Quantum falsehoods – Part 1
I try to collect false assumptions, misunderstandings and such and try to provide answers and corrections. The first part covers Schrödingers Cat, usage of quantum computers for large data set, the question of education and what programming languages are possible.
This is an excerpt from my repository https://github.com/gottfriedsz/falsehoods-quantum/ and pull requests are of course welcome.
Quantum Falsehood 19: “The cat in Schrödinger’s thought experiment really died.” 😱
Thankfully no cat was harmed in this thought experiment of Erwin Schrödinger to illustrate some of the counterintuitive aspects of quantum mechanics. 😽
Quantum Falsehood 15: “Quantum computers best use is for large data.” 🤔
Quantum computers have the potential to provide significant advantages for certain types of problems, including those involving large data sets. However, it’s important to note that quantum computers are not inherently better at handling large data compared to classical computers.
Quantum Falsehood 3: “I need to have a PhD in Physics to work with quantum computers.” 🙇♂️
Don’t worry. You only need some interest. Quantum computing is an interdisciplinary field that combines concepts from physics, computer science, mathematics, and engineering. While a Ph.D. in Physics can certainly be advantageous and provide a strong foundation in the underlying principles of quantum mechanics, there are various roles within the field of quantum computing that don’t require such an advanced degree.
Quantum Falsehood 23: “I have to learn strange and new programming languages before I can use quantum computers.”
You can, if you want, but you don’t have to. You can learn new languages that are specialized and developed by a certain vendor (like Q# by Microsoft or Silq ). Additionally, you have the option to use languages like OpenQASM for describing quantum circuits. OpenQASM is an open-source quantum assembly language that allows you to define quantum operations and compose them into circuits.
However, languages like Python can be used to interact with qubits. A good list of resources can befound at awesome-quantum-software and you will find many familiar languages.