What Are The Remaining Challenges of Quantum Computing? (2024)

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What Are The Remaining Challenges of Quantum Computing? ›

Challenges of quantum computing

The three main challenges we'll look at include quantum decoherence, error correction, and scalability. Each is a major hurdle on the road to quantum computing, and must be overcome if the technology is to reach full potential.

Challenges of quantum computing

The three main challenges we'll look at include quantum decoherence, error correction, and scalability. Each is a major hurdle on the road to quantum computing, and must be overcome if the technology is to reach full potential.

Quantum computers are sensitive to noise and difficult to calibrate. Unlike traditional computers that would experience a bit flip from 0 to 1 or vice versa, quantum errors are more difficult to correct because qubits can take an infinite number of states.

Compared with standard computers, quantum computers are extremely susceptible to noise. The quantum state of qubits is extremely fragile and any disturbance, such as a slight vibration or a change in temperature, can uncontrollably affect the computer, causing information stored to be lost.

Factors such as imperfect control signals, interference from the environment and unwanted interactions between qubits can lead to these disturbances, commonly referred to as “noise”. This issue becomes more severe as more qubits are added, which makes it a roadblock in scaling up quantum computers.

For a while researchers thought they'd have to make do with noisy, error-prone systems, at least in the near term.

Security Implications:

While quantum computing has the potential to break existing cryptographic methods, it also offers the potential for quantum-safe cryptography. The transition to new cryptographic standards is, however, a complex and time-consuming process, leaving a period of vulnerability during the transition.

The key problem that quantum computers face is how notoriously vulnerable they are to disruption from the slightest disturbance. Present-day state-of-the-art quantum computers typically suffer roughly one error every 1,000 operations, and many practical applications demand error rates lower by a billionfold or more.

The most immediate danger is Harvest Now, Decrypt Later attacks, where attackers steal data (at rest or in transit) that they can't decrypt now and store it until a cryptographically relevant quantum computer (CRQC) can decrypt it.

However, quantum computing is also challenging for several reasons. The biggest quantum computing challenge, arguably, is qubit decoherence. Qubits are extremely sensitive to their environment, and even small disturbances can cause them to lose their quantum properties, a phenomenon known as decoherence.