Quantum computers has attracted a lot of attention.
That’s because quantum computers, while far from mature, are expected to eventually usher in a whole new era of computing——Hardware will no longer be a constraint when it comes to solving complex problems, meaning that calculations that might have taken years or even centuries to complete on conventional systems can now be completed in minutes.
From simulating new, more efficient materials to more precisely predicting how the stock market will move, the impact of quantum computing technology on business could be huge. Here are seven examples where organizations are currently exploring quantum computing, potentially fundamentally changing the rules of the game for the entire industry.
1, discover new drugs
The discovery of new drugs relies in part on the so-called “molecular simulation”. A field of science that covers modeling the way particles interact within a molecule to try to create a configuration that is resistant to a given disease.
The complexity of this interaction, which can take on many different forms, means that accurately predicting how a molecule will behave based on its structure is computationally intensive.
Performing the computation by hand is obviously impossible, and would be too large for current conventional computers. In fact, using a conventional computer for a only 70 Atom-based molecules are expected to take up to130billion years.
That’s why it takes so long to discover new drugs: Scientists mostly use a trial-and-error approach, in which they test thousands of molecules against a target disease in the hope that they will eventually find a winning match.
Quantum computers, however, hold the promise of solving molecular simulations in a matter of minutes. Capable of performing multiple calculations simultaneously, quantum computing systems can seamlessly simulate all the most complex interactions between the particles that make up molecules, allowing scientists to quickly identify candidates for successful drugs.
This means that, on average, the current10Life-saving drugs that take 20 years to hit the market could be designed faster and more cost-effectively.
In fact, pharmaceutical companies are currently paying attention to this technology.
2, creating better batteries
From powering cars to storing renewable energy, battery technology is fueling the transition to a green economy, and its applications are set to expand. But battery technology isn’t perfect: There are still limits to battery capacity and charging speed, which means batteries aren’t always the best choice.
One solution is to use new materials with higher performance to build batteries. This is the problem of another kind of molecular simulation, modeling the molecular behavior of potential candidates for new battery materials.
So similar to drug design, battery design is a data-intensive endeavor that is more amenable to the use of quantum computers.
3, forecast weather
Despite the enormous computing power provided by many of today’s cutting-edge supercomputers, weather forecasting——Especially long-range weather forecasting——The inaccuracy is still disappointing because weather events can be highly variable, and conventional computers don’t have access to all the data needed to make accurate forecasts.
On the other hand, just as a quantum computer can simultaneously simulate all the particle interactions occurring within a molecule to predict behavior, so a quantum computer can simulate how countless environmental factors work together to form weather events such as major storms, hurricanes or heat waves.
And because quantum computers are able to analyze almost all relevant data at the same time, they can generate forecasts that are much more accurate than current weather forecasts, which will not only help people plan future outdoor activities, but also help governments better prepare for natural disasters, and support for climate change research.
4, pick stocks
JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo are actively exploring the potential of quantum computers to improve the efficiency of banking operations——This use case is generally considered potentially lucrative financially.
Quantum computers could support banking activities in a number of ways, one of which has shown some positive promise is the application of quantum computing to the so-called “Monte Carlo” in the simulated program.
Monte Carlo simulations involve pricing financial assets based on changes in underlying asset prices over time, which means that it is necessary to take into account the risks inherent in different options, stocks, currencies, and commodities. This procedure essentially boils down to predicting that the market will How it develops, and as more relevant data continues to emerge, predictions will become more accurate.
Previous research shows that the unprecedented computing power of quantum computers can speed up Monte Carlo calculations 1000times. What’s more, Goldman’s quantum engineers have now adapted their algorithms to run Monte Carlo simulations on quantum hardware, and this will likely be available in as little as five years.
5, processing language
For decades, researchers have been trying to get classical computers to associate meaning with words, trying to understand the meaning of entire sentences. This is a huge challenge, especially given the nature of language, which is an interactive web: a sentence often has to be interpreted as a whole, not the meaning of each word “sum”, which is followed by an attempt to account for factors such as irony, humor, or connotation.
Therefore, even the most advanced natural language processing(NLP)Classical algorithms still struggle to understand the meaning of basic sentences. But researchers are investigating whether quantum computers are better suited to represent language as a network, allowing for more intuitive language processing.
6, solve travel problems
Salespeople will receive a list of cities they need to travel to, along with the distance between each city, and find a route that saves the most travel time and costs the least. sounds simple enough, and” Travel issues”. It’s a big problem many companies face when trying to optimize their supply chain or delivery route.
As the number of cities a salesperson needs to travel to continues to expand, the number of possible routes multiplies. For multinational corporations, potentially dealing with hundreds of destinations, thousands of vehicles, and tight deadlines, problems can also become too large for traditional computers to solve in a reasonable amount of time.
7, reduce congestion
Optimizing the timing of urban traffic signals to accommodate the number or time of waiting vehicles can greatly help smooth vehicle flow and avoid congestion at busy intersections.
This is another problem that classical computers struggle with: the more variables there are, the more possibilities the system must calculate before finding an optimal solution. But as with the travel problem, a quantum computer can evaluate different scenarios simultaneously, arriving at the best result more quickly.