In news– Recently, the Army has set up a quantum computing laboratory and a centre for artificial intelligence (AI) at a military engineering institute in Madhya Pradesh’s Mhow.
About the laboratory-
- It has been established by the Army with support from the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) to spearhead research and training in this key developing field.
- Indian Army has also established an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Centre at the same institution with over 140 deployments in forwarding areas and active support of industry and academia.
- The two centres will carry out extensive research in developing transformative technologies for use by the armed forces.
- Training on cyber warfare is being imparted through a state-of-the-art cyber range and cyber security labs.
What is quantum computing?
- A quantum computer is a machine that performs calculations using the laws of quantum physics to solve problems that would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for classical, semiconductor-based computers that behave according to the laws of classical physics.
- Quantum computers vary from discrete digital electronic computers based on transistors (a semiconductor to reproduce, turn, and control electronic signals).
- For ordinary digital computing, the data must be encrypted in binary digits (bits), each in one of two definite states (0 or 1).
- A quantum computer can do something that no ordinary classical computer can match.
- A quantum computer doesn’t use bits, but uses quantum bits or qubits. And these qubits are made out of quantum material and a qubit which can exist as both 1 and 0 simultaneously.
- This bizarre consequence of quantum mechanics is called a superposition state and is the key to the quantum computer‘s advantage over classical computers.
Source: The Indian Express
