UMass Professor Co-creates Toy to Help Students Grasp Quantum Computing Without Years of Math

Quantum computing can be a complicated area of study. “The building blocks of computing machines, especially future machines like quantum computers, are frequently not particularly intuitive,” said Stefan Krastanov, assistant professor in the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences at UMass Amherst. 

“Understanding linear algebra, probability theory and quantum mechanics is necessary to gain mastery over nature and create these technologies,” he continued, “but that understanding – learning the language of math – takes a lot of time.”

To help kick-start the quantum computing learning process, and to make it more fun, Krastanov and Carlos Errando Herranz, a professor at Delft University of Technology, have created the Qbead.

The Qbead “is a small luminous ball meant to mimic the behavior of a quantum bit (a qubit) at a scale at which a kid can engage with it,” Krastanov explained. 

While classical computers process information using binary bits, quantum computers use qubits, which harness the laws of quantum mechanics. Standard binary bits can exist as either 1 or 0; qubits can be 1, 0 or a combination of the two. Using qubits could make quantum computers more efficient than classical computers.