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Speaker 1: Okay, imagine this. You step into a realm where the

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very building blocks of the universe they just don't behave

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like we expect them to.

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Speaker 2: Write a pretty weird place.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, where a tiny particle can be like in two

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places at once, or it's somehow linked, deeply linked to

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another particle miles even light years.

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Speaker 2: Away, instantly linked. Yeah, that's a spooky part exactly.

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Speaker 1: So what if these bizarre rules, the ones governing this

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hidden world. What if they aren't just you know, scientific oddities.

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What if that's the fundamental language of reality itself.

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Speaker 2: The operating system so to speak, right.

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Speaker 1: And what if we could learn to speak that language,

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not just to understand the cosmos, but to actually build

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machines that think, that calculate, that solve problems using those

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exact same rules.

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Speaker 2: That's the quantum leap right there.

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the deep dive today. We're not just exploring

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some new tech. We're diving deep into quantum computing. And

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this is a field that's really forcing us to rethink, well,

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everything understanding of existence, from the tiniest sub atomic flickers

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all the way up to the biggest cosmic mystery.

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Speaker 2: If it really spans that whole scale.

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Speaker 1: We're going to unpack how these machines actually work, the

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seemingly impossible problems they might just solve, and also why

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their very existence kind of suggests the universe itself might

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be well a giant quantum computer.

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Speaker 2: It's a mind bending possibility, for sure.

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Speaker 1: Our mission for you today is to cut through the noise,

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you get past the hype, and give you a clear,

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compelling journey right into the heart of quantum computing. We'll

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try to distill some incredibly complex ideas into insights that

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hopefully really illuminate things.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, bring out those aha moments.

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Speaker 1: Exactly, complete with surprising facts practical implications. So get ready

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to stretch your mind a bit and discover connections you

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might never have thought about, because this is a deep

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dive into the very nature of computation and reality.

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Speaker 2: And what's truly remarkable about this whole journey is just

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how far reached it all is. We were talking about

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physics thought up almost a century ago, concepts from the

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nineteen twenties and thirties, right.

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Speaker 1: Stuff that must have seemed purely theoretical.

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Speaker 2: Then totally and now it's inspiring technology that honestly feels

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like it's straight out of science fiction and at the

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absolute core of quantum mechanics and completely tied into quantum

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computing is something often called the mathematical backbone of the

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quantum world. Schrodinger's equation. Ah, yes, the famous one, the

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famous one. But just calling it an equation or a

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formula it doesn't really do a justice, does it.

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Speaker 1: No. It feels bigger than that.

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Speaker 2: It really is. Think of it more like a like

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a living blueprint, a blueprint of probability.

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Speaker 1: I find that so fascinating because when you look at

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Schrodinger's equation, it's not just you know, dry symbols on

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a page. It's almost lyrical in how it describes the

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dance of particles over time, their evolution, yeah, how they interact,

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and maybe most profoundly, how probabilities aren't just like part

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of reality, but how they actually shape reality its most

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fundamental level.

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Speaker 2: That's the key insight. It governs the how.

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Speaker 1: For me, it's like finding the universe's own instruction manual

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for its smallest, most baffling components. I mean, without that

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one equation, our whole framework for understanding everything at the

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subatomic scale, it just falls apart completely.

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Speaker 2: It's not just foundational. It really is the ground we

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stand on for all of quantum mechanics. It really is,

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and it underpins everything. Yeah, from the strong bonds holding

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atoms together to make molecules like the stuff we're made

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of exactly to the subtle ways light interacts with matter

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all around us. So when you connect this to the

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bigger picture, it becomes clear that our basic grasp of chemistry,

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of biology, the stability of well everything we see in touch,

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it all rests on this incredibly elegant mathematical construct.

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Speaker 1: It's the bedrock, yeah, but also the key that unlocks

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so much.

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Speaker 2: It really is so okay.

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Speaker 1: Given this profound understanding of how the universe really works

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at its core, the national next question for me is

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what if we could go beyond just understanding this equation

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and actually build machines that mirror its complexity.

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Speaker 2: Right, Machines that operate on those rules.

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Speaker 1: Machines that don't just calculate in the way we're used to,

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but literally think in probabilities, running on the same bizarre

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rules that govern sub atomic particles. This isn't just about

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making computers faster. It feels like a fundamentally different kind

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of computation.

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Speaker 2: It's a paradigm shift.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, quantum computers aren't just advanced calculators. They are, in

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a very real way, a glooms into how the universe

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truly operates and maybe maybe how we can work with

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it to solve problems that have always seemed impossible.

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Speaker 2: And this brings up a really critical piece of history

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for decades, classical computers, Yeah, you know, the ones we

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use every day. Despite getting faster and more powerful.

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Speaker 1: All the time, War's Law and all that.

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Speaker 2: Right, they consistently struggled, often hitting this like insurmountable wall

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when trying to simulate quantum systems. The challenge wasn't just

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processing speed, though that was part of it.

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Speaker 1: So it wasn't just about needing more power, not entirely.

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Speaker 2: The real barrier was the inherent, just baked in exponential

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complexity of quantum physics itself. Trying to model these intricate

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quantum interactions on a classical machine, it was like trying

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to paint a hyperrealistic three D world using only I

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don't know, a single black and white pixel.

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Speaker 1: Uh huh, Yeah, not going to work.

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Speaker 2: So a fundamental mismatch, a conceptual roadblock that just seemed impossible.

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Speaker 1: To get passed for a long time, and this seemingly

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impossible challenge started to capture the imagination of some really

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brilliant minds. Back in nineteen eighty there was a physicist

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Paul Benioff at Argonne National Lab.

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Speaker 2: Ah Yes, Benioff.

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Speaker 1: He proposed this groundbreaking theoretical model. He pictured a computer

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that didn't use ordinary digital bits, you know, the zeros

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and ones we.

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Speaker 2: All know the basis of everything classical, right.

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Speaker 1: Instead, his machine would run on quibits, these tiny units

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that could exist in multiple states at the same time,

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following those weird probabilistic rules of quantum mechanics. He actually

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called it a quantum Turing.

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Speaker 2: Machine, which is a huge conceptual eleak to me.

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Speaker 1: That feels like the first real, concrete step from just

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abstract quantum theory towards a well a theoretical computing device,

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but still a device. I bet at the time it

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must have sounded like pure science fiction, maybe even crazy

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talk to some people.

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Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, it was way out there. And what's fascinating

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is that around the same time, two other visionaries, completely

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independently came up with a strikingly similar and just as

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radical idea who were they Uri Mannin, a Russian mathematician,

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and the famous American physicist Richard Fyeman Fineman. Okay, both

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of them argued that to truly understand and accurately simulate

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quantum systems, we couldn't just build faster versions of the

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computers we already had, you know, they said, we'd need

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computers that inherently worked like the quantum systems themselves.

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Speaker 1: So computers built using quantum principles.

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Speaker 2: Exactly built upon quantum mechanics. This was an incredibly buld

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vision back then, really anticipating a future where computation wasn't

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just about crunching more data faster, but about totally different

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ways of processing information, ways that actually mirrored the nature

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of reality. It laid the intellectual foundation for quantum computing

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as we know it.

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Speaker 1: And it didn't take too long for these like really

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out there ideas to spark something practical beyond just simulating physics.

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I mean, this is where it gets really interesting, right,

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the application.

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Speaker 2: Moving from theory to practice.

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Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty four, two brilliant researchers Charles Henry Bennett

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and Giles Brossard. They were directly inspired by Feineman's ideas

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about harnessing quantum mechanics.

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Speaker 2: Dan in Bisard, Yeah, the BB eighty four protocol.

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Speaker 1: Right. They took these strange quantum principles and applied them

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to something incredibly practical, cryptography, secure communication. They realized that

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the bizarre behaviors of particles like photons could be used

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to create a communication system that wasn't just secure, but

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fundamentally physically unbreakable.

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Speaker 2: That's the revolutionary part. Unbreakable by the laws of physics.

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Speaker 1: This concept quantum key distribution, or QKD. It basically turned

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the abstract rules of quantum physics into this amazingly powerful

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tool for protecting secrets.

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Speaker 2: And what's so profound about QKD is why it's secure.

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It's not based on complex math problems that are just

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hard right now but might be broken later by a

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faster computer or some clever new algorithm.

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Speaker 1: Like current encryption basically right, which relies on math being

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hard exactly.

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Speaker 2: QKD security is guaranteed by the fundamental laws of physics themselves.

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If an eavesdropper, let's call her Ella, tries to intercept

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the quantum.

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Speaker 1: Key, our classic eavesdropper Ella, right, the very act of

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her observing or measuring the quantum particles inherently changes their state.

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Speaker 2: It leaves an undeniable trace. It's not a computational barrier

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she has to overcome, it's a physical one.

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Speaker 1: Observation changes the system, so you can't sneak a peak

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without messing things up precisely.

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Speaker 2: This completely redefines data security. It offers a level of

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assurance we just couldn't imagine before.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so walk through how that actually works. Let's use

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the classic setup. Albert and Catherine want to share a

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secret key, and Ella.

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Speaker 2: Is listening in the standard scenario.

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Speaker 1: So Albert starts by sending Catherine a stream of single

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photons individual particles of light, and each photon represents a

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bit of information a zero or one, but it's encoded

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in its quantum state. Maybe it's polarization, like whether it's

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wiggling up and down or side to side, chosen randomly.

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Speaker 2: And here's where the quantum magic, or maybe the quantum

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weirdness comes in that measurement problem. If Ella intercepts these

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photons to read their state to find out the key,

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the very act of her measuring them instantly changes that

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quantum state. It's not like copying a digital file where

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the original stay is the same. It's more like trying

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to touch soap bubble.

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Speaker 1: Oh, okay, pop.

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Speaker 2: Exactly the moment you interact it pops. Its original state

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is gone altered forever. This immediate change leaves clear, undeniable

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proof of tampering that core quantum idea observation changes the observed.

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It makes passive eavesdropping impossible without being detected.

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Speaker 1: Right, and this is the genius part. To make sure

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the line is secure, Albert and Catherine don't use all

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the photons right away. First they get on an open

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channel like a regular phone line.

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Speaker 2: Something Elkin here, that's fine, and.

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Speaker 1: They publicly compare notes on a small, randomly chosen subset

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of the photons they exchanged. They just check if their

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measurements match for those specific photons.

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Speaker 2: Okay, So they sacrifice a few photons to test.

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Speaker 1: The channel exactly. If their measurements for that sample match perfectly,

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they can be incredibly confident that nobody intercepted the stream,

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that the key is safe. Then they can use the

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rest of the photons, the ones they didn't discuss, as

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a perfectly secret cryptographic key. Got it, But and this

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is the key if there's any mismatch in that public comparison.

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Speaker 2: Even one photon difference, they.

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Speaker 1: Know immediately that ELLA or some noise interfered, they see

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the trace. In that case, they just scrap that key

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entirely and start the whole process over again.

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Speaker 2: Uh okay, self checking totally.

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Speaker 1: This back and forth checking is what makes QKD so secure.

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Its security relies directly on those fundamental laws of physics,

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not just computational difficulty. That's why it's considered secure even

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against future powerful quantum computers.

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Speaker 2: And this isn't just theory anymore.

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Speaker 1: Right.

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Speaker 2: People often ask if this is just lab stuff.

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Speaker 1: Good point, No, it's not just theory. QKD is actually

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being used right now in really sensitive areas Reil world deployment, yeah,

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government communications, protecting classified info. Also in financial systems where

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securing massive transactions is absolutely critical.

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Speaker 2: It provides that fundamental layer of defense, ensuring secret stay secret.

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Even as we move towards an era where current encryption

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might become vulnerable to quantum attacks. It's quantum mechanics working

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in the real world today.

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Speaker 1: Now, let's pause for a second and be fair to

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our trustee classical computers, the ones in your phone, your laptop,

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the massive supercomputers running simulations. They're not you know, they're

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not lame.

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Speaker 2: Uh huh, definitely not. They're amazing achievements.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I owe my laptop a lot right now.

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They've totally transformed the world, given us the Internet, took

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us to the moon. They're incredible at what they do.

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Speaker 2: But but it's always a butt.

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Speaker 1: When it comes to tackling some of the universes really

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really complex mind bending problems, they start to show their limits.

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Speaker 2: And this is where they hit that ceiling we talked about.

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At their core, classical computers work with bits, simple binary things,

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zeros and ones on or off, like tiny light switches.

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Speaker 1: Millions or billions of them, flipping very fast, exactly.

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Speaker 2: But each operation happens one after the other sequentially.

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Speaker 1: Think about weather forecasting systems. They take huge amounts of

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atmospheric data, temperature, pressure, wind.

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Speaker 2: All broken down into bits.

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Speaker 1: Or your digital camera. It captures an image, turns it

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into millions of pixels, each stored as a specific sequence

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of bits. Every single calculation is just a long, precise

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chain of these bits flipping according to instructions.

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Speaker 2: And while this sequential approach is great for most things,

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we do, emails, websites, documents. It becomes painfully impossibly slow

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when problems get really complex, like what kind of problems

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like simulating the intricate dance of atoms inside large molecules,

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or solving massive optimization puzzles with billions of options like

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finding the absolute best route for thousands of delivery trucks, or,

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as we mentioned, trying to crack modern encryption.

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Speaker 1: Because they have to check everything one by one.

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Speaker 2: Essentially, yes, they're stuck solving one possibility at a time,

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step by laborious step. Even if they do it incredibly

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fast for certain problems, the number of steps becomes astronomical.

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It's like trying to find the exit in a giant

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maze by trying every single path sequentially. Thorough sure, but

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incredibly inefficient for some mazes.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so classical is sequential. How are quantum computers different?

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Speaker 2: They play a completely different game. They use quibts, and

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thanks to this amazing quantum principle called superposition, qudits can

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exist in multiple states at the same time.

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Speaker 1: Okay, hold on multiple states.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Instead of being definitely a zero or definitely a

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one like a classical bit, a quibit can be a

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zero or a one, or a probabilistic mix of both, all.

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Speaker 1: At once, so it's like a dimmer switch instead of

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an on off switch. But even weirder.

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Speaker 2: Kind of A popular analogy is a spinning coin. While

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it's spinning before it lands, it's not heads or tails,

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it's sort of both in potential until you measure it

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force it to land. Then it becomes definite heads or tails.

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Aquibit is like that spinning coin.

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Speaker 1: Okay, spinning coin, I can picture that. How does that

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help solve problems faster?

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Speaker 2: Let's use that pon code analogy. Imagine a four digit pin.

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A classical computer tests them one by one ers or

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zero one size says zero zero two right, takes time up.

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Speaker 1: To ten thousand tries in the worst case exactly.

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Speaker 2: A quantum computer using superposition could effectively test all ten

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thousand combinations simultaneously.

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Speaker 1: WHOA.

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Speaker 2: It processes the problem across all those potential states at once. Then,

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using clever quantum algorithms, it can kind of amplify the

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probability of finding the right answer and cancel out the

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wrong ones, homing in on the solution almost instantly, so.

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Speaker 1: It explores all paths at once.

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Speaker 2: That's the essence of it. This parallel processing capability on

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a scale classical computers can't dream of, is the incredible advantage.

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Speaker 1: Mind blown. Okay, but you mentioned another weird quantum thing, entanglement.

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Speaker 2: Ah, yes, entanglement if superposition wasn't strange enough. Entanglement is

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where two or more quivots become linked in this deep way.

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Their fates are intertwined, linked hat such that the state

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of one quibbot instantly influences the state of the other,

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no matter how far apart they are miles light years,

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it doesn't matter. Measure one and you instantly know something

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about the other.

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Speaker 1: That's the spooky action at a distance Einstein didn't like.

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Speaker 2: That's the very one. You've found it deeply unsettling. It's

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not communication faster than light. It's more like they share

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a single unified quantum state, a shared reality, even when separated.

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Speaker 1: Okay, that's hard to grasp. How does that help a computer?

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Speaker 2: Imagine like a team of super smart problem solvers, but

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instead of talking or emailing, they have this instant telepathic connection.

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Speaker 1: Okay.

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Speaker 2: They instantly share insights, coordinate their attacks on a problem,

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perfectly synchronized, even across vast distances. They act like one

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cohesive unit. This allows quantum computers to tackle challenges that

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would take a classical computer essentially working alone, step by step,

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maybe millions of years.

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Speaker 1: So entanglement links the quibits together, lets them work as

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a team in a way.

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Speaker 2: Yes, this profound interconnectedness allows them to process and correlate

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information in ways classical bits just can't. A single quibt

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isn't just storage, It's a portal to this interconnected quantum

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possibility space.

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Speaker 1: Okay, superposition lets them be many things at once. Entanglement

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links them together. The scale must be incredible.

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Speaker 2: It truly is. This is the part that really breaks

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your brain. With just three hundred stable quibits, only three

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hundred working together through superposition and entanglement, Yeah, a quantum

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computer could theoretically represent more or states simultaneously than there

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are particles in the observable universe.

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Speaker 1: Wait what say that again?

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Speaker 2: Three hundred quibits can hold more information states at the

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same time than the total number of atoms in every star,

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every planet, every galaxy we can see.

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Speaker 1: But that doesn't seem possible.

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Speaker 2: It's the power of exponential growth two to the power

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of three hundred is just an unimaginably vast number. Every atom, star,

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galaxy combined doesn't even come close.

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Speaker 1: Wow, okay, just wow.

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Speaker 2: It really makes you pause and think, doesn't it. What

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incredible previously unimaginable problems could we actually unlock with that

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kind of computational power?

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Speaker 1: Yeah? Seriously, So where would we even apply that? What

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are the big targets?

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Speaker 2: Well, one major area is simulating the molecular world. For

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classical computers, this is a nightmare. Why because the complexity

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just explodes. Add one more atom to the molecule you're simulating,

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and the number of quantum interactions you need to track

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can double, or worse, it grows exponentially.

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Speaker 1: So simulating even a medium sized molecule is impossible.

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Speaker 2: Pretty much, simulating a complex chemical reaction maybe involving just

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a few dozen atoms could easily demand more classical computing

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power than currently exists on the entire planet. It's just

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two vast too complex for step by step calculation. But

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quantum computers, quantum computers, because they operate on quantum principles,

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can handle this kind of complexity much more naturally, almost easily,

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relatively speaking.

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Speaker 1: Because they can explore all the possibilities at once, exactly.

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Speaker 2: Exploring multiple quantum states simultaneously through superposition, using entanglement to

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manage the correlations. They can map and analyze these intricate

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molecular interactions rapidly.

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Speaker 1: And the implications of that are huge.

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Speaker 2: Think drug discovery testing billions of potential drug molecules virtually

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to see how they interact with targets in the body,

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finding new medicines potentially orders of magnitude faster than we

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can now That would be incredible. Or material science designing

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brand new materials with specific desirable properties from the atom

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up superconductors, better cataly lists, stronger alloys, and just fundamentally

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deepening our understanding of chemistry and biology, the building blocks

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of life itself.

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Speaker 1: Okay, drug discovery, materials. What else you mentioned encryption earlier?

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Speaker 2: Ah? Yes, the elephant in the room for cybersecurity. Our

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modern online world, banking, secure messaging, e commerce, it all

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relies heavily on encryption.

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Speaker 1: Like RSA, which we set is based on math being hard.

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Speaker 2: Precisely, specifically the extreme difficulty for classical computers to factor

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very large numbers into their original prime components.

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Speaker 1: Let's break that down a bit. How does RSI work

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simply like for online shopping.

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Speaker 2: Okay, imagine you buy that book online. You need to

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send your credit card numbers securely. Your browser uses the

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bookstore's public key, like an open padlock everyone can use

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to scramble or encrypt your details.

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Speaker 1: So anyone can lock the box.

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Speaker 2: Right, but only the bookstore has the corresponding private key,

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the unique key that can unlock that specific padlock. So

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even though the locked box travels over the public Internet,

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only the bookstore can open it and read your details.

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Speaker 1: Okay, that makes sense. Where does the hard math come in?

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Speaker 2: The security lies in how incredibly hard it is to

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figure out the private key just by looking at the

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public key. It boils down to this. Multiplying two huge

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prime numbers together is easy for a.

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Speaker 1: Computer like seven times eleven is seventy seven.

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Speaker 2: Easy exactly, but on a much bigger scale. But going

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the other way, taking the huge result like seventy seven

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and finding the original primes seven and eleven, that's called factoring,

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and it's extremely difficult for large numbers for classical computers.

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Speaker 1: How difficult.

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Speaker 2: Well, the standard for secure communication now is often RSA

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twenty forty eight, a number with six hundred and seventeen digits.

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The largest similar number factor took the equivalent of two

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thousand years of standard computing power. Wow.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so classical computers are terrible.

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Speaker 2: At factoring, which is why RSA is secure today.

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Speaker 1: But there's a quantum butt.

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Speaker 2: There's a quantum butt. In nineteen ninety four, a mathematician

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named Peter Shore developed Shores algorithm. The quantum algorithms specifically

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designed to factor large numbers efficiently efficiently, meaning meaning a

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sufficiently large quantum computer running Shores algorithm could break RSA

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encryption potentially in hours or days, something that would take

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a classical computer billions of years.

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Speaker 1: So all current encryption is potentially vulnerable.

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Speaker 2: In the long run. Yes, it's a massive wake up

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call for cybersecurity. It's driving the development of new post

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quantum or quantum resistant encryption methods that even quantum computers

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can't break.

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Speaker 1: Okay, that's huge. What about less world breaking applications?

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Speaker 2: Uh huh right. Another area where quantum computers are expected

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to shine is in complex optimization problems.

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Speaker 1: Optimization like making things more efficient exactly.

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Speaker 2: Think about real world logistics routing a fleet of delivery

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trucks to minimize fuel and time across a huge city.

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Speaker 1: The traveling salesman problem kind of.

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Speaker 2: That's a classic example, yes, or scheduling thousands of flights

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globally minimizing delays, maximizing plane usage, or even managing tracks

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flow in a big city to prevent gridlock. These problems

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have astronomical numbers of variables and constraints.

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Speaker 1: And classical computers struggle with finding the absolute best answer.

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Speaker 2: They often do they use clever tricks, heuristics, approximations to

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find a good enough solution because exploring every single possibility

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is just two time consuming.

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Speaker 1: But quantum computers.

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Speaker 2: Quantum computers, by exploring that vast landscape of possibility simultaneously,

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can potentially find the true, mathematically optimal solution much much faster,

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sifting through billions of options to find the perfect path

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or configuration in seconds or minutes.

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Speaker 1: So it's not just about convenience, oh.

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Speaker 2: Much more than that, it's about massive efficiency gains, saving

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huge amounts of energy, time resources across logistics, finance, manufacturing,

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supply chains, moving from good enough to perfectly optimized on

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a grand scale.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so we've talked about simulating molecules, breaking codes, optimizing everything.

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It sounds like a magic.

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Speaker 2: War ah, and here comes the reality check.

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Speaker 1: Right, So, after all that hype, you might be thinking, Okay,

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quantum computers are the answer to everything. Are they going

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to replace my phone?

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Speaker 2: And the answer is a resounding no.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely not. As amazing as they are, there's a big catch.

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They are not a universal effix. In fact, for most

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everyday tasks, they're completely useless.

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Speaker 2: You've nailed it. They just aren't designed for the straightforward,

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step by step deterministic things we rely on classical computers.

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Speaker 1: For like checking email, streaming Netflix, browsing the.

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Speaker 2: Web, or even running the physics engine in your favorite

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video game. These all have clear sequential solutions. Classical computers

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are perfect for executing those instructions precisely and quickly.

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Speaker 1: So using a quantum computer for email would be.

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Speaker 2: Total overkill, fee and painfully impractical. The complexity, the cost,

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the specialized environment needed. It'd be like using a Formula

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one car to go grocery shopping. It could do it,

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but why would you?

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Speaker 1: Okay, so not for everyday tasks. But even when they

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are the right tool, there are still big challenges.

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Speaker 2: Right, It's not easy, far from easy. Remember how they

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calculate all possibilities at once using superposition.

473
00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:10,319
Speaker 1: Yeah, the spinning coin thing.

474
00:24:10,559 --> 00:24:13,640
Speaker 2: Well, here's the twist. When you actually measure the result

475
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:18,079
that delicate superposition collapses, you don't instantly get the single

476
00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:20,000
perfect answer served on a platter.

477
00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:21,200
Speaker 1: Oh what do you get?

478
00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:24,759
Speaker 2: You get a probabilistic outcome. The quantum state collapses into

479
00:24:24,799 --> 00:24:28,160
one definite state, maybe zero, maybe one, and the answer

480
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:31,279
you observe is just one possibility, though hopefully the correct

481
00:24:31,279 --> 00:24:33,640
answer is a higher probability.

482
00:24:33,039 --> 00:24:35,039
Speaker 1: So you might get the wrong answer sometimes.

483
00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:39,160
Speaker 2: Potentially yes, or rather the outcome is probabilistic. To get

484
00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:41,920
a reliable answer, especially for complex problems, you often have

485
00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:46,039
to run the same quantum computation many many times, okay, repeatedly,

486
00:24:46,279 --> 00:24:48,480
and then you look at the pattern of results, the

487
00:24:48,519 --> 00:24:53,200
statistics to figure out the most likely correct solution. Without

488
00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:58,039
very carefully designed quantum algorithms that amplify the right answers probability,

489
00:24:58,559 --> 00:25:01,559
all that quantum power just it's lost in randomness.

490
00:25:01,799 --> 00:25:04,759
Speaker 1: So the algorithms are crucial for making sense of the

491
00:25:04,799 --> 00:25:05,880
probabilistic results.

492
00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:09,400
Speaker 2: Absolutely essential. It's not just raw power, it's cleverly harnessing

493
00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:09,880
that power.

494
00:25:10,039 --> 00:25:15,519
Speaker 1: Okay, challenge one probabilistic results. What else you mentioned fragility.

495
00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:19,720
Speaker 2: Before, Yes, the Achilles heel. Perhaps quibbets are incredibly sensitive

496
00:25:19,759 --> 00:25:22,839
little things. They exist in this delicate quantum state that's

497
00:25:23,039 --> 00:25:26,880
astonishingly easy to disturb. How easy The slightest bit of heat,

498
00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:32,279
tiny vibrations, even stray electromagnetic fiels from nearby equipment, any

499
00:25:32,559 --> 00:25:35,880
noise from the environment can cause the Kippet's quantum state

500
00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:40,880
to decohere. Decohere meaning meaning it collapses prematurely loses its

501
00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:44,200
quantum information. That computation basically fails. It's like trying to

502
00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:46,400
build that sand castle while the tide's coming in, the

503
00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:47,000
wind's blowing.

504
00:25:47,079 --> 00:25:48,039
Speaker 1: It doesn't sound stable.

505
00:25:48,079 --> 00:25:51,599
Speaker 2: It's a huge engineering challenge. Yeah. To counteract this, quantum

506
00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:56,279
computers need extreme conditions like what like temperatures near absolute zero,

507
00:25:56,680 --> 00:26:01,079
colder than deep space, usually achieved with these complex, expensive

508
00:26:01,079 --> 00:26:05,400
machines called dilution refrigerators. Wow. They also need intense shielding

509
00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:09,799
from any outside noise, magnetic fields, vibrations, often house in

510
00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:14,519
specially built labs. Maintaining this pristine environment is incredibly difficult

511
00:26:14,559 --> 00:26:18,079
and costly, and even then errors still happen.

512
00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:21,960
Speaker 1: Which leads to another problem. I guess error correction exactly.

513
00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:25,720
Speaker 2: Because quibbets are so prone to errors from noise and decoherence,

514
00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:28,799
you can't just add more quibbits and expect better results.

515
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:31,599
The errors can multiply. You need quantum error correction.

516
00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:33,599
Speaker 1: How does that work? Is it like spell check?

517
00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:36,839
Speaker 2: Uh? Huh? Not quite that simple. It involves encoding the

518
00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:41,319
quantum information redundantly across multiple physical quibots, use extra quibits

519
00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:44,720
essentially as backups to constantly check for errors in the

520
00:26:44,759 --> 00:26:46,759
main logical quibot and correct them.

521
00:26:46,799 --> 00:26:49,720
Speaker 1: So you need way more physical quibts than the number

522
00:26:49,759 --> 00:26:50,880
you actually want to compete.

523
00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:53,759
Speaker 2: With, vastly more. This is a critical point. A problem

524
00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:58,160
might theoretically need say one thousand perfect error corrected logical

525
00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:01,039
quibts to solve, but because of the overhead needed for

526
00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:07,200
error correction, achieving those one thousand logical quibuts might require millions,

527
00:27:07,319 --> 00:27:10,680
maybe even tens of millions, of raw physical quibots.

528
00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:11,359
Speaker 1: Millions.

529
00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:15,440
Speaker 2: Really, that's the current thinking for full tolerant quantum computing

530
00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:19,880
ness and building a machine with millions of stable, interconnected,

531
00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:23,720
controllable physical quibots. That is far, far beyond what we

532
00:27:23,759 --> 00:27:24,400
can do today.

533
00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:27,160
Speaker 1: So where are we now practically? How many quibbits do

534
00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:28,079
current machines have.

535
00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:32,839
Speaker 2: Most quantum computers today are still prototypes Google Sycamore, IBM's Condoor,

536
00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:36,400
Righetti's Aspen systems. They typically have a few dozen, maybe

537
00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:39,480
up to one hundred or slightly more physical quibots. Still

538
00:27:39,519 --> 00:27:40,960
incredibly impressive feats of.

539
00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:42,920
Speaker 1: Engineering, but a long way from millions, A.

540
00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:46,119
Speaker 2: Very long way to tackle those really big dream problems

541
00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:50,039
breaking RSA, encryption, routinely designing complex drugs from scratch, we

542
00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:54,559
need thousands, more likely millions of stable, error corrected logical quibots.

543
00:27:54,599 --> 00:27:57,279
We're just not there yet. Significant progress is being made,

544
00:27:57,279 --> 00:27:58,599
but the gap is still huge.

545
00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:01,839
Speaker 1: Okay, So summing this part up, quantum computers are highly

546
00:28:01,839 --> 00:28:04,200
specialized tools, amazing for certain.

547
00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:08,400
Speaker 2: Problems, factoring, specific simulations, some optimization, but.

548
00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:12,240
Speaker 1: Not general purpose machines that will replace our laptops or phones.

549
00:28:12,599 --> 00:28:16,519
Speaker 2: Definitely not If a problem doesn't naturally benefit from superposition

550
00:28:16,599 --> 00:28:21,119
and entanglement. If it's straightforward and sequential, a classical computer

551
00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:25,359
will almost always be faster, cheaper, and much.

552
00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:27,759
Speaker 1: More practical, So they complement, not replace.

553
00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:31,160
Speaker 2: That's the key takeaway. They won't replace classical computers for

554
00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:34,359
the vast majority of tasks. But they will complement them,

555
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:37,839
pushing the boundaries of what's possible, letting us tackle challenges

556
00:28:37,839 --> 00:28:42,799
fundamentally beyond classical reach, understanding the universe, new drugs, new materials.

557
00:28:43,519 --> 00:28:46,400
That's their potential. Not making your email load.

558
00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:49,799
Speaker 1: Faster, you know, it's almost funny, but also telling the

559
00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:54,000
quotes from the pioneers of quantum physics. Neil's Borr famously

560
00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:57,039
said something like anyone not shocked by quantum mechanics hasn't

561
00:28:57,079 --> 00:28:58,039
understood it, right.

562
00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:00,000
Speaker 2: It highlights the inherent weirdness.

563
00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:02,480
Speaker 1: When Richard Fyneman, with his usual wit, just flat out

564
00:29:02,519 --> 00:29:04,880
said nobody understands quantum physicals.

565
00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:06,759
Speaker 2: Ah hah, Yeah, if Fyneman said it.

566
00:29:07,359 --> 00:29:10,400
Speaker 1: Even Einstein, whose work helped start it all, he got

567
00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:15,039
really uncomfortable with where it led, famously called entanglement spooky

568
00:29:15,119 --> 00:29:18,519
action and apparently said quantum mechanics didn't make sense and

569
00:29:18,559 --> 00:29:20,160
he wished he'd never gotten involved.

570
00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:22,200
Speaker 2: It is actually kind of comforting, isn't it to know

571
00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:26,200
that even these towering intellects, the very founders of the field,

572
00:29:26,559 --> 00:29:29,359
wrestled deeply with these concepts. They struggled to fit it

573
00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:31,880
into their intuition about how the universe should work.

574
00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:34,079
Speaker 1: Yeah, it makes you feel a bit better about finding

575
00:29:34,119 --> 00:29:35,559
it confusing exactly.

576
00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:40,440
Speaker 2: It shows how profoundly quantum mechanics challenges our basic assumptions

577
00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:44,519
about reality. It's a journey of understanding humanity is still on.

578
00:29:45,079 --> 00:29:50,119
Speaker 1: But despite that weirdness, that foundational discomfort. Fast forward to

579
00:29:50,119 --> 00:29:52,880
today and we're actually using these principles to build these

580
00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:56,759
incredible machines like Google recently made news with a new

581
00:29:56,880 --> 00:29:57,839
chip called Willow.

582
00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:01,039
Speaker 2: That's right, the Willow chip one hundred and five cobit processor.

583
00:30:01,759 --> 00:30:04,359
And what's really significant about Willow isn't just the quib

584
00:30:04,359 --> 00:30:07,680
ac count, but the strides it represents in error correction.

585
00:30:07,519 --> 00:30:11,240
Speaker 1: Ah, tackling that fragility problem we talked about precisely.

586
00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:15,400
Speaker 2: We know quantum systems are noisy errors creep in Willow

587
00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:19,440
demonstrated much better error correction performance, especially showing how the

588
00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:23,079
correction improves as you add more quippets, which is crucial

589
00:30:23,119 --> 00:30:26,599
for scaling up. It's a vital step towards making quantum

590
00:30:26,599 --> 00:30:31,200
computers more reliable, more practical, closer to being truly fault tolerant.

591
00:30:31,319 --> 00:30:33,599
Speaker 1: And what kind of practical performance are we talking about?

592
00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:37,680
Speaker 2: Was there a specific feat there was reportedly Willow solved

593
00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:41,920
a specific, carefully chosen computational problem in just under five minutes.

594
00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:45,359
Speaker 1: Okay, five minutes sounds fast, but compared to what compared.

595
00:30:45,039 --> 00:30:47,119
Speaker 2: To the estimated time it would take the world's most

596
00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:51,480
powerful classical supercomputers to solve that same problem longer than

597
00:30:51,519 --> 00:30:52,440
the age of the universe.

598
00:30:52,559 --> 00:30:54,519
Speaker 1: Wow, Okay, that's that's the difference.

599
00:30:54,599 --> 00:30:57,960
Speaker 2: It's a clear demonstration of quantum advantage for specific task,

600
00:30:58,119 --> 00:31:01,640
albeit in a controlled lab setting, and the underlying principles,

601
00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:05,640
the improved air handling, that's directly applicable to pushing forward

602
00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:10,039
on real world challenges designing new materials, optimizing complex supply chains,

603
00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:14,119
accelerating drug discovery by simulating molecules more accurately.

604
00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:18,480
Speaker 1: It's fascinating how this is developing alongside another huge technology,

605
00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:23,359
Artificial intelligence. AI has been dominating the headlines right absolutely.

606
00:31:23,759 --> 00:31:27,920
Speaker 2: AI strengths are incredible learning from massive data sets, finding

607
00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:31,920
complex patterns, solving problems like deep minds, alpha fold predicting

608
00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:33,559
protein structures, which was a.

609
00:31:33,599 --> 00:31:36,440
Speaker 1: Huge deal for biology and medicine.

610
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:39,599
Speaker 2: A massive deal. AI is fast, adaptable and tackles problems

611
00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:42,119
we once thought impossible for computers.

612
00:31:42,039 --> 00:31:45,039
Speaker 1: But quantum computing. As we've said, works differently. It's not

613
00:31:45,119 --> 00:31:49,480
just faster, it's tackling problems classical computers, even with AI helping,

614
00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:51,839
fundamentally cannot solve at all.

615
00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:56,319
Speaker 2: Right. It uses those unique quantum properties superposition, entanglement, interference

616
00:31:56,599 --> 00:32:00,240
to process information in ways totally alien to classical bits

617
00:32:00,279 --> 00:32:02,480
and AI algorithms based on them. That's the core of

618
00:32:02,559 --> 00:32:03,359
quantum advantage.

619
00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:06,480
Speaker 1: Is there some overlap or competition? I remember reading something

620
00:32:06,519 --> 00:32:09,119
about AI starting to encroach on quantum territory.

621
00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:12,440
Speaker 2: Ah. Yes, that's an interesting point raised by people like

622
00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:16,200
Demisisabas at Deep Mind. The idea is that sometimes by

623
00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:20,359
training AI on enormous data sets and cleverly incorporating physical

624
00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:23,599
rules into the AI models, you can get results similar

625
00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:26,359
to what a quantum computer might achieve, but without needing

626
00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:27,759
the actual quantum hardware.

627
00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:30,640
Speaker 1: So AI can sometimes fake it till it makes it

628
00:32:30,759 --> 00:32:32,359
find good enough answers in.

629
00:32:32,319 --> 00:32:37,039
Speaker 2: Certain specific domains. Potentially, yes, AI might provide very good

630
00:32:37,039 --> 00:32:41,240
approximations for problems we once thought only quantum computers could

631
00:32:41,279 --> 00:32:42,279
tackle effectively.

632
00:32:42,559 --> 00:32:45,759
Speaker 1: So is it AI versus quantum one winner takes all?

633
00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:49,160
Speaker 2: I really don't think so. The real story isn't replacement.

634
00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:53,359
It's about figuring out where each technology truly excels AI

635
00:32:53,519 --> 00:32:57,359
is phenomenal for data driven problems, pattern recognition, prediction, learning

636
00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:00,920
from experience exactly, but has gale and a certain kind

637
00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:04,680
of complexity, especially those rooted in quantum mechanics itself. Quantum

638
00:33:04,720 --> 00:33:08,519
computing becomes the necessary tool, offering pathways to exact solutions

639
00:33:08,559 --> 00:33:11,519
that classical or aisystems can only guess at or can't

640
00:33:11,559 --> 00:33:12,160
reach at all.

641
00:33:12,319 --> 00:33:14,319
Speaker 1: So they're complementary and not competitors.

642
00:33:14,599 --> 00:33:17,240
Speaker 2: That's the most productive way to see it. Both are

643
00:33:17,279 --> 00:33:21,920
fundamentally changing how we solve problems, and together they could

644
00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:27,200
unlock entirely new frontiers in science, medicine, engineering, things we

645
00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:28,359
can barely imagine yet.

646
00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:32,440
Speaker 1: Thinking about simulating reality, that wormhole experiment you mentioned from

647
00:33:32,519 --> 00:33:37,519
late twenty twenty two sounds absolutely wild. Using Google's Sycamore.

648
00:33:37,079 --> 00:33:40,920
Speaker 2: Chip, it was a landmark experiment. Absolutely Yeah, physicists simulated

649
00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:44,680
behavior that resembled information traveling through a wormhole. Now, let's

650
00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:45,759
be super clear.

651
00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:48,240
Speaker 1: No actual holes in space time were created in the lab.

652
00:33:48,359 --> 00:33:51,920
Speaker 2: Uh huh, definitely not, no risk of falling into another dimension.

653
00:33:52,319 --> 00:33:55,720
But it was an extraordinary window into how information might behave,

654
00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:59,279
how it might travel in the theoretical scenarios described by

655
00:33:59,319 --> 00:34:00,680
wormhole as.

656
00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:02,720
Speaker 1: So how did they even approach that? What did they simulate?

657
00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:06,960
Speaker 2: It centered on linking quantum entanglement with theoretical wormholes. They

658
00:34:07,039 --> 00:34:11,000
used a framework from quantum gravity, specifically a simplified model

659
00:34:11,039 --> 00:34:12,800
related to the holographic principle.

660
00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:15,599
Speaker 1: Whilographic principle, like a three D reality encoded on a

661
00:34:15,719 --> 00:34:16,119
two D.

662
00:34:16,159 --> 00:34:20,760
Speaker 2: Surface, loosely speaking, yes, the idea that the physics within

663
00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:23,320
a volume of space can be described by the physics

664
00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:27,119
on its boundary. They encoded quantum states onto the sycamore

665
00:34:27,159 --> 00:34:31,280
quibts and manipulated them with very specific algorithms designed to

666
00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:35,159
mimic the dynamics of information passing through a theoretical wormhole

667
00:34:35,519 --> 00:34:36,920
an Einstein Rosen bridge.

668
00:34:37,039 --> 00:34:38,719
Speaker 1: And what did they find? Did it work?

669
00:34:39,039 --> 00:34:42,599
Speaker 2: They observed phenomena how the quantum information evolved and seemed

670
00:34:42,599 --> 00:34:47,119
to transfer that precisely matched the theoretical predictions for information

671
00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:51,320
traversing such a wormhole. It was groundbreaking because it experimentally

672
00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:55,760
bridged concepts from quantum mechanics and general relativity, two pillars

673
00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:58,239
of physics that are notoriously hard to unite.

674
00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:00,679
Speaker 1: So even though it wasn't a real wormhole. It showed

675
00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:04,840
quantum computers can test these really exotic physics theorias exactly.

676
00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:08,159
Speaker 2: It demonstrated the power of quantum computers as simulators for

677
00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:12,679
exploring the universe's most enigmatic phenomena, testing ideas previously vined

678
00:35:12,679 --> 00:35:14,760
to blackboards and thought experiments.

679
00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:17,599
Speaker 1: Which brings us back to that really profound parallel Quantum

680
00:35:17,639 --> 00:35:21,880
computers work using superposition, entanglement, interference.

681
00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:23,559
Speaker 2: The core rules of the quantum realm.

682
00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:26,519
Speaker 1: And the universe itself seems to operate on those exact

683
00:35:26,519 --> 00:35:30,519
same rules at its most fundamental level. Particles in superposition

684
00:35:30,599 --> 00:35:36,079
until measured entanglement, connecting things across space, probabilities driving outcomes.

685
00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:38,119
It really does feel like the universe is running some

686
00:35:38,199 --> 00:35:40,519
kind of massive cosmic program.

687
00:35:40,199 --> 00:35:44,639
Speaker 2: Doesn't it, calculating its own evolution moment by moment according

688
00:35:44,639 --> 00:35:45,599
to quantum rules.

689
00:35:45,880 --> 00:35:48,039
Speaker 1: Is that just a metaphor or is there a serious

690
00:35:48,079 --> 00:35:49,079
idea behind it?

691
00:35:49,079 --> 00:35:53,039
Speaker 2: It leads directly to a really mind bending hypothesis championed

692
00:35:53,039 --> 00:35:56,639
by physicist Seth Lloyd, among others. What if the universe is,

693
00:35:56,679 --> 00:35:59,519
in a literle sense, a giant quantum computer.

694
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:01,760
Speaker 1: There's a whole universe as a computer.

695
00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:05,480
Speaker 2: Yes, in this view, every single interaction between particles, every

696
00:36:05,519 --> 00:36:09,159
quantum event, is a fundamental computational step in this ongoing,

697
00:36:09,159 --> 00:36:13,639
incredibly complex cosmic calculation. Everything we see, galaxies, moving, stars,

698
00:36:13,679 --> 00:36:16,880
burning electrons, spinning is part of the output of this computation.

699
00:36:17,039 --> 00:36:20,039
Speaker 1: That's a radical reframing of everything it absolutely is.

700
00:36:20,519 --> 00:36:23,360
Speaker 2: It suggests that a quantum computer isn't just a tool

701
00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:26,639
we built. It's a system that inherently mimics the universe's

702
00:36:26,639 --> 00:36:31,039
own operating principles. It considers multiple possibilities at once, just

703
00:36:31,079 --> 00:36:34,400
like the universe seems to explore potential outcomes before one

704
00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:35,039
is observed.

705
00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:39,440
Speaker 1: So that worm whole simulation. If quantum computers can simulate

706
00:36:39,719 --> 00:36:44,159
bits of quantum gravity, bits of the universe's rules, could they,

707
00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:47,960
in theory simulate the whole thing or parts of it.

708
00:36:48,079 --> 00:36:51,639
Speaker 2: That's the implication The worm whole experiment becomes even more significant.

709
00:36:51,639 --> 00:36:54,440
Then it showed that the principles governing the universe, like

710
00:36:54,519 --> 00:36:57,840
quantum gravity, can be replicated and probed in a machine

711
00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:01,480
we built. We're essentially creating tiny, controllable models of the

712
00:37:01,519 --> 00:37:05,639
cosmos itself, allowing us to poke and prodded its deepest mysteries. Precisely,

713
00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:08,719
it's not just about faster calculations. It's about mimicking the

714
00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:13,920
universe's fundamental processes to understand reality itself. Simulating wormholes might

715
00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:17,519
just be the beginning. Maybe one day modeling black hole interiors,

716
00:37:17,599 --> 00:37:21,320
understanding dark matter, simulating the Big Bang, quantrum computers could

717
00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:22,159
give us the tools.

718
00:37:22,519 --> 00:37:25,280
Speaker 1: It really makes you reconsider the grand design, if there

719
00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:28,239
is one. It's about getting at the nature of reality.

720
00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:29,079
Speaker 2: It truly is.

721
00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:31,679
Speaker 1: You know. We often say the universe is written in math,

722
00:37:31,719 --> 00:37:34,599
but maybe it's also written in complexity, a complexity our

723
00:37:34,679 --> 00:37:36,880
human brains constantly try to simplify.

724
00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:40,719
Speaker 2: Like take a coin, flip, Okay, simple enough, heads or tails?

725
00:37:40,840 --> 00:37:45,360
Speaker 1: Clip it again another, heads, keep going. If you flipped

726
00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:47,480
it twenty times, what are the odds you'd get the

727
00:37:47,519 --> 00:37:50,960
exact same sequence as me flipping my coin twenty times?

728
00:37:51,159 --> 00:37:54,639
Speaker 2: Vanishingly small? There are over a million possible sequences for

729
00:37:54,719 --> 00:37:57,639
twenty flips. Getting the same one as highly unlikely.

730
00:37:57,719 --> 00:37:59,480
Speaker 1: Okay, now let's ramp it up forget twenty What about

731
00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:02,280
one hundred folips? Or let's go really big, two hundred

732
00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:03,360
and sixty six coin flips?

733
00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:05,559
Speaker 2: Okay, two hundred and sixty six flips. The number of

734
00:38:05,599 --> 00:38:08,840
possible sequences is two raised to the power of two hundred.

735
00:38:08,559 --> 00:38:11,159
Speaker 1: And sixty six, which sounds big, but how big?

736
00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:15,039
Speaker 2: It's astronomically big. It's vastly larger than the estimated number

737
00:38:15,079 --> 00:38:17,360
of atoms in the entire observable universe.

738
00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:20,079
Speaker 1: Whoa more sequences than atoms.

739
00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:22,880
Speaker 2: Orders and orders of magnitude more. Let's try to imagine

740
00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:25,480
counting them. If you counted one sequence per second, you

741
00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:28,320
couldn't finish in your lifetime or billions of lifetimes.

742
00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:32,280
Speaker 1: What if everyone on Earth helped billions of people.

743
00:38:32,199 --> 00:38:34,800
Speaker 2: Still wouldn't make a dent. What if every person had

744
00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:38,360
a supercomputer counting ten billion sequences per second? Getting closer,

745
00:38:38,519 --> 00:38:42,159
not even close. Let's go crazy, ten billion Earth like planets,

746
00:38:42,239 --> 00:38:45,559
each with eight billion people each with the computer accounting

747
00:38:45,639 --> 00:38:48,920
ten billion sequences per second. Yeah, even then, it would

748
00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:51,079
take about one hundred times the current age of the

749
00:38:51,199 --> 00:38:54,719
universe just to count all the possible sequences from two

750
00:38:54,760 --> 00:38:56,559
hundred and sixty six coin flips.

751
00:38:56,719 --> 00:39:01,159
Speaker 1: That number is just broken. It's beyond comprehendi it truly is.

752
00:39:01,280 --> 00:39:04,519
And why hammer this point because it shows something profound

753
00:39:04,519 --> 00:39:07,800
about us as humans. We're drawn to simplicity, we crave it,

754
00:39:08,119 --> 00:39:12,239
but we live in a universe that is fundamentally overwhelmingly complex.

755
00:39:12,519 --> 00:39:16,360
Speaker 2: It touches on our cognitive biases, how science works, and

756
00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:19,519
even the limits of our technology. Classical, in quantum, we

757
00:39:19,559 --> 00:39:22,400
simplify because that's how we can process things like.

758
00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:24,480
Speaker 1: The old joke about losing your keys in the dark alley,

759
00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:26,159
but only looking under the street.

760
00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:28,920
Speaker 2: Light, because that's where the light is. Exactly. We focus

761
00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:32,320
on this simple, manageable bits of reality because that's what

762
00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:36,000
our brains evolve to handle. But the simple stuff, that's

763
00:39:36,039 --> 00:39:38,679
the exception, not the rule, most complexities out there in

764
00:39:38,679 --> 00:39:39,280
the shadows.

765
00:39:39,400 --> 00:39:42,079
Speaker 1: Okay, let's make it concrete with the coins again. If

766
00:39:42,079 --> 00:39:44,000
I ask you to predict the outcome of two hundred

767
00:39:44,039 --> 00:39:47,920
and sixty six flips, it sounds impossible, right, too many options.

768
00:39:47,599 --> 00:39:48,079
Speaker 2: These that way.

769
00:39:48,159 --> 00:39:51,639
Speaker 1: But if you have a coin and ten minutes, you

770
00:39:51,639 --> 00:39:53,559
can just flip it two hundred and sixty six times

771
00:39:53,559 --> 00:39:57,239
and write down the results. Problem solved. You performed an algorithm,

772
00:39:57,239 --> 00:39:58,679
flip the coin and got an output.

773
00:39:58,880 --> 00:40:03,639
Speaker 2: Right, that's a sequence deterministic process like a classical computer

774
00:40:03,719 --> 00:40:04,719
following instructions.

775
00:40:05,039 --> 00:40:07,920
Speaker 1: But now imagine a different scenario. Two hundred and sixty

776
00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:11,199
six coin flips, but each flip somehow depends on all

777
00:40:11,280 --> 00:40:14,280
the previous flips in some chaotic, unpredictable way.

778
00:40:14,239 --> 00:40:16,320
Speaker 2: Like the coin has a memory of its entire history.

779
00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:20,039
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that history influences the next flip in a complex,

780
00:40:20,159 --> 00:40:23,199
nonlinear fashion. To figure that out, you'd need to track

781
00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:27,440
every possible branching history, every dependency, which, as we saw,

782
00:40:27,519 --> 00:40:29,920
is impossible. That's unaccountable complexity.

783
00:40:30,199 --> 00:40:34,760
Speaker 2: No classical computer could simulate that vast, tangled web of possibilities.

784
00:40:35,039 --> 00:40:39,039
Speaker 1: There's one situation, though, where it is simple. When each

785
00:40:39,119 --> 00:40:43,480
coin toss is completely independent. Heads are tails fifty to

786
00:40:43,519 --> 00:40:46,920
fifty chants totally unrelated to the last flip. That's the

787
00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:47,679
version we all.

788
00:40:47,599 --> 00:40:50,920
Speaker 2: Learn because it's mathematically tractable. We can handle probabilities of

789
00:40:50,960 --> 00:40:52,559
independent events exactly.

790
00:40:53,039 --> 00:40:56,199
Speaker 1: It only seems obvious because that independence makes it manageable.

791
00:40:56,840 --> 00:40:59,639
We design the problem to be easy by assuming independence.

792
00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:05,119
Real life, the universe is usually messier, more interconnected, unless

793
00:41:05,159 --> 00:41:07,000
we force it into our simple boxes.

794
00:41:07,119 --> 00:41:10,719
Speaker 2: And this reflects directly in our technology. Classical computers are

795
00:41:10,840 --> 00:41:13,519
essentially built to produce sequences that look like independent coin

796
00:41:13,559 --> 00:41:17,000
flips by flipping transistors. But here's the thing. Your computer

797
00:41:17,079 --> 00:41:20,320
will never generate every possible sequence of bits. It's designed

798
00:41:20,320 --> 00:41:23,199
to stick to the simpler, more predictable paths. If it

799
00:41:23,239 --> 00:41:26,719
tried to explore true randomness or deep complexity, you would

800
00:41:26,760 --> 00:41:27,599
likely crash.

801
00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:29,840
Speaker 1: So we build them to stay on the easy path.

802
00:41:30,159 --> 00:41:33,159
Speaker 2: We build them to solve problems we know how to handle.

803
00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:37,639
We constrain them. That's why modeling truly complex systems of weather,

804
00:41:38,199 --> 00:41:42,880
protein folding, traffic flow is so hard. Classically, those systems

805
00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:45,800
have deep interdependencies, are simplified models struggle with.

806
00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:49,079
Speaker 1: Computers are only as smart as the simplicity we force on.

807
00:41:49,039 --> 00:41:52,239
Speaker 2: Them, or the specific types of complexity we've figured out

808
00:41:52,280 --> 00:41:55,599
how to encode. And this even applies to quantum computers.

809
00:41:56,039 --> 00:41:59,280
While they leverage quantum mechanics to tackle certain complex problems

810
00:41:59,320 --> 00:42:03,000
incredibly well well like factoring Shore's algorithm, right, they aren't

811
00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:06,760
magic wands for all complexity. A quantum computer won't solve

812
00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:09,599
every problem just because it can handle more states than atoms.

813
00:42:09,840 --> 00:42:12,199
It will only solve the problems we can successfully map

814
00:42:12,239 --> 00:42:15,480
onto its architecture, the ones we design specific algorithms for.

815
00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:20,840
Speaker 1: So even quantum computing is about finding solvable complexity, not conquering.

816
00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:23,639
Speaker 2: All complexity exactly. We don't need to manage every single

817
00:42:23,679 --> 00:42:26,760
possible quantum state, just like your laptop doesn't track every

818
00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:30,320
possible electron configuration within it. We find ways to harness

819
00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:31,480
the useful complexity.

820
00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:35,239
Speaker 1: So the universe is complex, that's just a fact. Our technology,

821
00:42:35,360 --> 00:42:38,800
classical or quantum, doesn't wish that complexity away.

822
00:42:39,039 --> 00:42:41,519
Speaker 2: No, it gives us new ways to map certain aspects

823
00:42:41,519 --> 00:42:44,920
of that complexity onto problems we can solve. It's not

824
00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:48,760
about simplifying the universe, it's about building better tools to

825
00:42:48,840 --> 00:42:51,760
interact with its true complex nature.

826
00:42:52,039 --> 00:42:54,719
Speaker 1: It's a crucial point we simplify to understand, but we

827
00:42:54,760 --> 00:42:57,320
need to remember we're often just seeing a small part

828
00:42:57,360 --> 00:42:58,000
of the picture.

829
00:42:58,239 --> 00:43:02,079
Speaker 2: That complexity isn't an obstinate to somehow eliminate. It's a

830
00:43:02,119 --> 00:43:06,440
fundamental aspect of reality to appreciate. Our tech helps us

831
00:43:06,440 --> 00:43:09,280
probe and manage specific facets of it, but doesn't make

832
00:43:09,280 --> 00:43:12,960
it disappear. As we enter this quantum era, the focus

833
00:43:13,039 --> 00:43:15,559
needs to be on understanding the science, letting go of

834
00:43:15,639 --> 00:43:17,760
the myths, and seeing what's truly possible.

835
00:43:17,840 --> 00:43:21,320
Speaker 1: Wow, what a journey we've taken today from those fundamental,

836
00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:24,239
almost poetic equations of quantum mechanics right up to the

837
00:43:24,239 --> 00:43:27,719
bleeding edge of quantum computer prototypes. We've explored how these

838
00:43:27,719 --> 00:43:31,039
revolutionary machines give us this entirely new lens to view

839
00:43:31,039 --> 00:43:32,079
the universe.

840
00:43:31,800 --> 00:43:35,000
Speaker 2: Seeing their incredible potential power for things like cracking codes,

841
00:43:35,079 --> 00:43:37,199
simulating molecules.

842
00:43:36,840 --> 00:43:40,920
Speaker 1: But also grappling with their very real limitations, the immense

843
00:43:40,960 --> 00:43:44,519
practical challenges, and actually building and controlling them reliably.

844
00:43:44,639 --> 00:43:47,400
Speaker 2: And it's so important to reiterate they aren't replacements for

845
00:43:47,440 --> 00:43:53,320
our everyday computers. They're extraordinary, specialized tools designed to complement classical.

846
00:43:52,840 --> 00:43:57,800
Speaker 1: Machines, tackling that unique class of problems previously thought completely impossible,

847
00:43:58,159 --> 00:44:01,960
expanding what computable even means. And it just leaves me

848
00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:04,960
with this really profound question sort of hanging in the air.

849
00:44:06,119 --> 00:44:09,559
If the universe itself really does operate like some vast,

850
00:44:09,800 --> 00:44:14,960
intricate quantum computer, and we humanity are now starting to

851
00:44:15,039 --> 00:44:20,079
build machines that actually mirror its deepest operational processes, what

852
00:44:20,159 --> 00:44:22,960
does that really say about our own understanding of reality?

853
00:44:23,079 --> 00:44:23,960
Speaker 2: It's a deep question.

854
00:44:24,199 --> 00:44:27,599
Speaker 1: Are we just beginning finally to speak the true fundamental

855
00:44:27,639 --> 00:44:31,760
language of existence? And what else might we discover about ourselves,

856
00:44:31,800 --> 00:44:34,800
our place in the cosmos, the fabric of reality? Itself.

857
00:44:35,320 --> 00:44:39,159
When we truly graph this profound connection, it really makes

858
00:44:39,199 --> 00:44:41,679
you wonder about at, well, everything, doesn't it