MICROSOFT ADVANCES CONSIDERABLY IN QUANTUM COMPUTING

Quantum computing promises dramatic improvements for PCs. And the firms are positioning themselves, like Microsoft, which at the time of the conference Build 2018, affirmed to be able to create a quantum computer within five years. To show the balance of power that will be played between a conventional computer and a quantum computer, the latter is simply 100 million times faster ...

QUANTUM COMPUTING: GREAT COMPLEXITY

Quantum computing promises to revolutionize the industry, offering high performance PCs. But by its complexity, it is difficult to understand by the greatest number, from where a certain discretion of the media concerning it. But the announcement made by Microsoft at the Build 2018 conference could change the game. Todd Holmdahl, a Microsoft executive, said Microsoft would be able to offer a quantum computer in five years, having made significant advances in research. The approach of the firm is quite original and specific, the latter having chosen to focus on the topological qubits. But first, what makes quantum computing different from the rest? This is because it does not rely on standard bits that operate in a binary way from 0 to 1, but on "quantum bits" or qubits, which are the result of the aggregation of two basic states. These are similar to probability amplitudes.

CAN WE HAVE A QUANTUM COMPUTER FOR MICROSOFT IN FIVE YEARS?

The more qubits there are, the more one is in possession of an ultra-powerful and powerful PC. This is all the more true as quantum computers have the capacity to eliminate calculations leading to false results, to optimize the probabilities leading to good results. These are performances that are not capable of standard PCs. Microsoft has chosen to focus on creating topological qubits, more resistant to decoherence than conventional qubits. And the firm would not be far from the solution, believing to be in capacity "[to] get a topological qubit this year". Todd Holmdahl estimates that a quantum computer could emerge in five years. And the company has already thought about deploying it via the Azure cloud, which could solve problems in an optimal way.