Quantum computing systems, computer systems that are based on the key principles of quantum theory, could significantly outperform conventional computing systems, both in terms of speed and performance. Over the past decade or so, many physicists worldwide have thus been trying to develop these systems and assess their potential.
Instead of encoding information in bits, units of information with binary values (i.e., either 1 or 0), quantum computers use quantum bits or qubits. Qubits are quantum mechanical analogs of bits that can exist in more than one state (i.e., 1 and 0 simultaneously).
Most quantum computing systems developed so far consist in a series of qubits placed on a 2D chip, which directly compute information. Classical computers, on the other hand, are made up of a processor, which processes information, and a memory, which stores information.
Researchers at Université Paris–Saclay, CNRS, CEA, have recently carried out a study evaluating the performance of a quantum computer with a structure that resembles that of conventional computers. Their results, published in Physical Review Letters, suggest that incorporating quantum information storage units into quantum computing systems could enable the creation of devices that contain significantly fewer qubits in their processors.
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