Unraveling the Quantum World: Quantum Cryptography

This is the first in a series of "Unraveling the Quantum World" with simple introductions on Quantum Science & Technology. The other three are on Max Planck & His Constant, Schrodinger's Cat Thought Experiment and Quantum Teleportation.

The security of the internet largely depends on secure mathematical algorithms that 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘱𝘵 data as it is transmitted, and this has been fairly safe to trust. For example, it would take the world’s fastest supercomputer, Frontier, 1.6*10^51 years to break a standard 256-bit encryption by brute-force. That is an incomprehensibly long time - but what if computers could become incomprehensibly faster too?

Enter quantum computers: by utilizing quantum bits or 𝘲𝘶𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘴 that can exist in multiple states at the same time, quantum computers can perform numerous calculations simultaneously. Their ability to leverage quantum entanglement enables them to solve specific problems exponentially faster than classical computers, posing a potential threat to existing encryption techniques.

But all hope isn’t lost - 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘮 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺 alters data to prevent interception or duplication using the principles of quantum mechanics. Though in early stages, it is a promising path to protect the world from the threats of quantum computing power. Continuous development is crucial to secure data as quantum computers become more advanced.