TechQuanta: Engineering & Science
Quantum Computing - Intro classical computation
In this episode, we dive into the world of classical and quantum computing. We start by exploring the fundamental building blocks of classical computing—bits, logic gates, and Boolean algebra—before transitioning to the emerging field of quantum computing, where qubits and unitary gates reign supreme. Join us as we break down how classical information theory compares to quantum computing's potential to outperform traditional computers, highlighting the key differences and what they mean for the future of technology.
- Broadcast on:
- 21 Sep 2024
- Audio Format:
- other
What's next? At Moss Adams, that question inspires us to help people and their businesses strategically define and claim their future. As one of America's leading, accounting, consulting, and wealth management firms, our collaborative approach creates solutions for your unique business needs. We leverage industry-focused insights with the collective technical resources of our firm to elevate your performance, uncover opportunity, and move upward at Mossatoms.com. All right, let's get into it. Ever send a text or watched, like, basically any video on your phone, you're using a ton of information, seriously. But what even is information? Like, really, that's what we're diving into today. We're going deep on the systems behind our digital world, and we're using Learn Quantum Computing, using Quiscuit to, you know, keep things grounded, get ready for some aha moments, because today we're unlocking the secrets of classical information. No, seriously, this stuff is cool. Let's break it down. Let's start with those bits, you know, those zeros and ones. But what are they, really? Okay, so imagine a coin flip. Heads, you get a one, tails, you get a zero. Boom, you got yourself a bit. It's like the smallest piece of info you can have, like choosing between two things, just like that. Okay, so it's like a light switch, right, on or off one or row. But then how do we get from just on or off to, like, encoding a whole, I don't know, podcast episode. That's where it gets kind of neat. It's all about how many different systems can use that on off idea. Think about a CD, like back in the day. Oh, yeah, I remember those. We are using all my favorite albums. We're just like tons of ones and. Pretty much if you zoomed way in, you'd see these tiny pits and lands on the surface. The pits and lands are like strategically placed. A pit means the laser reflecting changes. That's a one and a land, no change in reflection. That's a zero super clever. Well, that's way more complex than I thought those things were. So those chits and lands are like our coin flips, right? Our light switches, all meaning those bits. You got it. And it all comes down to combining a bunch of bits with one, you have two choices, zero or one, two bits, you get four choices, zero, zero, zero, one, 10, 11, more bits. The possibilities get huge. Okay, that makes sense, I guess. But we think in, you know, normal numbers, not just zeros and ones, how do we switch from like one, two, three to that binary stuff? It's like learning a whole new language, but for information. You're right. It is a new language. Think about it with our regular numbers. Each digit is a power of 10, hundreds, 10s, ones, and so on. Binary is the same idea, but it's powers of TWO instead. So instead of 100, 10s, ones, you'd have, well, like eight, fours, twos, and ones. You got it. So in binary, 101 would be 101 would be, let me see, one, four, plus zero, two, plus one, one. That's five. That's kind of cool. You're getting it thinking in binary already. Okay, so we've got these bits. We know how to make them into binary. But how do you actually do anything with them? Like, how do we go from just representing stuff to actually, you know, computing? It's like we've got the alphabet down, but we need like words and sentences and stuff to actually make information do something. That's when logic gates come in. They're like the verbs, right? The tools that actually mess with those bits change them up. Okay, so if bits are like the nouns, logic gates are the action words. You've got it. Think of a light switch changes a bulb, on or off. Logic gates are kind of the same. They take those zeros and ones and make them into a new state, zero or one, depending on the gate. So different gates, different actions, like, what kind of verbs we're talking here? All right, so there's the A and D gate. It only gives you a one if both the inputs are one. Like, you're only going to go to the store if you need milk, Andy. It's not like pouring rain. Both that got to be true, you know. Right, makes sense. What about OR? Or is more chill. It gives you one if at least one of the inputs is a one. Like, I'm staying inside if it's raining or or if it's crazy hot out. One or both, you're staying put. Okay, got it. So it's all about what makes it true. But how do we go from like one gate to an actual computer? Yeah, that's where the cool stuff happens. We can take these simple logic gates and basically combine them like Legos, build more complex circuits, do more stuff, you know. Wait, so you're telling me everything a computer does, like all that crazy math, it's just these logic gates, these little verbs all chained together, that's kind of wild. Wild, but true. And it gets even better. Remember those Legos? Imagine if you could build anything, like any castle, any spaceship with just one kind of brick. Okay, now you're just showing off one gate to rule them all. Go on. That's the idea behind universal gates. Take the NAND gate, right? Combine that with itself different ways and you can make any other logic gate. Whoa. So every N and D, every OR, all from this one NAND gate. Pretty much. It's like the foundation of it all. Of course, computers nowadays use a bunch of different gates. Got to be efficient. But the point is, it's all possible with just a few basic ones. But there's another thing reversible logic gates. Reversible. Okay, now I got to know more. What's so special about those? So most of the gates we talked about, like A and D, they're what we call irreversible, meaning if you only know what you get OUT, you can't always tell what went in. So you lose some information along the way. I see where you're going with this. You got it. That lost information turns into heat, wasted energy. But reversible gates, you can basically go backwards. No information loss, no wasted heat. Okay, less wasted energy. That sounds like a pretty big deal. Are we talking like smartphones that never die? Laptops that don't heat up. That's the idea. It's still early days for reversible computing, but it's got huge E potential. That's seriously cool. Yeah. But in the real world, things don't always work perfectly. What happens if those bits, those zeros and ones like get messed up? Great question. Because the digital world isn't perfect, right? Cosmic rays, tiny little flaws, even just random like electrical stuff can flip bits around. Okay, that's kind of scary. What can we even do about that? So he's like, one tiny cosmic ray could mess up my whole music library. What do we deal about that? Don't worry. We've got this. We use error correction. It's a whole thing. Air correction. And correct. So we don't just like find the errors. We actually fix them. Yeah, pretty much. One way is repetition code. Remember those pits and lands on a CD? Yeah, the things that mean zero and one, right? So say we make three copies of each pit or land right next to each other. Instead of one pit for a one, you have three in a row. Exactly. Then let's say a cosmic ray comes along, flips one to a land. The system's going to notice because now they don't match. So it's like a majority vote, even if one's wrong, the other two are probably right. Yeah, two lands, one pit, there was an error. Got to change that pit back. And the cool part is the system doesn't even need to know what the original data was. That's seriously clever. So these codes, they're like the protectors of all our digital stuff, making sure it all stays how it should. Exactly. And when we get to quantum computing, where stuff's even more sensitive, these codes are going to be crazy important, but that's a whole other deep dive. Okay. Now I really want to know about that. Yeah. But before we go, if this reversible computing is so great, why aren't we all using it already? What's the catch? Good question. It's really hard to like actually build these reversible gates, the theory is there, but making them work with real stuff with how computers are now, that's tough, but people are figuring it out. So, you know, who knows what'll happen. It's wild to think computers could be totally different someday because of all this. You have been talking about information like it's a real physical thing. It kind of IS, right? And just like we're always learning more about physics, we're learning more about information too, so much more to find out. You've definitely given me a lot to think about all those zeros and ones. There's way more to them than I ever thought from those little bits to logic gates, which has been fascinating. We talked about like how much info's on a CD, how those errors get fixed, even computers that might never waste energy someday. It's been fun. And hey, maybe someone listening will get inspired, make the next big discovery, right? That's a thought. Thanks for listening to our deep dive into classical information. Until next time, keep those brains turned on. There's always something new to learn out there. Owning a rental property sounds like a dream until you realize how much work goes into getting it ready. Determine a competitive rent price, market the property, schedule the showing screen tenants, draft the lease at a rent collection, handle maintenance request, maintain dedication. Whew! Sound complicated? Renner's Warehouse is here to take the hard work off your rental to-do list. Qualified tenants? Check. Rent collection? Check. Maintenance coordination? You got it. Go to Rennerswearhouse.com for a free rental analysis to find out how much your home can rent for. Or call 303-974-9444. Because from now on, the only thing you need on your to-do list is to call Renner's warehouse. What's next? At Moss Adams, that question inspires us to help people and their businesses strategically define and claim their future. As one of America's leading accounting, consulting, and wealth management firms, our collaborative approach creates solutions for your unique business needs. We leverage industry-focused insights with the collective technical resources of our firm to elevate your performance, uncover opportunity, and move upward at MossAdams.com.