The first thing you need to know is that a quantum computer is experimental technology. It will do this by harnessing the power of quantum mechanics, which is the strange behavior exhibited by things like electrons or particles of light or exotic metals cooled to several hundred degrees below zero. Describing this strange behavior is difficult, because it is unlike anything any of us have ever experienced. If any of us actually looked at the fundamental building block of a quantum computer, called a qubit, it would cease to be a qubit. We asked several top experts to describe a quantum computer in terms anyone can understand.

Source: New York Times December 06, 2019 14:00 UTC