In the digital age, computing power is the core productivity. From the smartphones we use daily to the server clusters supporting the development of the Internet, big data and artificial intelligence, the improvement of computing power of traditional computers has always followed Moore’s Law. However, as chip manufacturing processes gradually approach physical limits, the growth rate of traditional computing power has slowed down significantly. When humans face complex tasks that require massive computing power such as weather forecasting, new drug research and development, and password cracking, traditional computers often appear inadequate — and the emergence of quantum computing has opened a new door to computing power for humans, which is expected to trigger a subversive computing power revolution.

The core difference between quantum computing and traditional computing lies in the basic unit for processing information. Traditional computers use “bits” as the basic unit, which can only be in two definite states of “0” or “1”, and information processing is realized through linear operations of bits; quantum computers use “quantum bits” (qubits) as the basic unit. Thanks to the “superposition state” and “entanglement state” characteristics in quantum mechanics, qubits can be in both “0” and “1” states at the same time, and multiple qubits can form an interconnected entanglement state. This enables quantum computers to process massive amounts of information simultaneously, and computing power grows exponentially with the increase in the number of qubits.

To take a simple example: if a traditional computer is used to crack a 1024-bit password, it may take thousands of years; while a quantum computer with a sufficient number of qubits can complete the cracking in only a few minutes or even seconds. This huge gap in computing power makes quantum computing have irreplaceable advantages in many key fields. In the field of new drug research and development, quantum computing can accurately simulate molecular structures and chemical reaction processes, quickly screen potential drug molecules, greatly shorten the research and development cycle of new drugs and reduce research and development costs; in the field of weather forecasting, quantum computing can process massive meteorological data, accurately simulate atmospheric movement laws, improve the prediction accuracy of extreme weather, and provide strong support for disaster prevention and mitigation; in the field of artificial intelligence, quantum computing can accelerate the training process of large models, break through the limitations of traditional computing power, and promote the evolution of AI towards a more advanced intelligent form.

At present, the development of quantum computing is still in the “primary stage” and faces many technical difficulties. The “coherence” of qubits is one of the biggest challenges — qubits are very fragile and easily affected by external environments such as temperature and electromagnetic interference, leading to the loss of coherence and inability to stably store and process information; in addition, the increase in the number of qubits and the improvement of quantum error correction technology are also key bottlenecks restricting the development of quantum computing. Nevertheless, countries around the world are increasing their investment in quantum computing research and development, and technology giants are successively deploying in the field of quantum computing, constantly breaking through technical difficulties.

China has also made remarkable progress in the field of quantum computing. The successful development of quantum computing prototypes such as “Jiuzhang” and “Zuchongzhi” marks that China has reached the world’s leading level in the fields of optical quantum computing and superconducting quantum computing. In the future, with the improvement of quantum error correction technology and the increase in the number of qubits, quantum computing will gradually move from the laboratory to practical applications, integrate deeply with artificial intelligence, big data, the Internet of Things and other technologies, reshape the development model of all walks of life, and provide strong computing power support for the progress of human society. Perhaps in the near future, quantum computing will enter our lives and become the “future key” to changing the world.