I can explain digital logic down to the electron in a MOSFET, but I can't come close to the same with quantum computing. This newsletter is a journal of my quest to learn the fundamentals of quantum computing and explain them on a human level.

Welcome to the Quantum Edge newsletter. Join me in my year-long journey into the weirdness that is quantum computing.

Issue 11.0, July 11, 2025

In today’s newsletter: A stall, a choice, and decision superposition

Those of you who read this newsletter have noticed an unannounced hiatus from posting. That’s a risk when writing a newsletter on a subject one doesn’t fully understand. It’s a bit like starting construction on a complex factory before the design is complete. Such a practice often leads to long delays and huge cost overruns.

Fortunately, my version of “cost overrun” lies only in my head. Delays, however, are very public. What happened is I ran into a roadblock when trying to come up with a sufficient metaphor for quantum entanglement. I still like the “daydreaming” metaphor I used for superposition in issue 10.0, but entanglement has been more of a challenge. The metaphor search led me down rabbit holes nested within rabbit holes around the various properties of qubits.

Flipping a Coin Has No Meaning in a Quantum World

The rabbit journey left me at a bit of a crossroads with my quest to understand quantum computing. That crossroads is exemplified by the meaning I choose for the word “understanding.”

A: Do I want to understand quantum computers enough to operate one - to be able to program a quantum computer and get a result out? This could be the goal. We can certainly operate many things without knowledge of the underlying mechanics. I don’t need to understand how a modern engine and transmission works in order to drive a car, and I shouldn’t need to know the quantum fundamentals in order to program a quantum computer.

B: Do I want to understand what is happening at the most fundamental level when I have programmed or configured the quantum processing unit - how a qubit is transformed into a quantum gate, how it takes on data, how it calculates, and how a result is derived from a qubit?

Both are admirable goals, but I haven’t decided what is most expedient for this newsletter. I thought of making a coin flip to decide which option to take, but I don’t know if I would be happy with the result. To that end, unless I come up with a breakthrough in my understanding, I suspect I will wander a bit in my journey through the quantum universe over the next few newsletters. Meaning, I will choose A, B and both A and B.

A Note on Language and the Quantum World

Language is one of the biggest challenges I have run across so far. Much of what I’ve researched and written so far has used words, images and metaphor as the language of choice. But that may not be enough. The experts struggle to explain what happens at the quantum level and even today, there is no solid consensus on the form and makeup of an elementary particle.

The best way to understand the quantum world is through math. I’m trying to avoid math as much as possible in this newsletter, but I have to use some. Math is a language, or a set of similar languages, that can often be used to describe things that don’t come out well in visual or textual expression.

In our world, there are things that can be best understood through words. There are other things best understood through pictures. Imagine trying to describe a color or a sound to someone whom has never been able to see or hear. Somethings go easier in pictures. On the other hand, imagine trying to express an emotion about a specific event without words. Try to capture and express all of the nuance that goes with it in an unambiguous way without words. It would be difficult.

The quantum world is somewhat like those examples. It is a world that we can’t see, hear, smell, or feel. We have very little in our everyday experience that can be used to relate to the quantum environment. We can give rough approximations with pictures and words, but neither can be very accurate. Physicists have found that the language that can best describes the quantum world is math.

I did take some higher math a few decades ago but never got to a deep understanding of quantum relevant math. While I am doing my best to use metaphor and analogy instead of math, I will use the language from time to time. Keep your eye out for notes about probability theory, imaginary numbers, matrices, and integration.

Don’t give up though. Every little bit of this is a viewport into a strange and mysterious world like nothing we’ve ever seen (unless you are a quantum physicist). It is an exploration of a new sort and I for one am very curious.

In Summary…

Check your email box Thursday - probably. (Okay, some of these weekly issues have come out on Friday, or not at all. But, in a quantum world, how can you tell?)

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About Positive Edge LLC

Positive Edge is the consulting arm of Duane Benson, Tech journalist, Futurist, Entrepreneur. Positive Edge is your conduit to decades of leading-edge technology development, management and communications expertise.