Chase and Lockheed Martin, Honeywell and Northrop Grumman (the last three devoted to the aerospace industry

It was also announced an investment of 249 million dollars (966.5 million rand) for the realization of 118 projects related to this scientific field. [19659002] Read also: The first executive of NASA was the mother of the tel Hubble Escape "

On the other side of the world, a similar movement is underway: the Beijing government is building a new national quantum science laboratory in Hefei, China. A cost of $ 10 billion, is expected to open in 2020.

This occurs after the launch, two years ago, of what has been described as the first quantum communications satellite, and its announcement in 2017, the creation of a communication network supposedly "impossible to invade" and to which only 200 users have access: military, civil servants and employees of private companies occupying positions of responsibility.

The fact that the two largest world powers are competing with each other (19659002)

Instead of using "one" as quantum technology, it is important to take into account the The importance of this area, which for some theorists is so powerful that it can transform the world. and "zero" in long sequences, as in clbadical computation, a quantum bit uses the properties of subatomic particles.

Electrons or photons can be, for example, in two states at once – a phenomenon called superposition. . As a result, a computer qubit can perform calculations much faster than a conventional computer.

"If you have a two-qubit computer and you add two qubits, you'll have a four-qubit computer, but that does not double the power of the computer." Said Martin Giles, head of the office of the MIT Technology Review in San Francisco.

Quantum technologies promise a revolution in information processing, says Alejandro Pozas-Kerstjens, a researcher at the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Barcelona, ​​Spain, and the Quantum Information Theory Group.

"All information is coded in a binary system – in zeros and units – but in the 1960s, it was discovered that the place where this information is stored can cause differences in what can be done ", says

" That is, I can record a clbadical information ica on a computer chip, as we do today, but we can also arm those zeros and these in smaller systems, such as simple atoms or small molecules Because of their small size, the behavior of these atoms and molecules is dictated by other rules: those of the quantum world. "

The purpose ofQuantum computing is therefore using these new quantum properties to improve processing and transmission.

CIC promises to be a revolution in how to process information, which should open up thousands of opportunities in sectors such as health, science and defense. the most powerful nations in the world have competed in this area.

Quantum Satellite

Judging by the progress made so far in quantum technology, China may be a step forward. 19659002] In 2016, Beijing announced the launch of the first quantum communications satellite and, a year later, said that it had successfully used this satellite to establish "

" There were two experiments: the first obtained a quantum communication with the satellite from Earth, then exploited this satellite to establish communication between two points on the ground. Pozas-Kerstjens, "says Pozas-Kerstjens.

This possibility of knowing whether an information has been intercepted or has arrived at its destination can not be obtained with the traditional technologies or methods of information transfer that we currently use.

The Chinese experiments, however, remain pilot projects. "They have proved that it was feasible, but for the moment, viability is not reached for industrial applications (large scale)," Pozas-Kerstjens said.

& # 39; Holy Grail & # 39;

This viability has not been achieved either in the field of quantum computing. Many companies in many countries are trying to develop it, which for the moment is experimental but not commercial.

"Quantum computing is for the moment a holy grail," continues Pozas-Kerstjens. "This is the direction in which all efforts in the field of quantum information science go directly or indirectly."

Conventional bitwise computing exploits information in only two states: zero or one. or deleted). Quantum, on the other hand, also works with the superposition of the two states and uses the movement of subatomic particles to process data in an amount impossible for a conventional calculation.

Although this technology is still theoretical, it is expected that the calculations that will make traditional computers seem obsolete are complete.

In the United States, companies like IBM, Google and Microsoft are developing their own quantum computers. The same thing is happening in China, with local companies like Alibaba and Baidu.

But it is not easy to build quantum computers: the main problem is the number of quantum bits that a computer will be able to produce. It seems that Google is at the forefront of the development of a processor powered by qubits

. In addition, there are maintenance issues as these future computers require extremely low temperatures to operate. The development of quantum computers operating at room temperature is one of the main axes of ongoing research. Revolution

For Pozas-Kerstjens, quantum technology has a revolutionary potential similar to that of the first personal computers. , by changing the way we "do things that are now very expensive, like making drugs or optimizing traffic lanes to reduce fuel costs".

"Such things will be a problem that can be solved with a computer.

But perhaps the greatest interest of governments is the quantum potential of defense, which is to make communications safer and to stop intrusive planes

And does anyone really win this conflict? For Pozas-Kerstjens, it is a "multi-headed race" that compete with each other. [19659002] "Perhaps we can say that quantum computing is at the top of the United States, but in quantum communications it is China."

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