Preskill: Quantum computers will impact chemistry, carbon capture, and materials
John Preskill · John Preskill on Quantum Computing · Y Combinator · May 16, 2018 · at 14:32
Caltech theoretical physicist John Preskill explains the most promising practical applications of quantum computers to Craig on the Y Combinator podcast.
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“The Ones which will affect everyday life, I think, are better methods for understanding and inventing new materials, new chemical compounds. Things like that can be really important. You know, if you find a better way of capturing carbon by designing a better catalyst, Or you can design pharmaceuticals that have new effects. Materials that have unusual properties. These are quantum physics problems, because those properties of the molecule or the material really have to do with the underlying quantum behavior of the particles, and we don't have a good way for solving such problems or predicting that behavior. Using ordinary digital computers. That's what a quantum computer is good at. It's good. But maybe not the only thing it's good at. But one thing it should certainly be good at is telling us quantitatively how quantum systems behave. And in the two contexts I just mentioned, there's little question that there will be practical impact of that.”
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