ABSTRACT
Computer technology fundamentally works as on/off switches. These switches are digits: 1s and 0s; 1s are on, 0s are off. In computerese these switchable binary digits are called bits. Quantum computing utilizes subatomic bits, or “qubits,” that can exist as a 1 or a 0 or as both simultaneously. Quantum computers use quantum-mechanical interactions that allow amazing calculating power. The chief advantage of a quantum computer is that it can be in multiple states simultaneously, known as “superposition,” while also simultaneously acting on each possible state. A quantum computer could therefore perform innumerable calculations in parallel using only one processing unit.
