IBM’s Quantum Computer, the IBM Q, jokingly called the Chandelier, has pure gold on the outside, and is kept at very cold temperatures. The bottom, where the quantum chip resides is 15 milliKelvin ( that’s -459.633 Fahrenheit or -273.135 Celcius ).
Quantum mechanics is a branch of physics that studies things that are really small, are really well isolated and really code. IBM Q is built based on what on this branch of science.
Superposition is a key part of how it works. If you take a penny, its either head or tails. If you spin the penny, and while it’s spinning … what is it? It’s in a state of both. Superposition is the idea that it is in both states.
Entanglement in the quantum world, means qubits are connected. If you look at one qubit and it has one value, then the other qubit it is entangled with would also have that same value!
Interference is another concept that is used to amplify the right answers just like you would in wave theory for destructive or constructive interference.
Meet the scientists behind the IBM Q quantum computing systems as they answer 50 questions, one for each qubit in IBM Q. Learn about qubits, dilution refrigerators, even the secret handshake to get into the lab. And get their answer to “what is quantum?”
