Quantum weirdness in quantum computing

We've seen this week how weird things can get in quantum mechanics, and how useful that weirdness is. Today, we conclude this series by looking at how quantum weirdness is used in quantum computing.

Recently, researchers that University of Tokyo developed techniques for manipulating light between a particle-like state and a wave-like state, one of the greatest experimental goals of quantum mechanics:

Image credit: http://cdn.phys.org/newman/gfx/news/2014/11-experimental.jpg

The summary article linked above (full article here) describes the applications of this technology to qubits, which are the basis for quantum computers. Your (classical) computer operates by storing information in binary code: everything breaks down to a 1 or a 0, called bits. A quantum bit has the added property that the physical information storage is so small (like, an electron spin) that the rules of quantum mechanics apply, and the quantum bit (or "qubit"--see what physicists did there?) exists as a 1 and a 0 simultaneously. This property allows quantum computers to perform calculations with greatly reduced times; imagine, for example, a chess program that can sample all possible moves at the same time (instead of one at a time, which a classical computer must do).