Quantum Computing Stocks Are Hot: Here’s a Canadian One to Buy Now

By Puja Tayal at The Motley Fool Canada

All the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and Christofer Nolan fans may geek out at the mention of quantum computing. After all, they presented quantum mechanics to the masses. A multi-dimensional world where subatomic particles interact and behave differently. Out of fiction and into reality, some companies are spending billions on quantum computing research.

What is quantum computing?

The first breakthrough happened in 2019 when Google’s quantum computers outperformed classical supercomputers, proving quantum computers can tackle complicated problems 10 times faster. That led to several efforts in commercializing quantum computing, using it alongside classical computing. But the quantum ecosystem is completely different. While many big tech companies, from Honeywell to Amazon, have been working on it for years, none has made it commercially feasible so far.

Today, quantum computing is in the research lab, where challenges related to scaling, error rate, cooling, and hardware are being addressed. Without going much deeper into the science, quantum computers use qubits while classic computers use bits. There are multiple ways to make qubit technologies. The problem is that these qubits cannot stay in the quantum state long enough to perform calculations. Any outside noise, such as slight vibration or a temperature change, can affect the quantum state (scientific name: decoherence). The qubit may lose stored data and affect the calculation midway, leading to errors. Many companies have made workable quantum computers, but the error rate remains a challenge.