QUANTUM COMPUTING ON A COMMODORE 64 IN 200 LINES OF BASIC

The term 'quantum computer' gets usually tossed around in the context of hyper-advanced, state-of-the-art computing devices, but much as how a 19th century mechanical computer, a discrete computer created from individual transistors, and a human being are all computers, the important quantifier is how fast and accurate the system is at the task, whether classical or quantum computing. This is demonstrated succinctly by [Davide 'dakk' Gessa] with 200 lines of BASIC code on a Commodore 64 (GitHub), implementing a range of quantum gates.

Much like a transistor in classical computing, the qubit forms the core of quantum computing, and we have known for a long time that a qubit can be simulated, even on something as mundane as an 8-bit MPU. Ergo [Davide]'s simulations of various quantum gates on a C64, ranging from Pauli-X, Pauli-Y, Pauli-Z, Hadamard, CNOT and SWAP, all using a two-qubit system running on a system that first saw the light of day in the early 1980s.

Naturally, the practical use of simulating a two-qubit system on a general-purpose MPU running at a blistering ~1 MHz is quite limited, but as a teaching tool it's incredibly accessible and a fun way to introduce people to the world of quantum computing.

HarveyH55 wrote:
https://hackaday.com/2023/07/04/quantum-computing-on-a-commodore-64-in-200-lines-of-basic/

The term 'quantum computer' gets usually tossed around in the context of hyper-advanced, state-of-the-art computing devices, but much as how a 19th century mechanical computer, a discrete computer created from individual transistors, and a human being are all computers, the important quantifier is how fast and accurate the system is at the task, whether classical or quantum computing. This is demonstrated succinctly by [Davide 'dakk' Gessa] with 200 lines of BASIC code on a Commodore 64 (GitHub), implementing a range of quantum gates.

Much like a transistor in classical computing, the qubit forms the core of quantum computing, and we have known for a long time that a qubit can be simulated, even on something as mundane as an 8-bit MPU. Ergo [Davide]'s simulations of various quantum gates on a C64, ranging from Pauli-X, Pauli-Y, Pauli-Z, Hadamard, CNOT and SWAP, all using a two-qubit system running on a system that first saw the light of day in the early 1980s.

Naturally, the practical use of simulating a two-qubit system on a general-purpose MPU running at a blistering ~1 MHz is quite limited, but as a teaching tool it's incredibly accessible and a fun way to introduce people to the world of quantum computing.

Haven't gone to the GitHub yet, but will soon. This is an interesting possibility though, in finding out what's really going on with 'Quantum' computing. The C64 was the first computer I bought, almost 40 years ago... Hoping the GitHub has links, or better explanation of gates. Obvious from this article, the naming of the gates aren't function-oriented...

Swan wrote:

HarveyH55 wrote:
https://hackaday.com/2023/07/04/quantum-computing-on-a-commodore-64-in-200-lines-of-basic/

The term 'quantum computer' gets usually tossed around in the context of hyper-advanced, state-of-the-art computing devices, but much as how a 19th century mechanical computer, a discrete computer created from individual transistors, and a human being are all computers, the important quantifier is how fast and accurate the system is at the task, whether classical or quantum computing. This is demonstrated succinctly by [Davide 'dakk' Gessa] with 200 lines of BASIC code on a Commodore 64 (GitHub), implementing a range of quantum gates.

Much like a transistor in classical computing, the qubit forms the core of quantum computing, and we have known for a long time that a qubit can be simulated, even on something as mundane as an 8-bit MPU. Ergo [Davide]'s simulations of various quantum gates on a C64, ranging from Pauli-X, Pauli-Y, Pauli-Z, Hadamard, CNOT and SWAP, all using a two-qubit system running on a system that first saw the light of day in the early 1980s.

Naturally, the practical use of simulating a two-qubit system on a general-purpose MPU running at a blistering ~1 MHz is quite limited, but as a teaching tool it's incredibly accessible and a fun way to introduce people to the world of quantum computing.

Haven't gone to the GitHub yet, but will soon. This is an interesting possibility though, in finding out what's really going on with 'Quantum' computing. The C64 was the first computer I bought, almost 40 years ago... Hoping the GitHub has links, or better explanation of gates. Obvious from this article, the naming of the gates aren't function-oriented...

How do they get around the massive heat and noise generated by a commodore without liquid nitrogen cooling, which the commodore chip was certainly not built to withstand. LOL is this supposed to be more believable than your submarine rant?

PS. Can you elaborate as to why anything achieved at 1mhz would be considered fun? Because at that speed, a turtle, or even a government shrinky could keep up.

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HarveyH55 wrote:

Swan wrote:

HarveyH55 wrote:
https://hackaday.com/2023/07/04/quantum-computing-on-a-commodore-64-in-200-lines-of-basic/

The term 'quantum computer' gets usually tossed around in the context of hyper-advanced, state-of-the-art computing devices, but much as how a 19th century mechanical computer, a discrete computer created from individual transistors, and a human being are all computers, the important quantifier is how fast and accurate the system is at the task, whether classical or quantum computing. This is demonstrated succinctly by [Davide 'dakk' Gessa] with 200 lines of BASIC code on a Commodore 64 (GitHub), implementing a range of quantum gates.

Much like a transistor in classical computing, the qubit forms the core of quantum computing, and we have known for a long time that a qubit can be simulated, even on something as mundane as an 8-bit MPU. Ergo [Davide]'s simulations of various quantum gates on a C64, ranging from Pauli-X, Pauli-Y, Pauli-Z, Hadamard, CNOT and SWAP, all using a two-qubit system running on a system that first saw the light of day in the early 1980s.

Naturally, the practical use of simulating a two-qubit system on a general-purpose MPU running at a blistering ~1 MHz is quite limited, but as a teaching tool it's incredibly accessible and a fun way to introduce people to the world of quantum computing.

Haven't gone to the GitHub yet, but will soon. This is an interesting possibility though, in finding out what's really going on with 'Quantum' computing. The C64 was the first computer I bought, almost 40 years ago... Hoping the GitHub has links, or better explanation of gates. Obvious from this article, the naming of the gates aren't function-oriented...

How do they get around the massive heat and noise generated by a commodore without liquid nitrogen cooling, which the commodore chip was certainly not built to withstand. LOL is this supposed to be more believable than your submarine rant?

PS. Can you elaborate as to why anything achieved at 1mhz would be considered fun? Because at that speed, a turtle, or even a government shrinky could keep up.

Next

Submarine rant? Dementia much? Don't think I've ever been in a submarine discussion here.

Actually the C64 was pretty awesome back in the 80's, for $129, you got a functional computer. Not a bad video game machine for the time either. The funny part is emulating a quantum computer, on an 8-bit relic, in BASIC, with only 38k RAM for programs...

GitHub didn't really have much detail. But, there was a Wikipedia entry, that looked 'impressive', but still gives the impression it's more of an emulation...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_logic_gate