They need cold
this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2024
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No one has given a real answer yet, and I’ve worked with these before, so I’ll explain. The short answer is it has to do with the logistics of cooling something to near absolute zero.
The main component of a quantum computer is a tiny microchip, maybe a few centimeters across. The big chandelier is for cooling and interacting with the quantum computer. (Compare to a desktop computer which has a small CPU chip but most of the computer is for cooling, powering, or otherwise supporting that CPU).
Towards the center of the chandelier thing there is a mechanism called a “dilution refrigerator” which uses weird properties of liquid helium to cool the quantum chip to about 15mK above absolute zero. There are often other refrigeration techniques at work and the dilution fridge does the last step of cooling.
The twisting golden tubes are microwave waveguides. Essentially they are wires that carry signals to and from the quantum computing chip. The twists are there because there is a lot of thermal contraction that happens when cooling from room temperature to near absolute zero, and the loops give the tubes some slack to contract.
Not shown in pictures as often because it’s less exciting, but the whole chandelier thing is put in a big metal cylinder, and that cylinder is within another cylinder, like a Russian nesting doll. Sometimes there may even be a 3rd layer. The air gets pumped out of the cylinders so it’s a vacuum inside. The multiple layers of cylinders are needed because the black body radiation from the outermost layer (which will be at room temperature) would be too much incoming energy to keep the qubits cold enough.
Also not shown is this whole thing is connected to an elaborate system of vacuum pumps, other refrigeration machines, usually a box of electronics for signal generation, and a classical computer (a standard desktop computer) used to control everything.
Note that not all quantum computer types use this kind of chandelier thing, only ones that need the near-absolute-zero temperature, such as superconducting qubits (trapped ion, neutral atom, and photonic quantum computers use very different setups).
Thank you!
This reads like SCP containment procedures.
Just wanted to mention at this point that the quantum computers in this post are the so-called superconducting quantum computers. There are also other architectures like ion and neutral atom quantum computers which are basically steel tubes with viewports that contain a ultra high vacuum. Lasers are used to control the ions or atoms.
There's also photon quantum computers, but they are even more different and not in a really advanced stage yet.
Early gen tech of any kind usually has a neat look
Good point. This is often true. I was thinking of early computers with the big tape reels, which definitely didn’t look interesting, but there are other examples like the one you showed.
What is this sexy thing?
Google image search says it's a desk calculator with electron tubes.
Tube amp maybe? An odd one though if so.
Definitely not a tube amp. A tube amp usually has only one or two tubes. This number of tubes implies that they are being used as primitive transistors for logic functions, you can also see a number display made from nixie tubes at the top of the image.
That's her exhaust fan, you pervert!
Quantum states are incredibly fragile and can be disturbed with even the slightest interaction with the environment (called decoherence). These devices are cooled and isolated to the most extreme degrees possible and still at present decoherence severely limits the computations that can be performed.
Wow so that's where they got the idea for the tardis engine
Nah, they build a quantum computer in the design of the tardis engine.
Its timey wimey stuff after all
what did you just call me
And the design of the computer in the show Devs
The whole environment needs to be as clean as humans are capable of making it, utilizing the most advanced technology available, so every nanometer of the machine is in immaculate condition.