Let's Go Quantum - Sam Burns

Quantum computers exist today but are in their infancy - they can be accessed via cloud providers like IBM and IonQ with free tier offerings

Quantum computing leverages quantum mechanics principles like superposition and entanglement to perform calculations fundamentally differently than classical computers

Shor’s algorithm (for factoring prime numbers) and Grover’s algorithm (for searching unsorted datasets) are key quantum algorithms that could break current encryption methods

Go 1.23 introduces post-quantum cryptography (PQC) support through hybrid encryption using X25519 Kyber768 for TLS handshakes

The NIST standardized Kyber as the recommended post-quantum cryptographic algorithm, which is now implemented in Go’s TLS package

“Store now, decrypt later” threat model means encrypted data captured today could be decrypted by future quantum computers - driving urgency for PQC adoption

Major platforms like Chrome, Firefox, WhatsApp and Cloudflare are already implementing PQC for secure communications

Quantum computers require extremely low temperatures and careful isolation from environmental interference to maintain quantum states

Quantum decoherence occurs when qubits interact with the environment, causing them to collapse from superposition to classical states

Go provides quantum computing simulation capabilities through third-party libraries, allowing developers to experiment with quantum algorithms on classical hardware