Hasta La Gadget!

Modern microprocessors are tiny, delicate things. As you might imagine, quantum computers, which shrink the components to atomic or subatomic levels, can be even more so. Researchers at Imperial College London and the University of Brisbane have proposed a novel solution to the problem: don’t fix the uncertainty, just make it work.

In retrospect, it almost seems intuitive. Prior attempts to design a quantum computer tried to make them work with absolutely determinable, Newtonian precision, just at a much smaller size. Instead, this team created a model where a quantum computer could tolerate a comparatively huge range of error — losing up to a quarter of the total “qubits,” or tangled-atoms that are the quantum-computing equivalent of bits of information — but then reinterpret the data using a probabilistic error-correction mechanism. The model worked surprisingly well.

“Just as you can often tell what a word says when there are a few missing letters, or you can get the gist of a conversation on a badly-connected phone line, we used this idea in our design for a quantum computer,” said lead author Sean Barrett. “It’s surprising, because you wouldn’t expect that if you lost a quarter of the beads from an abacus that it would still be useful,” he added.

Consequently, quantum computers can be much easier to build, with much higher tolerances of data loss, than previously thought — and still achieve remarkably fast, reliable results. That’s the team’s next step: developing a prototype that puts their mathematical model into action.

Barrett mentions language and the telephone, but his error-correcting computer reminds me of other examples of analog media. A thin crack on a vinyl disc or poor reception on a radio antenna might introduce static into the stream, but it doesn’t ruin it altogether like similar damage to a DVD or HDTV signal. You don’t need a perfect transmission to get the signal through: accounting for noise or interference is built into the technology and our expectations for it.

It also reminds me of another unlikely analog analogue: the AK-47 assault rifle. Famously, the American M-16 was a work of military-industrial art, built with astonishing precision — and consequently prone to failure when it got wet or dirty. The AK-47’s parts all fit together loosely, almost like a bag of groceries: you could submerge it in swamp water, pull it out, and would keep firing.

Maybe quantum computing will help push us into a post-digital paradigm, closer to the analog world of our past than the digital one we know now. Sometimes, we need tech that works like that too.

See Also:

• How to See Quantum Entanglement
• Ultra-Precise Quantum-Logic Clock Trumps Old Atomic Clock
• Quantum Computer Simulates Hydrogen Molecule Just Right
• Quantum Computing Thrives on Chaos
• Quantum Physics Used to Control Mechanical System
• Probabilistic Chip Promises Better Flash Memory, Spam Filtering …