All Quantum Computing Posts
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Quantum Computing
Magic States: A Key to Universal Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computing
Magic states are special quantum states that enable the universal operations needed for any quantum algorithm, yet which are not themselves easy to produce or protect. In essence, magic states supply the "extra quantum sauce" that elevates a protected quantum computer from what could be emulated on a classical computer to a machine that can outperform classical supercomputers. Recent breakthroughs - from theory and small-scale…
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Quantum Computing
The Nervous System of Quantum Computing: A Deep Dive into Quantum Control Systems
In July 2025, Keysight Technologies shipped a piece of equipment to a research institute in Tsukuba, Japan, that most people outside the quantum industry had never heard of - yet without it, the 1,000-qubit quantum computer it was destined for would have been little more than an extraordinarily expensive refrigerator. The device was a quantum control system: a dense rack of electronics designed to translate…
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Quantum Computing
How Shor’s Algorithm Actually Works, Explained from Scratch
How does a quantum computer factor a number that would take every classical computer longer than the age of the universe? A step-by-step walkthrough with no prerequisites beyond multiplication.
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Post-Quantum, PQC, Quantum Security
What It Will Actually Cost to Break RSA-2048: Energy, Hardware, People, and the Bill Nobody’s Talking About
Breaking one RSA-2048 key on a CRQC could cost $2–5 million when you add up energy, amortization, personnel, and facilities All three approaches share silicon's core advantages: compatibility with semiconductor industry infrastructure, small qubit footprint (~50 nm), and long coherence times enabled by isotopic purification of ²⁸Si. But they diverge sharply on how qubits are defined, controlled, and manufactured. Approach 1: Atomically Precise Donor Qubits…
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Quantum Computing
Quantum Winter Warning: Why Overhype and the QCI Saga Could Chill Quantum Computing
The saga of Quantum Computing Inc. is a stark illustration of what happens when hype becomes unmoored from truth. If the quantum field falls into the trap of overselling and under-delivering, we will hand ammunition to detractors and possibly induce the very “quantum winter” we all want to avoid. Investors and enthusiasts should indeed be excited by progress, but also clear-eyed: practical quantum computing is…
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Quantum Computing
The Many Faces of Decoherence
Quantum computers hold enormous promise, but they face a stubborn adversary: decoherence. This is the process by which a qubit’s fragile quantum state (its superposition or entanglement) leaks into the environment and effectively "forgets" the information it was carrying. For today’s leading quantum hardware modalities – superconducting circuits, trapped-ion qubits, neutral atoms in optical traps, photonic qubits, and semiconductor spin qubits in silicon – decoherence…
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Quantum Computing
What Quantum Computers Can Do Better Than Classical Computers
Quantum computers already outperform classical computers on a few specialized tasks, and over the coming years that list of tasks will grow. They excel at problems where superposition and entanglement let them explore a vast landscape of possibilities in parallel and use interference to extract an answer – factoring numbers, searching databases, simulating quantum systems, solving certain optimization problems, and more we have yet to…
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Quantum Computing
The Rise of Logical Qubits: How Quantum Computers Fight Errors
Logical qubits are the linchpin for delivering on the promise of quantum computing. They are the qubits as we wish we had them – long-lived and trustworthy – brought to life by the ingenuity of quantum error correction. By encoding information across many imperfect qubits, scientists have shown they can create a single superior qubit, and the more qubits you throw at it, the better…
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