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From the November 2002 Scientific American Magazine | 0 comments

Rules for a Complex Quantum World: Qubits Explained ( Preview )

By Michael A. Nielsen   

 
Qubits explained
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A BIT can have one of two states: 0 or 1. A bit can be represented by a transistor switch set to "off" or "on" or abstractly by an arrow pointing up or down.

A QUBIT, the quantum version of a bit, has many more possible states. The states can be represented by an arrow pointing to a location on a sphere. The north pole is equivalent to 1, the south pole to 0. The other locations are quantum superpositions of 0 and 1.

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