A new generation of computers, dubbed \u201cquantum computers,\u201d is making big waves, revolutionizing major industries like artificial intelligence and drug discovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to discover new materials, new pharmaceuticals, new phases of matter. Maybe we\u2019ll solve problems in astronomy and cosmology and particle physics using quantum computers that we can\u2019t even approach today,\u201d says Daniel Lidar<\/a>, professor of electrical and computer engineering, chemistry, and physics and astronomy at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.<\/p>\n Lidar, who holds the Viterbi Professorship in Engineering, and Rosa Di Felice<\/a>, associate professor of physics and astronomy<\/a> at USC Dornsife, recently sat down to discuss the potential and challenges of this computing revolution.<\/p>\n The discussion was part of a Feb. 28 Dornsife Dialogues event moderated by USC Dornsife Interim Dean and Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Chemistry Moh El-Naggar<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n How it works:<\/strong> Quantum computing uses quantum mechanics to process information in ways that classical computers cannot. Unlike traditional computers, which use bits (0s and 1s), quantum computers use qubits<\/strong>, which can exist in multiple states at once, allowing them to solve complex problems much faster.<\/p>\n Why it matters:<\/strong> Di Felice and Lidar predict that, in the next five to 10 years:<\/p>\n Of note:<\/strong> USC was an early adopter of quantum computing. In 2011, it became the first university in the United States to host a quantum computing system, the D-Wave One, housed at the USC Center for Quantum Information Science and Technology<\/a>. Both Lidar and Di Felice conduct research using this system along with their students.<\/p>\n Find a transcript of this audio here<\/a> under the transcript tab.<\/p>\n Yes, but:<\/strong> The encryption standard widely used today in banking, government and online transactions relies on the difficulty of factoring large prime numbers \u2013 a task that quantum computers could soon make trivial.<\/p>\n Opportunity:<\/strong> In addition to its groundbreaking quantum research, USC is also training the field\u2019s future pioneers. USC Viterbi offers a Master\u2019s Degree in Quantum Information Science<\/a>. Degrees in math<\/a>, physics<\/a> or chemistry<\/a> offered by USC Dornsife can lay the important groundwork for those who want to join in on the discoveries.<\/p>\n In her words:<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to seeing our young researchers mature and become the creative minds to suggest new ideas,\u201d says Di Felice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new generation of computers, dubbed \u201cquantum computers,\u201d is making big waves, revolutionizing major industries like artificial intelligence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168192,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3164],"tags":[8668,3284,920,70288,13925,53,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-168191","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-computing","8":"tag-computer-science","9":"tag-computing","10":"tag-events","11":"tag-expert-viewpoint","12":"tag-physics-and-astronomy","13":"tag-technology","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114649041683364554","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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