MeteorOnMars t1_j2hurbf wrote on January 1, 2023 at 12:29 PM

For some kinds of problems, a classical computer considers combinations one at a time:

ABC

ACB

BAC

BCA

CAB

CBA

While a quantum computer does it all on one step:

ABC/ACB/BAC/BCA/CAB/CBA

This is because, in some ways, quantum particles can be in more than one state at the same time!

Now imagine I had used ABCDEFGH for the example. You would be scrolling all day to get to the end of the classic computer example.

Alpha-Sierra-Charlie t1_j2imgzo wrote on January 1, 2023 at 4:49 PM

So it can essentially run a lot of calculations in parallel?

Futechteller t1_j2injfn wrote on January 1, 2023 at 4:57 PM

It is much stranger than this, there is nothing that happens in our normal macro scale life that is comprable to it. Things on a small scale behave way differently than our intuition allows for. The actual probablities of different outcomes interact with each other in a physical-like way. The single photon "double slit" experiment demonstrates this. 1 photon goes through two holes with equal probabilities, and the probabilities bounce off of each other making a new probability distribution as if they were waves bouncing of each other in the ocean. Nobody really knows why and the smartest people on the planet disagree as to why. What they agree on is ow to use this weirdness to make huge calculations very easily.

MeteorOnMars t1_j2inhym wrote on January 1, 2023 at 4:57 PM

Yes. But, only for some kinds of calculations that are looking at combinations or choices between things.