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Are Quantum computers just analog computers under a new name?

There is plenty of scientific buzz about quantum computing, but almost no engineering.

I'm just old enough to remember the Analog computer (with patch cords and amplifiers) in the back of the of my university electronics lab, with an Intel 8008 in the other.

At that time 'analog' was coming to an end, and digital computing was coming to the masses with all its new languages and special logic (pascal, algol being new kids on the block to replace the veritable FORTRAN).

Now I see that Quantum computing is all the rage, if only someone can get it working, and fathom how to progamme it. However the question remains: "What is the 'it' of which we speak?".

I would posit that what we have a just a new way of interconnecting an 'analog' computer, where the 'feedback'/coding is meant to take the initial random noise, amplify and select the appropriate components, and finally stabilise on some particular bias level that indicates our solution. Hopefully with minimal energy or power consumed by the computation (apart from the cost of running the refrigerator at near 0K).

Where is the engineering explanation and conceptuallisation of Quantum computing?, and Is it just a new fangled Analog computer?

Thoughts...

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0 Simon Barker over 6 years ago

Here's how I understand superposition and entanglement.

Superposition is that state where a particle hasn't "decided" what state it's in yet. Suppose we have a particle that coule be "spin up" or "spin down". We create one and put it in a vacuum chamber so it can't meet any other particle. What state is it in? Nobody knows. According to quantum physics, it's in both states at the same time until someone lets it out of the box and measures it. At that point it "collapses" to one state - whatever your measurement says.

Entanglement if when you create two particles, so that they must be in different states (so if one is spin up, the other must be spin down). Put both in separate boxes, so that each is also in a superposition. Put a stamp on one box and post it to the other side of the World. As soon as you peek at the one in the box you still have, to see its state, you instantly know that the particle in the other box must be in the other state. The "message" that changed the other particle from a superposition to a known state somehow travelled instantly, not at the speed of light.
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0 Simon Barker over 6 years ago

Here's how I understand superposition and entanglement.

Superposition is that state where a particle hasn't "decided" what state it's in yet. Suppose we have a particle that coule be "spin up" or "spin down". We create one and put it in a vacuum chamber so it can't meet any other particle. What state is it in? Nobody knows. According to quantum physics, it's in both states at the same time until someone lets it out of the box and measures it. At that point it "collapses" to one state - whatever your measurement says.

Entanglement if when you create two particles, so that they must be in different states (so if one is spin up, the other must be spin down). Put both in separate boxes, so that each is also in a superposition. Put a stamp on one box and post it to the other side of the World. As soon as you peek at the one in the box you still have, to see its state, you instantly know that the particle in the other box must be in the other state. The "message" that changed the other particle from a superposition to a known state somehow travelled instantly, not at the speed of light.
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Are Quantum computers just analog computers under a new name?

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