Spheria Read Online Free

typical description that a subatomic particle can be in multiple states at once. Or that the particle only chooses a value when you look at it. But this was the wrong audience to have that debate with. Regardless, superposition, when connected through a series of quantum particles, allowed statistical problems to be solved. The challenge was these qubits were susceptible to the slightest disturbance. Even a train going by miles away could cause the particles to decide an outcome prematurely, producing an incorrect result. Thus, the need for extreme isolation from the outside world.
    The slide advanced, showing a cup of coffee and a plate of sugar cubes.
    “What if I told you all that I could improve the power of a D-Wave computer by over thirty times, make it the size of a sugar cube, make it impervious from outside interference, and have it work at room temperature, all at the same time?”
    Max looked at the audience. People glanced at one another, and some even snickered. Max cracked a grin. He was hoping for this response.
    He reached into his pants pocket and, making his best Steve Jobs impression, pulled out a small cubical prism-like object. It was about a centimeter wide, and he placed it on the rim of the podium. Out of his shirt pocket, he pulled a standard laser pointer. This he also set on the podium, pointing toward the cube, and turned it on. The red laser shone into the prism. It began to glow a blue color and started pulsing.
    “What you see before you, dear scientists, is the product of your brilliance.” The slide advanced, showing a close-up of a glowing blue prism, with the letters Q-U-B-E displayed above it. “I call it the Qube, which stands for Quantum Uncertainty Binary Engine. What you see before me on this podium has 3,840 quantum bits inside it. This is over thirty times more than anything ever made, and is no bigger than the tip of my thumb.”
    More snickers from the audience.
    “You don’t believe me? Believe me. I'm going to tell you how I did this. But not everything, because the process is proprietary and a trade secret.”  
    The blond man shifted in his chair, and he was the only person who’d moved.
    “The problem with quantum bits is that they’re inherently unstable and subject to disturbances. So quantum computers up to now have attempted to solve this by blocking disturbances. My technique embeds the quantum bit inside a diamond lattice. This makes it stable within the system, impervious to any movements of the Qube as a whole.
    “This crystal was produced by sublimating a gas of carbon and germanium particles under high pressure onto a seed plate. What formed is an artificial diamond interspersed with a lattice of defects. The germanium particles are locked inside the diamond in such a way that free electrons are held in a suspension state, thus behaving like quantum bits. These qbits are close enough together to allow interactions with each other, in a similar way to how the neurons in your brain interact. A set of lasers can then stimulate these electrons on one side, which causes a cascade of states through the entire structure, thus causing the whole system to emit a unique color spectrum. Over time, by activating them at different angles, they can be “trained” to perform complex calculations.”
    “The one before me has been taught to calculate any digit of the number Pi. Let me demonstrate.” Max pointed at a man in the front row. “Sir, can you please give me a number, a large one.”
    The man thought for a second and shouted, “78,557.”
    Max repeated the number into the microphone. He turned off the laser and, after a second, the Qube ceased its glow.
    “Now I'm going to feed that number into the Qube using binary. When I'm done, I will leave the laser on, which will end the calculation. David, can you please tell me what 78,557 is in binary?”
    David was briefed for this and ready with a special calculator. He began to recite the numbers “1-0-0-1-,”