With increasing computing power, computers are taking on more and more tasks, the solutions to which far exceed the capacity of human thought. The scaling of prototypes to large quantum computers is, however, extremely challenging.

Some questions cannot be answered in an acceptable time frame with the help of conventional computers - the performance of storing and processing information in the form of bits reaches fundamental limits here. Some of the tasks that are currently hardly solvable, for example, the simulation of large quantum systems, could be mastered with the help of calculating machines in which quantum mechanical effects play a much more central role than with conventional computers. While several breakthroughs have made headlines in recent years, there are still many obstacles to overcome before quantum computers are ready for practical use.

How does this new type of computer work? And what obstacles stand in the way of its development? The latest trend sheet on quantum computing published by the Competence Center Public IT is available in full on the center's website.