On the quantum internet, data doesn’t stream; it teleports (Ep. 450)
The home team chats about quantum computing, Schrödinger’s ill-fated feline, and how software engineers really spend their time.
Episode notes:
The first step in quantum computing? Quantum internet: a network capable of sending quantum information between far-distant computing machines (as in, one on Earth and one on Mars). Still have questions?
In case it’s been a while since your last physics course: Schrödinger’s cat.
Retool’s 2022 State of Engineering Time reveals how software engineers spend their time, what they want to do more (and less) of, and the most frustrating and satisfying parts of their jobs.
A great resource from GitHub for folks working on open-source projects: Why creating a popular OSS library is a marathon, not a sprint.
Cassidy recommends Centered again—the app that helps you stay in your flow state.
Congrats to Ceora on her new role at Auth0!
Tags: the stack overflow podcast
6 Comments
At about 8 minutes in: No, entanglement does not enable faster-than-light communication.
A very good (and entertaining) introduction is [Brian Greene](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Greene)‘s (a theoretical physicist) [Quantum Leap](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z8Ma2YT8vY) (real start at 03 min 28 secs). It covers both entanglement and teleportation.
It’s a shame you did not invite somebody who does know what they are talking about when it comes to quantum mechanics, because it is very obvious you don’t (no offense), as you already noted yourselves. Unfortunately this leaves us with some vague references to quantum concepts, paired with some wild and inaccurate speculation, which in my opinion does not do the field justice.
First of all, to get some misconceptions out of the way: a quantum computer is not a generic supercomputer, it only solves *some* problems more efficiently than classical computers, so don’t expect it to become your next gaming rig. One of the most notable quantum algorithms is Shor’s algorithm, as it provides an (almost) exponential speed up in factoring integers and will therefore break certain public-key cryptography schemes such as RSA, given a sufficiently large quantum computer.
Also, ‘quantum internet’ will not make faster-than-light communication possible, as teleportation requires creating entangled states, which still has to be done obeying Einstein’s speed limit (i.e. that of light). Note that while the NY Times article is behind a paywall, the original publication it is based on is freely available here: https://qutech.nl/2022/05/25/teleport-quantum-information-across-network/
An interesting feat that is possible though using entangled qubits, is so-called quantum dense coding: the transmission of 2 bits of information through the transmission of only a single qubit.
Finally, although the concepts in quantum mechanics can be incredibly difficult to grasp (which is why Feynman said that ‘nobody understands quantum mechanics’), the math involved is not necessarily all that difficult. To follow along with basic concepts in quantum information theory, all you need is some knowledge of linear algebra. If you want to know more, you could have a look at QuTech’s Quantum Inspire website, or IBM’s Qiskit platform for example.
So what I mean to say, is that if you are interested in the subject, don’t let the seeming complexity and mystery of it all hold you back from diving deeper into it.
Hello, yes you are right looks like they don’t know what they are talking about. btw I have question could anything be done so quantum computers can’t decipher public key cryptography, and how long it would take to decipher? thanks
Bien
Couldn’t agree more.
Also, If someone do needs an elaborate explanation on FTL communication and quantum entanglement in details refer to this presentation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLqk7uaENAY
How to get a public code