As we explore the frontier of quantum computing, we’re not just grappling with abstract concepts like superposition and entanglement—we’re engineering systems that manipulate light, matter, and energy at their most fundamental levels. In many ways, this feels like a return to analog principles, where computation is continuous rather than discrete.
A Return to Analog Thinking
Quantum systems inherently deal with waves—light waves, probability waves, electromagnetic waves. These are the same building blocks that analog computers once harnessed with remarkable efficiency. Analog systems excelled at handling infinite resolution calculations, where signals like video, sound, and RF were treated as continuous phenomena:
- Video is light being redirected.
- Sound is pressure waves propagating.
- RF is electromagnetic waves traveling from point to point.
The challenge now is: how do we process continuously varying signals at the speed of light, without being bottlenecked by digital discretization?
Light as Information
I often joke that light moves at the speed of light—until it’s put on a network. But in the quantum realm, we’re literally dealing with light as both input and output. That changes the paradigm entirely.
To “put the mechanics into quantum mechanics” means:
- Designing systems that physically embody quantum principles.
- Treating light not just as a carrier of information, but as the information itself.
- Building architectures that process analog signals at quantum scales, leveraging phase, amplitude, and polarization as computational resources.
Engineering Quantum Behavior
In this paradigm, we’re not just simulating quantum behavior—we’re engineering it. Quantum computing isn’t just about qubits flipping between 0 and 1; it’s about manipulating the very nature of reality to perform computation. This requires a deep understanding of both the physics and the engineering required to build systems that operate at the atomic and photonic level.
We’re entering an era where the boundaries between physics, computation, and communication blur. And perhaps, by revisiting the principles of analog computation through the lens of quantum mechanics, we’ll unlock new ways to process information—at the speed of light, and with the precision of nature itself.
The Most Powerful Computers You’ve Never Heard Of




















































































