If you’ve seen the Avengers: Infinity War, then you’ve also seen the scene in which Dr. Strange was looking into 14 million possible futures to search for one single timeline in which the heroes would come out winning.
Quantum computers seem to be really handy these days for such a task, according to the latest reports.
Phys.org just revealed that a team of researchers from Hanyang Technological University in Singapore and Griffith University in Australia had built a prototype quantum device.
The great thing about this is that it can generate all possible futures in a simultaneous quantum superposition.
“When we think about the future, we are confronted by a vast array of possibilities,” said Assistant Professor Mile Gu of NTU Singapore, who led the development of the quantum algorithm.
Mile Gu continued and explained that “These possibilities grow exponentially as we go deeper into the future. For instance, even if we have only two possibilities to choose from each minute, in less than half an hour there are 14 million possible futures. In less than a day, the number exceeds the number of atoms in the universe.”
Examining possible futures
What the experts have realized is that a quantum computer can examine all possible futures by placing them in a quantum superposition – this is somewhat similar to the Schrödinger’s famous cat. Check out the theory online if you’re not familiar with it.
The team implements a specially deviced photonic quantum information processor in which the “potential future outcomes of a decision process are represented by the locations of photons – quantum particles of light.”
The expert proved then that the stated of this quantum device was a superposition of more potential futures which were weighted by their probability of occurrence.
One impressive thing that this machine was able to prove was that it measures how much our bias towards a specific choice in the present will be impacting the future.
I have been blogging and posting articles for over eight years, but my passion for writing dates back in 2000. I am especially enthusiastic about technology, science, and health-related issues. When I’m not researching and writing the latest news, I’m either watching sci-fi and horror movies or checking out places worth visiting and building deep memories for later in life. I believe in empathy and continually improving myself.