Quantum Computers Will Challenge Gravity ⚡ экспресс
Scientists have figured out how many logical qubits (stable quantum bits) are needed to test the incompatibility of gravity and quantum mechanics. 500 qubits will suffice for a laboratory experiment, and 1600 — to account for the entire observable universe. It's like activation energy: at 500 qubits, the refutation of conventional physics 'kicks in'. Surprisingly, commercial plans already exceed this threshold, so a test of quantum gravity is just around the corner.
The biggest puzzle in physics is how to reconcile spacetime curvature with quantum mechanics. At the Planck length, billions of billions times smaller than an atom, the rules break down. This frontier was discovered by Max Planck.
Information flows through spacetime like water through a sponge. In the ordinary world, a sponge absorbs at its maximum rate. Similarly, there’s a classical limit to data processing—2⁴⁹¹ operations per second per cubic meter. That number is so huge it exceeds the number of atoms in the entire observable universe. No ordinary computer can break that barrier.
But a quantum computer can “absorb” information faster. If it outpaces this natural tempo, we’ll glimpse quantum gravity—the theory unifying gravity with the microscopic world. A lab test needs just 500 logical qubits—error-protected quantum cells. The absolute limit for the whole universe is only 1,600 logical qubits. This estimate echoes Jacob Bekenstein's work on black holes. Amazingly, commercial quantum computer roadmaps promise to hit 1,600 qubits within just a few years. John Preskill predicted that quantum machines would test fundamental physics. It seems that moment is almost here.
🎯 The number 2⁴⁹¹ is so large that if every atom in the observable universe were computing at the speed of light, their combined output still wouldn’t reach this limit.
🎬 The idea of computations that peel back the foundations of reality feels like science fiction—for example, Greg Egan’s novel "Diaspora".