I can explain digital logic down to the electron in a MOSFET, but I can't come close to the same with quantum computing. This newsletter is a journal of my quest to learn the fundamentals of quantum computing and explain them on a human level.

Welcome to the Quantum Edge newsletter. Join me in my year-long journey into the weirdness that is quantum computing.

Issue 1.0, Feb 6, 2025

What is a quantum computer and how does it work? Sadly, I’m not going to give you the answer here today. I would if I could, but I can’t. But if I could, there would be no need for this newsletter. I will, however, start at the beginning and weekly uncover and write about more and more until we all do have the answer to that question.

First, Some Background

Looking at the field of quantum computers today is a lot like looking at personal computers in 1985 or the Internet in 2005. There’s a lot of excitement, a lot of uncertainty and not a lot of real knowledge of the beast behind the curtain. Media knows it’s big, but they don’t yet know what “it” is. Finance, marketing and sales types are hoping to sell something and get some revenue coming in. The engineers and scientists in the development labs are wishing people would just shut up and let them finish. Everyone knows it will be big, but no one knows how big or when.

Lather, rinse, repeat and here we are in 2025 with quantum computers. The buzzwords have been released into the wild and there is a pat storyline of how quantum computers work and what they will do. But besides popping off “qubit”, “superposition”, “entanglement” and a few other multisyllabic terms, there’s little to go on. The mission of this newsletter is to change that.

My aim isn’t to deliver one big comprehensive dissertation on quantum computers. Rather, I intend to look at individual components and subsystems. I will endeavor to explain each part, but even more important, I want to get to the operation of the things: How to write the most basic code with a quantum computer and how the machine uses that code to solve a problem.

What’s in a Name?

One of the problems with advanced technologies like quantum computing is that, when discovered or invented, a vocabulary does not yet exist for the science and technology involved. This happens with every new discovery in every new field. Someone has to pick the names, labels, and language. Take the word “quantum”, at the foundation of our discussion here. What does it mean and where does it come from?

A hundred twenty-five years ago, a physicist named Max Planck was studying heat radiation. He needed a word to describe small amounts of energy coming off of a heated object. Each of these packets of energy was, in his mind, a fixed quantity of something. He didn’t really know what, but he was sure that it was something and that it was a quantity. Thus, he picked the word term quanta, of which quantum is the singular form, as the name for these little amounts of then unknown something.

All of these terms that we will be using came about in a similar manner to that. Someone uncovered an object or an action and picked a name for it that made some level of sense to them. No magic involved.

Quantum Language

Quantum computers operate based on principles covered in the branch of physics known as quantum mechanics. Unfortunately, much of the workings of quantum mechanics hasn’t been translated into human language. In fact, most of quantum mechanics has only been documented with math. That’s a problem because few people have been trained in the specific branch of math used for quantum mechanics. (Or it’s been far too long since University, and they have forgotten it all)

But why math? Shouldn’t it be easier to describe all of this with words? One would think, but no. While human language developed primarily around wants and needs, math is, in many respects, a language that is specifically designed to describe physical relationships between things. Ten is greater than five: 10 > 5. Three sets of five total up to fifteen: 3 × 5 = 15. Ten things are less than fifteen things: 10 < 15. The use of math as a language takes a lot less room than the use of a human language (English, in this case)

Also with math, you don’t necessarily need to know what the things are, but you can still describe how the things act and interact. You don’t need to know it’s ten eggs is more than five eggs because the formula: 10 > 5 works as well for egg as it does for dollars.

That ability to describe actions and interactions without knowing what the things are is the real magic of math as a language. You can learn much about something even if you don’t yet know what the something is. Eventually, the “everything about something“ may simply become the definition of the term.

That is where the world is with quantum mechanics today. Those who make quantum physics their life and career can pretty much use math to describe most of what is known about quantum particles and how the operate, but a lot of it hasn’t been translated to or doesn’t fit into human-to-human language. And, “a small quantity of something” is really a decent definition of the term quantum.

How Do You Explain It Then?

The language and vocabulary will be challenging as we dig into this subject. There are placeholder terms that don’t really have definitions other than a math formula. There are concepts and operations that don’t even have place holder terms. We will explore them all and perhaps even grow to understand some.

Speaking of quantum language, the most pat answer to the question of what a quantum computer is, runs something like this:

A quantum computer is a computer that performs calculations based on quantum mechanics. Rather than bits, like a conventional computer uses, quantum computers use quantum bits - qubits. Quantum computers calculate based on superposition and entanglement amongst qubits. While a conventional bit can hold a value of either 1 or 0, a qubit can be 1, 0 or both values at the same time. Thus, a quantum computer can hold all possible answers to a problem at the same time and can solve really complex problems very fast.

Okay then.

Memorize that and repeat it at parties. You will sound smart, but people will give you strange looks and slowly back away. Either that, or they will ask you about investing in quantum computer stocks. If asked about stocks, don’t answer. Slowly back away.

If this all seems a bit complex, don’t despair. Even Albert Einstein himself had difficulty grasping the quantum mechanics world. Richard Feynman, perhaps the 20th century’s preeminent expert in quantum mechanics, had this to say about it:

In Summary…

My mission for 2025 is to develop an understanding of how quantum computing works to the point at which I can successfully explain it to others. I've always taken pride in my ability to simplify complex subjects, and this will be my opportunity to see if that pride is justified.

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About Positive Edge LLC

Positive Edge is the consulting arm of Duane Benson, Tech journalist, Futurist, Entrepreneur. Positive Edge is your conduit to decades of leading-edge technology development, management and communications expertise.