It exploits the laws of physics and quantum mechanics, its fundamental unit is the quantum bit or qubit, it allows you to perform calculations much faster.
It is the quantum or quantum computer now in its infancy but which in the future could bring about a revolution in the analysis of climate change, of personalized drugs also in a Covid-19 key, in information security.
And not only the big names in American technology are riding the wave, but Italy has also taken the field.
Google's recent announcement of a Quantum AI Campus in Santa Barbara, California, is a symptom of how much interest in technology is growing, even outside the technical tables. ProteinQure, a Toronto-based company, leverages quantum computing to simulate the behavior of molecules and produce new drugs for specific diseases. Germany's Daimler Ag, parent company of Mercedes-Benz, relies on quantum technology to build better-performing batteries for cars, while Microsoft is using quantum computing to decrease greenhouse gases in making fertilizer.
The recent "Sonar Trend Platform" study has identified the 4 sectors in which the largest number of applications is being developed: finance, logistics, IT, cybersecurity. In the latter case, for example, the technology is used to go beyond current forms of data encryption. The so-called 'quantum cybersecurity' is considered the basis on which the faster communications of the future will rest (also thanks to 5G) but above all more secure. Italy is active in this field to the extent that it participates with the Department of Information Engineering of the University of Padua in the European project OpenQkd which aims to develop an advanced form of encryption. A quantum cryptography test has already been carried out by the CNR of Florence and by the European Laboratory of Nonlinear Spectroscopy. And theUniversity of Naples Federico II was awarded with the IBM Quantum Researcher Access Award and Professor Giovanni Acampora received access to a quantum computer to do advanced research on artificial intelligence.
According to the company IDC, investments in quantum computing will increase considerably in the next 24 months: the number of organizations that will allocate 17% of their annual budgets to technology on average will increase from 7% in 2021 to 19% in 2023. But there are some knots to untie. Vibrations, changes in ambient temperature and electromagnetic waves are the cause of concrete problems in the steady use of a quantum computer. For some applications to function, very low operating temperatures are required, close to absolute zero. Then there is the crux of dimensions: to create an ecosystem isolated from the surrounding environment, space is needed. Google says it is ready to contain a complete quantum system inside a room.
"I imagine a future where a quantum computer will take root more as a platform than a physical object in itself - underlines Fabio Sciarrino, Full Professor of the Physics Department of Sapienza and Head of Quantum Information Lab - It is easy to think of access via the cloud, where more users or companies access the opportunities of quantum computing by exploiting the network. We are in a preliminary phase, the next one could see a prospect of wider use of technology, although various factors will come into play, including economic ones ".