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

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.

Issue 0.1, Dec 12, 2024

I’ve been doing my best to understand how quantum computing works. I have a vague idea, but when it really gets down to it, I just don’t understand how they operate at a fundamental level. I know it involves grids of qubits, entanglement, superposition and a lot of quantum weirdness. That’s a start, but those terms are largely placeholders for knowledge I hope to have one day.

Wibbly-Wobbly, Quantum-Wantum

I can explain a MOSFET switch - the fundamental building block of digital electronics, gates, memory cells and much of the basics of digital logic - but I can't at all do the same for quantum computing. When I try to explain the quantum fundamentals, even to myself, and when I listen to definitive explanations on YouTube or read them in text, I'm always reminded of David Tennant, as Dr Who, explaining time travel with: "People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a nonlinear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey… stuff." Most explanations sound much like that to all but a select few.

Quantum computing is something really different. And it's really important. It's also very difficult to grasp as evidenced by the difficulty even experts have in explaining it. I know that it can solve very complex problems quickly, but I don’t know how a quantum circuit solves a problem.

Toward Quantum Understanding

My mission for 2025, né resolution, 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.

Let’s Get Started

Let’s get started… See you on February 6th

In the land of the uncertain, only the certain are ambiguous
- unknown

About Positive Edge LLC

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