Quantum computing is in the cloud, and you don鈥檛 need a degree in advanced physics to run your own programs. For the first time, anyone with a web browser will soon be able to log in and run basic algorithms on a quantum chip hooked up to the internet.
A quantum chip processes information in qubits, or quantum bits, which, unlike the digital bits in a regular computer, can be both 0 and 1 at the same time. In theory, this ability should allow quantum computers to offer far speedier computation than current PCs 鈥� although devices that can definitely outperform standard machines don鈥檛 yet exist.
Until now only a few labs around the world have had access to even basic quantum computers. Google recently purchased a D-Wave quantum computer and shares access with NASA and other select researchers, but not with the general public. Questions also remain over just how quantum D-Wave鈥檚 machine really is, because it operates using a non-mainstream technique called adiabatic quantum computing.
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杏吧原创s at the University of Bristol, UK, were concerned that limited availability to any type of quantum computer would mean a dearth of skilled coders when the expected quantum revolution finally arrives.
鈥淎 quantum computer can do things faster for you, but someone has to program it, and at the moment there are only a handful of people around the world who would be qualified,鈥� says Bristol鈥檚 , who led the development of the quantum chip being used in the cloud project.
Quantum sim
The more traditionally quantum chip works by guiding two photons through a series of optical channels. As the photons pass through the chip they become entangled, meaning that a measurement on one influences the outcome when measuring the other. Programming the computer involves tweaking the extent of this entanglement to produce different computations.
Would-be quantum coders will first use an that lets them practise programming. A tutorial explains the key quantum-mechanical ideas that are central to the device, then guides users through the steps required to adjust the chip and change its output. Once experienced enough, users can ask for permission to connect to the real chip, which is sitting in a lab in Bristol. It will run programs and return results via the internet.
鈥淵ou can sit on the bus with your mobile phone and do a quantum optics experiment which might never have been seen before,鈥� says team member . The simulator is already online, but the ability to directly access the chip won鈥檛 launch until 20 September.
Cloudy future
Exactly what a member of the public might want to use the quantum chip for is unclear. And the version being used online only has two qubits, so its processing power is a very limited.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not going to calculate something that your PC couldn鈥檛 calculate, because it鈥檚 not at that scale by a long way,鈥� says O鈥橞rien. His team has made 6-qubit and 8-qubit computers, but those projects are still in development. In the meantime, they are happy to let others use their older technology for free as a way to encourage engagement.
The beginnings of a quantum cloud should be a fun way to demonstrate the technology for the public, says Scott Aaronson at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who is not part of the project. And while a 2-qubit device won鈥檛 be more useful than your regular PC, putting it online might foreshadow how we will access large-scale quantum computers in future, he says.
鈥淚f quantum computing does become a practical technology, there will be a relatively small number of quantum computers, which people will access remotely.鈥�
