WEBVTT - Quantum Computers Could Change Everything 0:00:15.356 --> 0:00:15.796 Pushkin. 0:00:21.196 --> 0:00:24.676 In a world where you can put billions of transistors 0:00:24.716 --> 0:00:28.756 on a single chip, and where anybody can access trillions 0:00:28.796 --> 0:00:32.036 of transistors in the cloud, it feels like we can 0:00:32.156 --> 0:00:36.236 use computers for for, you know, anything that can be computed. 0:00:37.076 --> 0:00:41.036 Kind of amazingly, this is not true. There are lots 0:00:41.116 --> 0:00:44.756 of things that could theoretically be computed, but that in 0:00:44.836 --> 0:00:48.396 fact are just too complex, too hard to compute for 0:00:48.636 --> 0:00:52.236 even a cloud full of computers. Things like predicting how 0:00:52.356 --> 0:00:56.316 prospective drugs will work in the body, or modeling really 0:00:56.356 --> 0:01:00.636 complex financial scenarios, even figuring out the factors of very 0:01:00.716 --> 0:01:04.396 large numbers. There are all kinds of computations that people 0:01:04.836 --> 0:01:08.956 just don't do because computers are not nearly powerful enough 0:01:08.996 --> 0:01:15.236 to do them. But but there is an entirely new 0:01:15.356 --> 0:01:18.836 kind of computer people are trying to build. It's called 0:01:18.876 --> 0:01:22.636 a quantum computer. You've probably heard of this. Quantum computers. 0:01:22.716 --> 0:01:25.356 If they work like people hope, they will, will be 0:01:25.476 --> 0:01:29.396 profoundly more powerful than any cloud full of computers that 0:01:29.436 --> 0:01:32.756 has ever existed. They could allow for new breakthroughs in 0:01:32.956 --> 0:01:37.076 everything from drug design to energy storage. Also, a big 0:01:37.196 --> 0:01:41.356 quantum computer could factor very large numbers, which would allow 0:01:41.396 --> 0:01:44.196 it to crack the encryption codes that secure most of 0:01:44.236 --> 0:01:52.996 the data that flows across the Internet. I'm Jacob Goldstein 0:01:53.036 --> 0:01:55.316 and this is What's Your Problem, the show where I 0:01:55.436 --> 0:01:58.556 talk to people who are trying to make technological progress. 0:01:58.996 --> 0:02:02.516 My guest today is Chris Munro. He's the co founder 0:02:02.556 --> 0:02:06.596 and chief scientist at IONQ, one of several companies that 0:02:06.716 --> 0:02:09.116 is trying to figure out how to build a big, power, 0:02:09.116 --> 0:02:13.636 powerful quantum computer. Chris is also a physics professor at Duke, 0:02:14.116 --> 0:02:16.756 which was good news for me because a big part 0:02:16.796 --> 0:02:18.796 of what I wanted to talk to him about was 0:02:18.956 --> 0:02:22.476 quantum physics, which is of course amazing and weird and 0:02:22.876 --> 0:02:29.156 essential for understanding how quantum computers work. We started off 0:02:29.196 --> 0:02:33.956 by discussing the fundamental difference between quantum computers and regular computers. 0:02:34.316 --> 0:02:37.556 It comes down to the bit, the basic building block 0:02:37.636 --> 0:02:40.436 of computing. The essential thing to know about a bit 0:02:40.836 --> 0:02:42.716 is that it can be in one of two states, 0:02:43.116 --> 0:02:46.796 on or off zero or one. At least that's the 0:02:46.836 --> 0:02:51.436 case for traditional computers. Quantum computers use bits called quantum 0:02:51.476 --> 0:02:54.916 bits or cubits, and they're different than traditional bits in 0:02:54.956 --> 0:02:57.436 a really strange, really profound way. 0:02:58.436 --> 0:03:03.156 A quantum bit can be in both zero and one 0:03:04.036 --> 0:03:07.276 at the same time. So this is totally new. We 0:03:07.356 --> 0:03:11.876 never experience, you know, a coffee cup being in two places. 0:03:11.916 --> 0:03:12.476 I'm looking at a. 0:03:12.476 --> 0:03:14.996 Coffee cup here, yes, or more simply a light switch 0:03:15.076 --> 0:03:17.276 that is both on and off. Right, plainly, the light 0:03:17.636 --> 0:03:18.516 is either on or. 0:03:18.516 --> 0:03:21.076 You don't experience those things in everyday life. So here's 0:03:21.796 --> 0:03:25.596 my physics, my two minute description of quantum. Okay, there 0:03:25.596 --> 0:03:28.836 are exactly two rules, no more, no less. There are 0:03:28.836 --> 0:03:31.156 two rules, and they have almost nothing to do with 0:03:31.156 --> 0:03:33.196 each other. Here are the two rules. Okay. The first 0:03:33.236 --> 0:03:36.596 rule is that a quantum system can exist in multiple 0:03:36.636 --> 0:03:39.476 states two. It could be more, but let's just say 0:03:39.476 --> 0:03:42.996 two a cubit it's in both states at the same time. 0:03:43.636 --> 0:03:46.436 And this is not this rule by itself. If you 0:03:46.516 --> 0:03:49.676 think about what's going on, it's not such a big deal. 0:03:49.716 --> 0:03:53.636 And the reason is a quantum system follows a wave 0:03:53.716 --> 0:03:56.916 equation sort of like water waves. That if I throw 0:03:56.916 --> 0:04:00.196 a pebble in the pond, it's going to emanate these 0:04:00.276 --> 0:04:03.076 circular waves that occupy the entire pond. 0:04:03.356 --> 0:04:05.316 So you throw a rock or a ball into the 0:04:05.316 --> 0:04:07.556 pond a minute later wears the waves like the whole 0:04:07.556 --> 0:04:08.076 pond is way. 0:04:08.156 --> 0:04:09.996 Yeah, that's right, that's right, it's not you know, the 0:04:10.036 --> 0:04:12.516 wave is not localized is kind of technically how we 0:04:12.596 --> 0:04:17.036 say something, So it's in many places. Now, that's rule 0:04:17.116 --> 0:04:19.156 number one. So here's rule number two, which is the 0:04:19.156 --> 0:04:22.276 weird one. Rule number two basically says that that wave, 0:04:22.516 --> 0:04:27.836 like that wavelike superposition that all quantum systems can can 0:04:27.956 --> 0:04:31.236 exist in, only works when you're not looking. 0:04:32.796 --> 0:04:36.116 So yeah, that's the part that seems like dumb is 0:04:36.156 --> 0:04:39.436 not quite the right word, but lengthy, implausible, little goofy, 0:04:40.076 --> 0:04:43.436 like surely the world can't give a shit whether I'm 0:04:43.476 --> 0:04:44.396 looking at it or not. 0:04:44.876 --> 0:04:46.796 Yeah, because what I mean, and what happens when you 0:04:46.836 --> 0:04:49.396 do look, and quantum says that when you do look 0:04:50.156 --> 0:04:55.516 the superposition, it pops, It latches onto a definite state, 0:04:56.036 --> 0:04:58.836 so it localizes, and it does it at random. You 0:04:58.876 --> 0:05:01.516 can't predict where it's going to localize. All you can 0:05:01.956 --> 0:05:03.916 say is, well, is supposed to be in these two positions, 0:05:03.916 --> 0:05:05.476 and I looked at it it was in one position. 0:05:06.276 --> 0:05:08.436 More to the point, I mean, are like more to 0:05:08.476 --> 0:05:10.796 the point, as people are first thinking about this, are 0:05:10.796 --> 0:05:13.756 they they're thinking of an electron. So the electron is 0:05:13.916 --> 0:05:16.796 like a wave it kind of exists in all these 0:05:16.796 --> 0:05:22.516 different places around the nucleus. But then they figure out 0:05:22.596 --> 0:05:25.316 if you look at an electron what happens. 0:05:25.316 --> 0:05:30.356 It pops into one state that almost has no space. 0:05:30.436 --> 0:05:32.476 I mean, it pops into a point like particle, like 0:05:32.476 --> 0:05:33.556 a little tiny baseball. 0:05:34.556 --> 0:05:37.236 And if you're not looking at it, is it literally not? There? 0:05:37.476 --> 0:05:37.636 Is that? 0:05:38.596 --> 0:05:40.476 Now you're getting philosophical on me. 0:05:40.556 --> 0:05:44.596 Here, you did it. You're the one telling me these things. 0:05:45.516 --> 0:05:47.556 That's right, Well, it's these two rules. We have to 0:05:47.596 --> 0:05:49.316 add that rule because. 0:05:49.476 --> 0:05:51.996 So so yeah, so state the rules again, just to 0:05:52.116 --> 0:05:53.036 keep us on the rails here. 0:05:53.196 --> 0:05:55.956 Rule number one, any quantum system like a cubit or 0:05:55.956 --> 0:05:59.476 an electron, can be in a superposition of states. It 0:05:59.516 --> 0:06:01.156 can be in this fuzzy existence. 0:06:01.876 --> 0:06:03.876 It can be in two places at once. It can 0:06:03.956 --> 0:06:04.876 be on and off. 0:06:05.036 --> 0:06:09.516 Rule number two is that that first rule only works 0:06:09.516 --> 0:06:11.676 when you don't look, and when you do look, it 0:06:11.716 --> 0:06:15.916 will randomly localize pop out into a singular place. 0:06:16.636 --> 0:06:19.436 It will cease being on and off. It will become 0:06:19.556 --> 0:06:23.396 either on or off. Famously, the cat will stop being 0:06:23.396 --> 0:06:27.036 both dead and alive, and will either be dead or alive. 0:06:27.916 --> 0:06:30.796 And just to be clear, observed, doesn't just mean us 0:06:30.836 --> 0:06:33.356 looking at it, right, that's the kind of caricaturish version. 0:06:33.436 --> 0:06:36.236 But in fact it means like no particle can touch 0:06:36.276 --> 0:06:40.116 it or something like that. Right, So observed doesn't just 0:06:40.236 --> 0:06:43.516 mean seen by a person. It means interacted with by 0:06:43.556 --> 0:06:45.756 any part of it, by anything, even a single molecule 0:06:45.756 --> 0:06:49.796 of air or a photon. One. All of that ruins 0:06:49.836 --> 0:06:53.636 our beautiful superposition and forces the thing to resolve. So 0:06:54.036 --> 0:06:56.716 there's two pieces of jargon that I always come across 0:06:56.756 --> 0:07:00.836 when I'm reading about quantum computers. One, I think you've 0:07:00.876 --> 0:07:05.436 just described one, this idea that quantum things can be 0:07:05.596 --> 0:07:09.516 both one and zero if we're not looking at them, 0:07:09.676 --> 0:07:11.476 is it right, that's called superpositions. 0:07:11.516 --> 0:07:14.716 Yes, that's called That's a I would call it a 0:07:14.716 --> 0:07:16.756 plain old superposition. And you'll see what I. 0:07:16.756 --> 0:07:22.876 Meanilla superposition, no sprints, right, Okay, good, So we've talked 0:07:22.876 --> 0:07:26.196 about superposition. There is this other piece of jargon that 0:07:26.196 --> 0:07:29.396 people always use when they are talking about quantum computing, 0:07:29.556 --> 0:07:34.036 and that is entanglement. So just like we'll get to 0:07:34.276 --> 0:07:36.956 what it means for the computer, but just like, in 0:07:36.996 --> 0:07:38.836 a basic way, what is entanglement. 0:07:39.516 --> 0:07:41.996 What's interesting is that we're bringing Einstein in here. All 0:07:42.036 --> 0:07:45.036 the time. He had a famous paper in nineteen thirty 0:07:45.076 --> 0:07:49.756 five that he thought finally put the end to quantum mechanics. 0:07:50.396 --> 0:07:54.476 He said, and this is ridiculous because these two cubits, 0:07:54.596 --> 0:07:57.196 and I'm gonna, I'm going to use cubits are so simple. 0:07:57.236 --> 0:08:00.236 Here you have two cubits prepared in zero zero and 0:08:00.276 --> 0:08:03.196 one one. Then you separate them. They could be really 0:08:03.236 --> 0:08:09.396 far apart. Nevertheless, when one person measures their cubit, they 0:08:09.436 --> 0:08:13.436 know immediately even before the even before light could traverse 0:08:13.436 --> 0:08:16.156 the distance between them, they know immediately the state of 0:08:16.236 --> 0:08:21.836 the other one. And that violates relativity. Another of Einstein said, right. 0:08:21.916 --> 0:08:25.276 So Einstein has this paper if I as I understand it, 0:08:25.316 --> 0:08:28.316 where he basically says, look, if quantum mechanics is true, 0:08:28.916 --> 0:08:33.836 there will be these particles, whatever very small particles that 0:08:33.876 --> 0:08:37.836 behave in quantum ways, that become connected to each other 0:08:37.916 --> 0:08:40.636 in some strange way. They're not physically connected. You can 0:08:40.636 --> 0:08:41.956 put them as far apart as you want, you can 0:08:41.996 --> 0:08:45.076 put them a million miles away. And if you look 0:08:45.116 --> 0:08:48.636 at one of the particles and it resolves itself into 0:08:48.676 --> 0:08:53.156 some position whatever, call it zero or one instantly, instantly, 0:08:53.276 --> 0:08:57.116 at that same instant, the other particle will resolve itself 0:08:57.156 --> 0:09:00.956 the same way, and surely that can't be true because 0:09:00.996 --> 0:09:03.236 that doesn't make any sense. The universe doesn't work that way, 0:09:03.276 --> 0:09:07.036 and therefore quantum physics is wrong. Question spooky action at 0:09:07.076 --> 0:09:08.756 a distance, he said, mocking list. 0:09:08.796 --> 0:09:11.076 Yes, indeed, the title of the paper was a question 0:09:11.196 --> 0:09:13.716 can quantum mechanics be considered complete? In other words, is 0:09:13.716 --> 0:09:15.036 it right? There's something else there? 0:09:15.076 --> 0:09:17.276 And he's saying, surely, if this could be true, the 0:09:17.276 --> 0:09:19.716 theory must not make any sense because this obviously can't 0:09:19.756 --> 0:09:20.116 be true. 0:09:20.196 --> 0:09:22.356 Yeah, and he was wrong. He was famously wrong. It 0:09:22.436 --> 0:09:25.316 spent tested time and time again that this is exact. 0:09:25.596 --> 0:09:28.756 This is actually how nature works. We have to think 0:09:28.796 --> 0:09:29.356 of it this way. 0:09:29.636 --> 0:09:32.876 And people in China did one recently right where they 0:09:33.236 --> 0:09:36.076 had one particle on the ground and an entangled particle 0:09:36.156 --> 0:09:39.116 on a satellite, and they looked at the particle on 0:09:39.156 --> 0:09:41.196 the ground and it resolved itself in whatever way, and 0:09:41.276 --> 0:09:43.036 at the same moment the particle on this I mean, 0:09:43.076 --> 0:09:45.236 I know that's the party trick version of it, but 0:09:45.356 --> 0:09:46.356 it's a good party trick. 0:09:46.476 --> 0:09:49.356 Yeah. So entanglement is I like to think of it. 0:09:49.756 --> 0:09:51.476 You know, if we move on to quantum computing. I 0:09:51.716 --> 0:09:53.396 like to think of entanglement as sort of like a 0:09:53.476 --> 0:09:58.836 wire without any wires. Yeah, and when you're talking about computing, 0:09:58.916 --> 0:10:01.876 that's in fact what gives quantum computers its power, the 0:10:01.916 --> 0:10:04.276 ability to wire things together without having wires. 0:10:05.196 --> 0:10:09.636 Yeah. So okay, so we've got these two idea, right. 0:10:09.716 --> 0:10:11.756 Superposition a thing can be in two states at once 0:10:11.836 --> 0:10:15.316 until you look at it, and entanglement meaning particles, and 0:10:15.356 --> 0:10:17.836 it's not just two, right, it can be multiple particles 0:10:17.876 --> 0:10:20.676 can be entangled such that when you look at one 0:10:20.756 --> 0:10:23.676 and it resolves into some state, you will immediately know 0:10:23.716 --> 0:10:25.916 what state all the others are resulting into. Right, These 0:10:25.956 --> 0:10:31.036 are the two intellectual tools we've got. Can we build 0:10:31.076 --> 0:10:33.716 a computer in our minds from these two tools? 0:10:33.756 --> 0:10:35.916 Well, the good news is that there's a cool scaling 0:10:35.996 --> 0:10:38.916 law because when we go to three cubits, now there's 0:10:39.076 --> 0:10:43.916 eight states, it's zero one, yes, all three cube, all 0:10:43.956 --> 0:10:47.116 three bit numbers, there's eight of them. With four, there's sixteen, 0:10:47.236 --> 0:10:49.636 thirty two, and so on and so forth. So every 0:10:49.636 --> 0:10:53.636 time you add one cubit, you've just doubled the possibilities. 0:10:53.756 --> 0:10:57.116 Yes, exponentially is an overused word, but this is an 0:10:57.156 --> 0:10:58.516 actual exponential thing. 0:10:58.516 --> 0:11:01.516 And this is the structure of quantum computing that gives 0:11:01.516 --> 0:11:04.116 it its power to calculate things that we could never 0:11:04.156 --> 0:11:07.516 do using classical computer. It's this fundamental exponential gain. 0:11:08.036 --> 0:11:10.396 I get more or less the theory of a quantum computer. 0:11:10.516 --> 0:11:13.316 It's also clear that quantum computers don't exist in a 0:11:13.396 --> 0:11:18.516 useful way yet, right So what do you and everybody 0:11:18.596 --> 0:11:20.476 in the field have to figure out to get from 0:11:20.516 --> 0:11:23.916 where we are now to having amazing quantum. 0:11:23.676 --> 0:11:27.356 Well, in our case using these atoms, it's a simple 0:11:27.356 --> 0:11:31.116 matter of scaling. We routinely work with twenty to thirty 0:11:31.196 --> 0:11:33.076 right now. As soon as we get up to about 0:11:33.116 --> 0:11:37.036 one hundred, we're going to start to challenge will be 0:11:37.076 --> 0:11:41.836 well beyond what challenges supercomputers, and that's where the opportunities 0:11:41.876 --> 0:11:44.396 will happen. And the trick is, with one hundred cubits, 0:11:44.436 --> 0:11:46.196 you need to do a lot of stuff with them. 0:11:46.396 --> 0:11:48.396 You need to do many more operations. They have to 0:11:48.436 --> 0:11:51.956 live longer, they have to be even more isolated as 0:11:51.996 --> 0:11:56.636 you add more. So it's a tricky scaling problem. Our 0:11:56.676 --> 0:11:59.156 technology we sort of we sort of know how to 0:11:59.196 --> 0:12:02.516 do this. Other technologies are still in the lab. I 0:12:02.516 --> 0:12:05.476 think they don't know the underlying physics of materials to 0:12:05.516 --> 0:12:08.036 make them clean enough to do. That doesn't mean we're 0:12:08.036 --> 0:12:11.036 out of the woods. The challenge here is what you said, 0:12:11.196 --> 0:12:14.316 is trying to isolate it the control. But these challenges 0:12:14.356 --> 0:12:16.956 have nothing to do with quantum. It has to do 0:12:16.996 --> 0:12:18.636 with how good of a vacuum, how goods your chip, 0:12:18.636 --> 0:12:20.316 how good are your laser beams. These are all things 0:12:20.316 --> 0:12:21.156 that can be engineered. 0:12:21.796 --> 0:12:24.756 So it's it's very you're like a construction guy, like 0:12:24.876 --> 0:12:28.676 your core problem is just building whatever a box to 0:12:28.756 --> 0:12:31.116 put an atom in so that the atom will be 0:12:31.196 --> 0:12:36.516 left alone to exist in its unobserved quantum stamp. 0:12:36.996 --> 0:12:41.876 Yep, exactly. Quantum systems only exist that way rule number one, 0:12:42.316 --> 0:12:47.196 you know, without looking that meaning that they're nearly perfectly isolated. Yeah, 0:12:47.236 --> 0:12:50.556 so that's the hard part of building a big quantum computer. 0:12:52.996 --> 0:12:56.716 So that's the theory. After the break the practice how 0:12:56.756 --> 0:12:58.036 to build a small. 0:12:57.796 --> 0:13:08.876 Quantum computer form real. Now back to the show. 0:13:09.516 --> 0:13:12.836 A bunch of companies are building quantum computers, big companies 0:13:12.916 --> 0:13:15.876 like IBM and Google and Microsoft, as well as a 0:13:15.876 --> 0:13:19.276 few smaller companies like ion Q. The different companies are 0:13:19.276 --> 0:13:23.316 trying different approaches. Some require super cold temperatures, in your 0:13:23.356 --> 0:13:29.916 absolute zero. Some use photons. Ion Q uses ions charged particles. 0:13:30.596 --> 0:13:33.276 I asked Chris to walk me through how ion Q 0:13:33.516 --> 0:13:37.356 builds a quantum computer and so what so lest I 0:13:37.356 --> 0:13:39.796 mean your company is called ion Q, right, and so 0:13:39.916 --> 0:13:43.076 let's like tell me about tell me about your qubits? 0:13:43.476 --> 0:13:45.596 What what kind of atom? What kind of ion? Like 0:13:45.636 --> 0:13:46.556 what is it that you're using. 0:13:47.356 --> 0:13:50.756 The first few generations were uturbium one seventy one. It's 0:13:50.756 --> 0:13:53.596 a very heavy yes, a heavy atom, the lower right 0:13:53.636 --> 0:13:55.836 part of the periodic table. And it turns out that 0:13:55.956 --> 0:13:58.636 it interacts with the lasers in a very simple way, 0:13:58.716 --> 0:14:00.636 I believe it or not. Okay, so that's what we use. 0:14:00.676 --> 0:14:03.036 It's a metal. So we have a little wire of uturbuum. 0:14:03.036 --> 0:14:05.676 So you have a little piece of metal that's U turbium. 0:14:05.876 --> 0:14:07.556 I would if I were you, I would sell visors 0:14:07.556 --> 0:14:08.436 that said uturbuum. 0:14:09.356 --> 0:14:11.916 That's not sure. Oh yeah, okay, all kinds of swag. 0:14:13.236 --> 0:14:16.996 So okay, so you take this element, this metal U turbium. 0:14:17.676 --> 0:14:18.236 Go it is. 0:14:18.556 --> 0:14:21.836 We have a little vacuum chamber. It's small. They're getting 0:14:21.916 --> 0:14:24.476 those are getting smaller. It's all at room temperature. By 0:14:24.476 --> 0:14:27.316 the way, we don't have to cool things as aggressive o. 0:14:27.836 --> 0:14:30.756 This little wire is inside that vacuum chamber, and there's 0:14:30.796 --> 0:14:34.516 a few black magic things that happen. It's nothing, nothing 0:14:34.596 --> 0:14:37.876 super fancy here. We blast a piece of that metal 0:14:37.876 --> 0:14:39.916 with a laser beam and what happens is we get 0:14:39.956 --> 0:14:44.516 a puff of metal in gas in vapor form. Its sublimates. 0:14:44.996 --> 0:14:48.356 It goes straight from solid to gas without being a liquid. 0:14:48.316 --> 0:14:50.596 In a vacuum chamber. So there's nothing else there, and 0:14:50.636 --> 0:14:53.316 so we get this puff of neutral atoms. Now we 0:14:53.356 --> 0:14:57.876 have these electric fields from chips that again, nothing really 0:14:57.876 --> 0:15:01.436 fancy there. The atoms don't see the electric field because 0:15:01.476 --> 0:15:05.436 the atoms are not charged electrically yet they're neutral. Now, 0:15:05.516 --> 0:15:07.956 when they float above the region where we want to 0:15:07.996 --> 0:15:10.796 hold them as ion, we send another laser beam that 0:15:10.876 --> 0:15:14.156 removes an electron from each atom. We know exactly how 0:15:14.156 --> 0:15:16.356 to do that, very efficient and bam, it's now an 0:15:16.356 --> 0:15:18.876 ion and it says, hey, wait a minute, I'm now stuck. 0:15:19.836 --> 0:15:22.436 So they just sit there and we do something called 0:15:22.516 --> 0:15:24.636 laser cooling to bring them to rest. 0:15:25.076 --> 0:15:29.796 Sogerat to be clear now that so it's an ion 0:15:29.956 --> 0:15:35.036 of uterbium and it's held because by electrical charge. That's 0:15:35.076 --> 0:15:36.676 your Cubit you got a cubit. 0:15:36.756 --> 0:15:37.196 Now that's it. 0:15:38.076 --> 0:15:41.516 Okay, So that part you've solved, right, Yeah. 0:15:41.356 --> 0:15:44.076 And when you put many turbium mindes next to each other, 0:15:44.076 --> 0:15:47.316 they form a little crystal, an atomically perfect crystal. And 0:15:47.356 --> 0:15:49.396 you can see that when you shine a different laser on, 0:15:49.636 --> 0:15:51.636 they glow and you can see like stars in the sky, 0:15:51.756 --> 0:15:53.876 there's they're not randomly oriented there. 0:15:53.956 --> 0:15:56.356 So now you've created a bunch of cubits. You've got them, 0:15:56.396 --> 0:15:59.556 as you say, like stars in the sky. They're sitting there. 0:15:59.596 --> 0:16:02.436 They're held in place by electrical charge. What has to 0:16:02.436 --> 0:16:02.916 happen next. 0:16:03.076 --> 0:16:05.716 What people might not know is that an atomic clock 0:16:05.876 --> 0:16:09.076 is actually based on two levels inside of the caesium atom. 0:16:09.196 --> 0:16:10.356 It doesn't matter what the atom is. 0:16:10.436 --> 0:16:12.756 Oh shit, I was already on uturbium. 0:16:12.356 --> 0:16:16.116 And we have very similar levels in utbium that behave 0:16:16.156 --> 0:16:19.236 as our cubit. It's a pretty good atomic clock, very 0:16:19.276 --> 0:16:24.556 well defined states. And each each atom has its own cubit. Okay, 0:16:25.116 --> 0:16:27.676 so we can prepare them all in the state zero. 0:16:27.956 --> 0:16:30.276 So what is it? I mean? I know an atomic 0:16:30.316 --> 0:16:32.436 clock is just a clock that's super accurate, But why 0:16:32.436 --> 0:16:34.236 does that matter here? I don't even know what it means. 0:16:34.236 --> 0:16:36.596 On. Ah, Well, it has to do with the fact 0:16:36.596 --> 0:16:40.316 that two states in an atom, they have they generally 0:16:40.316 --> 0:16:43.356 have different energies, sort of like different orbits planets around 0:16:43.356 --> 0:16:43.676 the sun. 0:16:44.236 --> 0:16:48.156 Okay, so it's like what level, what energy level is 0:16:48.156 --> 0:16:50.116 the electron at it's going between one. 0:16:49.996 --> 0:16:52.236 And you can think of that, and those energy levels 0:16:52.236 --> 0:16:55.516 are incredibly well defined and they're exactly the same for 0:16:55.676 --> 0:16:57.036 two different atoms. 0:16:57.596 --> 0:17:00.236 Okay, and so is this our zero in one? Tell 0:17:00.276 --> 0:17:01.396 me this is our zero and one. 0:17:01.436 --> 0:17:01.756 That's it. 0:17:02.196 --> 0:17:06.956 Okay. Uh So now we have our and if we're 0:17:06.956 --> 0:17:10.676 not looking, they're in superposition. It's always some probability were 0:17:10.756 --> 0:17:11.316 zero and one. 0:17:11.356 --> 0:17:13.916 We start by preparing them all in a very boring state, 0:17:13.956 --> 0:17:17.916 all in the state zero. That's like initializing the systems, 0:17:17.956 --> 0:17:20.396 like clearing out your computer. It's putting all the registries 0:17:20.396 --> 0:17:24.836 into zero. Reboot rebooter, that's rebooting. Okay. After we prepare 0:17:24.836 --> 0:17:27.196 in zero, now we're going to make superpositions. We're going 0:17:27.276 --> 0:17:32.196 to different laser beams, going to drive the system halfway 0:17:32.796 --> 0:17:35.036 to the other level. That's sort of making a fifty 0:17:35.036 --> 0:17:37.796 to fifty superposition. You can make as you can also 0:17:37.956 --> 0:17:40.956 entangle them, and the entanglement is based on the fact 0:17:40.956 --> 0:17:44.076 that these are ions, and they're like masses connected by springs. 0:17:44.076 --> 0:17:47.596 They vibrate together. So when you push on one, literally 0:17:47.636 --> 0:17:51.196 we push them in space. We push them around, and 0:17:51.236 --> 0:17:54.116 they interact with their neighbors, and they're very well defined 0:17:54.116 --> 0:17:55.596 ways to do this. Those are called gates. 0:17:55.796 --> 0:17:58.876 Like I'm with you. When you've got your ions, I 0:17:58.956 --> 0:18:01.276 understand you're resetting them and they have their zero in 0:18:01.316 --> 0:18:03.996 one and then you do something with them, you mess 0:18:04.036 --> 0:18:06.636 with them in such a way that they become entangled exactly. 0:18:07.076 --> 0:18:10.116 Yes, okay, shine lasers that shun these atoms just a 0:18:10.156 --> 0:18:10.516 little bit. 0:18:10.596 --> 0:18:12.916 Love it. I love it that it's another laser. And 0:18:12.996 --> 0:18:15.396 so now do you have a quantum computer? Have you now? 0:18:15.716 --> 0:18:15.956 In this? 0:18:16.156 --> 0:18:19.116 No? One? Last step? Okay, it's an easy one. It's 0:18:19.156 --> 0:18:22.636 very similar to remember the initialization step. We prepare everything 0:18:22.676 --> 0:18:26.716 in the state zero. The final step is to make 0:18:26.756 --> 0:18:29.356 a measurement. Well, that's the beauty of atoms in a 0:18:29.436 --> 0:18:33.036 vacuum is that we can send yet another laser beam, 0:18:33.356 --> 0:18:35.876 very similar to the other ones. And this laser beam, 0:18:36.036 --> 0:18:38.276 if the atom is in the state one, it will 0:18:38.276 --> 0:18:40.756 glow and we can collect that. It's like a star. 0:18:40.916 --> 0:18:43.356 It's really bright. You can see a single atom with 0:18:43.396 --> 0:18:46.996 your naked eye in my laboratory. If it's in the 0:18:46.996 --> 0:18:49.596 state zero, it's dark. So we basically look for bright 0:18:49.676 --> 0:18:52.596 dark bright dark, and that's what we read. That's it. 0:18:52.756 --> 0:18:53.676 That's a quantum computer. 0:18:54.836 --> 0:18:57.636 And so you have built one of those, built. 0:18:57.436 --> 0:18:59.996 Several of them, Duke, We have six of them at 0:19:00.036 --> 0:19:02.156 I and Q. We've built nine different generations. 0:19:02.596 --> 0:19:05.436 And the issue is they're just not big enough. They're 0:19:05.436 --> 0:19:07.116 not enough cubits to be that. 0:19:07.356 --> 0:19:09.556 Yeah, we're at twenty to thirty right now. We need 0:19:09.596 --> 0:19:11.156 to get to sixty two hundred. 0:19:11.356 --> 0:19:17.596 So as you've described it sounds easy. I get it, Like, 0:19:17.756 --> 0:19:19.676 if you can do twenty, why can't you do sixty? 0:19:20.236 --> 0:19:24.556 Okay, I'll make it very short. Remember the vibration I 0:19:24.636 --> 0:19:27.796 talked about, like when you move one atom, the other 0:19:27.836 --> 0:19:30.876 one moves. If you put five hundred of these atoms 0:19:30.876 --> 0:19:36.716 in a chain, that motion becomes very sloppy and noisy. 0:19:36.876 --> 0:19:38.356 So you want to limit the number you have in 0:19:38.396 --> 0:19:40.996 a chain. We know we can put twenty or thirty, 0:19:41.076 --> 0:19:43.916 maybe forty in a chain, but we need to we 0:19:43.996 --> 0:19:46.836 need to have a modular way to connect to another 0:19:46.876 --> 0:19:49.756 group of twenty or forty using optical fibers. We know 0:19:49.796 --> 0:19:50.516 how to do that too. 0:19:51.436 --> 0:19:53.316 We have done it, but you haven't quite worked out 0:19:53.356 --> 0:19:55.436 all the bugs yet. Okay, so it's not there. Doesn't 0:19:55.476 --> 0:19:58.196 need to be some big breakthrough or some step functions in. 0:19:58.316 --> 0:20:00.636 The engineer just have to want it's engine a lot 0:20:00.676 --> 0:20:04.916 of engineering, and we don't need breakthroughs. We don't need breakthroughs. 0:20:07.956 --> 0:20:09.996 We'll be back in a minute with the lighting ground. 0:20:19.236 --> 0:20:21.836 Back to the show. I know you got to go soon. 0:20:22.156 --> 0:20:23.956 I want to finish with a lightning round and we 0:20:23.996 --> 0:20:25.636 can truly make it a lightning round a lot of 0:20:25.716 --> 0:20:27.556 questions and you can answer them fast so you could 0:20:27.556 --> 0:20:31.396 go to your next meeting. I understand you're a percussionist 0:20:31.596 --> 0:20:34.516 in an orchestra and that you play like the weird instruments. 0:20:34.556 --> 0:20:34.716 Right. 0:20:35.796 --> 0:20:38.476 I watched a YouTube video. I'm curious, what is your 0:20:38.596 --> 0:20:40.796 favorite weird percussion instrument. 0:20:41.076 --> 0:20:43.116 I'm gonna have to say, alephone. 0:20:44.756 --> 0:20:45.996 What's the aleophone? 0:20:46.356 --> 0:20:48.276 It's a wind machine? 0:20:49.276 --> 0:20:50.796 How does it sound? What sound does it make? 0:20:51.796 --> 0:20:55.316 Actually, some orchestras serve pieces called for it. It's basically 0:20:55.316 --> 0:20:57.676 a big piece of burlap on a spindle that has 0:20:57.716 --> 0:21:03.876 slats and it's like I made one of those for 0:21:03.956 --> 0:21:05.236 our orchestra those fun. 0:21:06.436 --> 0:21:09.116 So how long have you been working on quantum computer? 0:21:10.516 --> 0:21:13.276 Thirty years a long time? 0:21:16.036 --> 0:21:19.516 Did you think there would be a useful quantum computer 0:21:19.956 --> 0:21:22.436