IBM has announced two powerful new quantum computer processors, one client-ready and another in the works.
Today's announcement includes both a 20 qubit processor ready for use by its IBM Q clients and an operational 50 qubit prototype currently in development. These numbers might be small in the grand scheme of what folks hope to one day do with quantum computers, but they're some of the highest in the industry to date. And progress comes fast.
A quantum computer is a completely different kind of computer. Rather than operating with bits that can only equal zeroes and ones like a regular computer, its bits, or "qubits," equal zero and one at the same time while calculations are taking place. A user initializes these qubits, which is sort of like setting the weights on a weighted die, and then lets them interact via the mathematical rules of quantum mechanics. There are certain tasks, like factoring numbers and modeling molecules, where a quantum computer would be much faster than a regular computer. Today, each of these qubits are made from specially-fabricated electronics that must be held at temperatures near absolute zero.
