Quantum Computing: How Fast Could It Go?

[Big-Daddy]

How fast, exactly, is it hypothesized that quantum computers could feasibly reach? If an operation takes 1 second on an average modern-day computer, how long will it take a quantum computer, using an upper-bound idea for the speed these machines could one day reach?

 

[meBigGuy]

Quantum computers excel at certain problems. They are very different than classical sequential computations so saying how "fast" they will be in the future is kind of meaningless. Your best bet is to understand what they do and how they differ from classical computers.

http://www.qubit.org/tutorials/13-about-quantum-computing/tutorials/25-quantum-computing.html

The following quote from wikipedia is one I like:
"However, the computational basis of 500 qubits, for example, would already be too large to be represented on a classical computer because it would require 2^500 complex values (2^501 bits) to be stored.[10] (For comparison, a terabyte of digital information is only 2^40 bits.)"

For an extreme but entertaining view, check out Seth Lloyd.

 

[Akaisora]

I think that they excel at parallel computing, due to exploiting superposition.