Helping Quantum Computers Study the Physics of the Universe
Quantum computers are still years away, but a trio of theoretical physicists has already figured out at least one talent they may have. The theorists, including one from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), have developed a mathematical algorithm that will be used by a future quantum computer to study the inner workings of the universe in ways that are far beyond the reach of even the most powerful conventional supercomputers.
Transcript
00:00:01 [Music up and under Narrator] They exist as the tiniest parts of all of us ... everything on earth ... and all matter in the universe ... yet in some ways, they are more difficult to study than galaxies billions of light years away. Subatomic particles ... they are the components that make up atoms ... including protons, neutrons and electrons ... as well as other tiny units such as quarks,
00:00:30 photons and neutrinos. Stephen Jordan (on camera): "Exploring the way these particles interact ... especially during collisions ... can help us understand the inner workings of the universe ... even back to the Big Bang." To do these studies scientists currently use giant particle accelerators like the large Hadron collider in Switzerland or the relativistic heavy ion collider in New York. But the science doesn't come easily ...
00:00:57 While accelerators yield valuable results their size limits where they can be built ... They're expensive to operate and it may require years of collisions to gather enough data to properly study a particle. What was needed was a virtual means of studying collisions to complement and support the accelerator data. The answer ... as reported in the journal science ... was to create a special mathematical algorithm.
00:01:26 John Preskill (on camera): "Our algorithm simulates a collision between particles at very high energy on a computer. The algorithm can be run over and over again many times collecting data very much like the data that would be obtained in an accelerator experiment." However... such complex calculations require tremendous computing power even greater than that possible from the best supercomputers.
00:01:53 So the researchers designed their algorithm to run on a quantum computer a device where the "ones" and "zeros" used by digital computers to select between two choices are replaced by subatomic quantum states. These quantum bits or qubits as they're called can simultaneously represent all possible solutions to a problem. Unfortunately a practical quantum computer is at least a decade away. The good news is that when
00:02:24 that day does arrive the quantum computer will have a powerful tool on hand that it can put right to work. Stephen Jordan (on camera): "We don't have quantum computers yet but we already have an understanding about the general features of how they will work, and our algorithm is designed based only on those general features. So it should be able to run on any quantum computer regardless of the details of the hardware." Not only will we gain a richer knowledge
00:02:49 of how subatomic particles interact ... but we may even begin to define the fundamental properties of physics driving the universe. [ Credits ]