Quantum processing units are fundamentally different in a number of ways.
First, where a regular bit can be only 1 or 0, a quantum bit (or qubit) only
assumes a value of 1 or 0 when it is observed. Additionally, Quantum computers
aren’t bound by Boolean operators like ‘and, ‘or’ and ‘not’. Finally, two qubits
can be “entangled”, meaning they will always have the same value when observed,
even if separated.
The NIST computer consists of two quantum gates, one single qubit gate and an
entangled two qubit gate. The gates utilized two beryllium ions stimulated with
UV lasers to represent operations. The test programs run came back with 79%
correct results. Certainly not perfect, but a huge step forward. You won’t be
dropping one of these into a socket on your motherboard anytime soon, but maybe
someday.
