Quantum physics gets bad rap. The behavior of atoms and particles it describes is often said to be strange, and its strangeness creates all sorts of esoteric concepts. As a result, we often overlook the fact that quantum physics had a real impact on our lives. For example, when you see a glance at your smartphone, you are benefiting from the quantum phenomenon.
But the story of what quantum theory is good doesn’t end there. As quantum phenomena become more accustomed, new crops of technology designed to make more direct use of them promise to have a major impact on science and society. Quantum teleportation and quantum sensing produce exotic and intriguing sounds, but the technology that holds the most transformative potential is probably something you’ve already heard: quantum computing.
This article is part of a special series celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of quantum theory. Click here for details.
Believing the hype, quantum computers could help accelerate drug development, discover innovative new materials, and mitigate climate change. But while the field has come a long way, its future is not entirely clear. To begin with, there are many engineering hurdles.
And what often gets lost in races to overcome these challenges is that the very nature of quantum computing makes it difficult to know exactly what a machine can help. For all bombings, researchers quietly face the same existential question: if we can build quantum…
The article was revised on April 17, 2025
We’ve clarified the number of bits needed to store any number between 0 and 1023.
