Search code examples
quantum-computingq#

Can you run 64 bit applications on a quantum computer?


Since conventional computers use bits, which can either be 1 or 0, can we simulate a 64-bit operating system on a quantum computer by restricting the values of the qubits to either 0 or 1, instead of 0, 1, and everything in between?


Solution

  • Yes, in principle it's possible to simulate any classical computation on a sufficiently large quantum computer.

    Any deterministic classical circuit can be implemented as an equivalent quantum circuit using Toffoli (CCNOT) gate - it can simulate classical gates NAND and FANOUT, which are universal for classical circuits.

    Quantum computer can also simulate non-deterministic classical circuits by generating fair coin tosses using Hadamard gates followed by measurements (which gives 0 or 1 result with 50/50 probability).

    So with the proper software you can simulate any classical computation. However, running a classical OS on a quantum computer would be rather pointless, since classical computers do this quite well already.