Qubits are the fundamental building blocks of quantum computers — and, when fitted into these machines — rely on the weird laws of quantum mechanics to process calculations in parallel.
A quantum bit, otherwise known as a qubit, is the basic unit of data in quantum computing. Like a binary bit in classical computers, as it can store information, but behaves very differently thanks to quantum mechanics . Quantum computers normally use subatomic particles, such as photons (packets of light) or electrons, as qubits. In qubits, properties such as charge, photonic polarization or spin represent the 1s and 0s in binary computing. However, qubits are also subject to phenomena known as superposition and entanglement , due to their quantum nature, which is where things start to get weird. Bits vs qubits: What's the difference? As well as being either 0 or 1, like a bit, qubits can occupy both states at the same time — or a superposition of 1 and 0. The qubit will remain in superposition until it is directly observed or disrupted by external environmental factors, such as heat. Because this quantum state is so delicate, qubits have to be kept free from interference, which requires very cold temperatures. Superposition allows the qubits of a quantum computer to be in multiple states (0, 1 or both) and the number of possible states available grows exponentially the more qubits there are. If you have two classical bits, for example, at any given time they could take the values of either 0,0; 0,1; 1,0; or 1,1. With two qubits, you can encode data in all four states at once. As such, quantum computers potentially…