Why is it in the news?

• IBM releases the first-ever 1,000-qubit quantum chip named

About Quantum Computers

• Quantum computers leverage quantum mechanics for significant advancements in processing power.
• Utilize qubits, unlike traditional computers that use bits, with qubits capable of encoding information as 0, 1, or both simultaneously.
• Qubits can represent both 1 and 0 simultaneously.
• Qubits in a superposition can be correlated with each other, where the state of one depends on the state of another.
• Challenges with Qubits: Qubits are highly sensitive and may lead to calculation errors, especially as the quantum computer size increases. Quantum error correction is considered essential for large-scale quantum computers with low error rates for practical calculations.

Initiatives in India for Quantum Computing

• National Mission on Quantum Technologies & Applications with proposed budget of Rs 8,000 crore in Budget 2020-21.
• Quantum Computer Simulator (QSim) Toolkit by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) designed to provide support to researchers and students.
• Quantum Education and Skill Training (QuEST) program at IIIT-Hyderabad.
• Quantum Computing Application Lab by Meity in Collaboration with Amazon Web Services.