The Kyoto Information Industry Association, chaired by Wataru Hasegawa, president of the Kyoto Computer Gakuin (KCG) and The Kyoto College of Graduate Studies for Informatics (KCGI) groups, held the Kyoto Information Industry Association New Year Seminar on January 24, 2020, at the 6th floor main hall of KCG Kyoto Ekimae School and KCGI Kyoto Ekimae Satellite, with Yuichi Nakamura, senior technical manager at NEC Corporation's Central Research Laboratory, speaking on "Why do quantum computers work and how do we use them?The lecture, titled "Quantum Computers," focused on the principles of quantum computers, which are currently being developed by companies around the world, and their applications for solving various problems facing modern society.
Nakamura explained the principle and characteristics of quantum computers, saying that while conventional computers calculate with 0s and 1s, quantum computers calculate probabilistically by superimposing 0s and 1s, and are not general-purpose computers that can be used for any purpose, but are computers that specialize in solving "combinatorial optimization problems" that seek the "maximum value" or "minimum value" among a huge number of combinations of data.He also introduced some familiar applications, such as pre-simulation of drug synthesis, minute-by-minute instructions to a large number of cabs on traffic congestion routes, and creation of work schedules with various restrictions on salary, qualifications, and so on.The current challenge is that quantum superposition, a phenomenon that does not exist in nature, can finally be realized near absolute zero at minus 273 degrees Celsius and disappears even with a little noise, so the challenge is to develop technology to generate that state on a large scale in a sustained manner.The KCG and KCGI students who filled the hall listened with great interest to Nakamura's lecture, in which he explained the mysterious mechanisms of quantum computers using easy-to-understand analogies.
