quantum computer

American  

noun

1. a computer that makes use of the quantum states of electrons or other particles to store and process information as quantum bits.

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quantum computer British  

noun

1. a type of computer which uses the ability of quantum systems to be in many different states at once, thus allowing it to perform many different computations simultaneously

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quantum computer Scientific  

1. A computer that exploits the quantum mechanical properties of superposition in order to allow a single operation to act on a large number of pieces of data. In a quantum computer, the data to be manipulated, represented in quantum bits, exists in all possible states simultaneously, in superposition. This allows a single operation to operate over all of these states at once, in contrast with a classical computer, which must carry out an operation for each state separately. Because of the difficulty of creating environments small enough for quantum effects to emerge but sufficiently isolated to prevent interaction with outside influences such as heat, only extremely rudimentary quantum computers currently exist, though algorithms for possible future devices are being developed.

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Other Word Forms

• quantum computing noun

Etymology

Origin of quantum computer

First recorded in 1980–85

Example Sentences

The competition seeks quantum computer projects that might “reach industrial utility within the next 10 years.”

From Barron's

Those atoms serve as the core components of a quantum computer because they store qubits, which are the quantum equivalent of the zeros and ones used in traditional computing.

From Science Daily

"Until now, there hasn't been a practical way to do that at scale because atoms just don't emit light fast enough, and on top of that, they spew it out in all directions. An optical cavity can efficiently guide emitted light toward a particular direction, and now we've found a way to equip each atom in a quantum computer within its own individual cavity."

From Science Daily

"But a quantum computer acts like noise-canceling headphones that compare combinations of answers, amplifying the right ones while muffling the wrong ones."

From Science Daily

"If we want to make a quantum computer, we need to be able to read information out of the quantum bits very quickly," said Jon Simon, the study's senior author and associate professor of physics and of applied physics in Stanford's School of Humanities and Sciences.

From Science Daily