Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

International Journal of Advanced Networking and Applications

A Bit not as a Unit of Information - A Qubit is not a Unit of Quantum Information

Masataka Ohta

Published Jan 1, 2024• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

While Shannon introduced “binary digits, or more briefly bits” as units of information, a binary digit (and, thus, a bit) originally and still means a character of “0” or “1”, which may be represented by a binary symbol or storage cell. As a result, a bit often means a binary symbol or storage cell, which is inherited by a “qubit”, a quantum bit, introduced by Schumacher as “the fundamental units of quantum information”. Schumacher himself uses a bit, not a qubit, as a unit of quantum information and a qubit is a quantum binary symbol or storage cell.

DOI
10.35444/ijana.2024.16303

Related papers

A Study of Quantum Computing

D. G. Vyawahare, K. H. Walse, Nitin V. Sali

Quantum computation is an exciting new field, which touches on the foundations of both computer science and quantum mechanics. It provides a new model of computation that is both physically reasonable and more powerful than classical computing. In a classical computer, a bit is a fundamental unit of information, classically represented as a 0 or 1. In a quantum computer, the fundamental unit of information, called a quantum bit or qubit, is not binary but rather more quaternary in nature.

•Dec 5, 2012•0 citations

What Is a Qubit?

Ciaran Hughes, Joshua Isaacson, Anastasia Perry +2 more

Abstract In classical computers, information is represented as the binary digits 0 or 1. These are called bits. For example, the number 1 in an 8-bit binary representation is written as 00000001. The number 2 is represented as 00000010. We place extra zeros in front to write every number with 8-bits total, which is called one byte. In fact, every classical computer translates these bits into the human readable information on your electronic device. The document you read or video you watch is encoded in the computer binary language in terms of these 1’s and 0’s. Computer hardware understands the 1-bit as an electrical current flowing through a wire (in a transistor) while the 0-bit is the absence of an electrical current in a wire. These electrical signals can be thought of as “on” (the 1-bit) or “off” (the 0-bit). Your computer then decodes the classical 1 or 0 bits into words or videos, etc.

Springer eBooks•Jan 1, 2021•14 citations

The Quantum Computer

Jacob R. West

Behold your computer. Your computer represents the culmination of years of technological advancements beginning with the early ideas of Charles Babbage (1791-1871) and eventual creation of the first computer by German engineer Konrad Zuse in 1941. Surprisingly however, the high speed modern computer sitting in front of you is fundamentally no different from its gargantuan 30 ton ancestors, which were equipped with some 18000 vacuum tubes and 500 miles of wiring! Although computers have become more compact and considerably faster in performing their task, the task remains the same: to manipulate and interpret an encoding of binary bits into a useful computational result. A bit is a fundamental unit of information, classically represented as a 0 or 1 in your digital computer. Each classical bit is physically realized through a macroscopic physical system, such as the magnetization on a hard disk or the charge on a capacitor. A document, for example, comprised of n-characters stored on the hard drive of a typical computer is accordingly described by a string of 8n zeros and ones. Herein lies a key difference between your classical computer and a quantum computer. Where a classical computer obeys the well understood laws of classical physics, a quantum computer is a device that harnesses physical phenomenon unique to quantum mechanics (especially quantum interference) to realize a fundamentally new mode of information processing. In a quantum computer, the fundamental unit of information (called a quantum bit or qubit), is not binary but rather more quaternary in nature. This qubit property arises as a direct consequence of its adherence to the laws of quantum mechanics which differ radically from the laws of classical physics. A qubit can exist not only in a state corresponding to the logical state 0 or 1 as in a classical bit, but also in states corresponding to a blend or superposition of these classical states. In other words, a qubit can exist as a zero, a one, or simultaneously as both 0 and 1, with a numerical coefficient representing the probability for each state. This may seem counterintuitive because everyday phenomenon are governed by classical physics, not quantum mechanics – which takes over at the atomic level. This rather difficult concept is perhaps best explained through an experiment. Consider Figure 1 below:

•Jan 1, 2003•11 citations

The wave function: it or bit?

H. D. Zeh

Introduction Does Schrödinger's wave function describe physical reality (“it” in John Wheeler's terminology (Wheeler 1994)) or some kind of information (“bit”)? The answer to this question must crucially depend on the definition of these terms. Is it then merely a matter of words? Not quite – I feel. Inappropriate words may be misleading, while reasonably chosen terms are helpful. A bit is usually understood as the binary unit of information, which can be physically realized in (classical) computers, but also by neuronal states of having fired or not. This traditional physical (in particular, thermodynamical) realization of information (“bit from it”) has proven essential in order to avoid paradoxes otherwise arising from situations related to Maxwell's demon. On the other hand, the concept of a bit has a typical quantum aspect: the very word quantum refers to discreteness, while, paradoxically, the quantum bit is represented by a continuum (the unit sphere in a two-dimensional Hilbert space) – more similar to an analog computer. If this quantum state describes “mere information,” how can there be real quantum computers that are based on such superpositions of classical bits? The problematic choice of words characterizing the nature of the wave function (or a general “quantum state”) seems to reflect the common uneasiness of physicists, including the founders of quantum theory, about its fundamental meaning. However, it may also express a certain prejudice.

arXiv:quant-ph/0204088•Cambridge University Press eBooks•Apr 22, 2004•27 citations

Both Classical & Quantum Information; Both Bit & Qubit: Both Physical & Transcendental Time

Vasil Dinev Penchev

Information can be considered as the most fundamental, philosophical, physical and mathematical concept originating from the totality by means of physical and mathematical transcendentalism (the counterpart of philosophical transcendentalism). Classical and quantum information, particularly by their units, bit and qubit, correspond and unify the finite and infinite. As classical information is relevant to finite series and sets, as quantum information, to infinite ones. A fundamental joint relativity of the finite and infinite, of the external and internal is to be investigated. The corresponding invariance is able to define physical action and its quantity only on the basis of information and especially: on the relativity of classical and quantum information. The concept of transcendental time, an epoché in relation to the direction of time arrow can be defined. Its correlate is that information invariant to the finite and infinite, therefore unifying both classical and quantum information.

•Jan 1, 2021•0 citations

Both Classical and Quantum Information: Both Bit and Qubit. Both Physical and Transcendental Time

Vasil Dinev Penchev

Information can be considered as the most fundamental, philosophical, physical and mathematical concept originating from the totality by means of physical and mathematical transcendentalism (the counterpart of philosophical transcendentalism). Classical and quantum information, particularly by their units, bit and qubit, correspond and unify the finite and infinite. As classical information is relevant to finite series and sets, as quantum information, to infinite ones. A fundamental joint relativity of the finite and infinite, of the external and internal is to be investigated. The corresponding invariance is able to define physical action and its quantity only on the basis of information and especially: on the relativity of classical and quantum information. The concept of transcendental time, an epoché in relation to the direction of time arrow can be defined. Its correlate is that information invariant to the finite and infinite, therefore unifying both classical and quantum information.

•Jun 23, 2021•0 citations
While Shannon introduced “binary digits, or more briefly bits” as units of information, a binary digit (and, thus, a bit) originally and still means a character of “0” or “1”, which may be represented by a binary symbol or storage cell. As a result, a bit often means a binary symbol or storage cell, which is inherited by a “qubit”, a quantum bit, introduced by Schumacher as “the fundamental units of quantum information”. Schumacher himself uses a bit, not a qubit, as a unit of quantum information and a qubit is a quantum binary symbol or storage cell.
Abstract In classical computers, information is represented as the binary digits 0 or 1. These are called bits. For example, the number 1 in an 8-bit binary representation is written as 00000001. The number 2 is represented as 00000010. We place extra zeros in front to write every number with 8-bits total, which is called one byte. In fact, every classical computer translates these bits into the human readable information on your electronic device. The document you read or video you watch is encoded in the computer binary language in terms of these 1’s and 0’s. Computer hardware understands the 1-bit as an electrical current flowing through a wire (in a transistor) while the 0-bit is the absence of an electrical current in a wire. These electrical signals can be thought of as “on” (the 1-bit) or “off” (the 0-bit). Your computer then decodes the classical 1 or 0 bits into words or videos, etc.
Behold your computer. Your computer represents the culmination of years of technological advancements beginning with the early ideas of Charles Babbage (1791-1871) and eventual creation of the first computer by German engineer Konrad Zuse in 1941. Surprisingly however, the high speed modern computer sitting in front of you is fundamentally no different from its gargantuan 30 ton ancestors, which were equipped with some 18000 vacuum tubes and 500 miles of wiring! Although computers have become more compact and considerably faster in performing their task, the task remains the same: to manipulate and interpret an encoding of binary bits into a useful computational result. A bit is a fundamental unit of information, classically represented as a 0 or 1 in your digital computer. Each classical bit is physically realized through a macroscopic physical system, such as the magnetization on a hard disk or the charge on a capacitor. A document, for example, comprised of n-characters stored on the hard drive of a typical computer is accordingly described by a string of 8n zeros and ones. Herein lies a key difference between your classical computer and a quantum computer. Where a classical computer obeys the well understood laws of classical physics, a quantum computer is a device that harnesses physical phenomenon unique to quantum mechanics (especially quantum interference) to realize a fundamentally new mode of information processing. In a quantum computer, the fundamental unit of information (called a quantum bit or qubit), is not binary but rather more quaternary in nature. This qubit property arises as a direct consequence of its adherence to the laws of quantum mechanics which differ radically from the laws of classical physics. A qubit can exist not only in a state corresponding to the logical state 0 or 1 as in a classical bit, but also in states corresponding to a blend or superposition of these classical states. In other words, a qubit can exist as a zero, a one, or simultaneously as both 0 and 1, with a numerical coefficient representing the probability for each state. This may seem counterintuitive because everyday phenomenon are governed by classical physics, not quantum mechanics – which takes over at the atomic level. This rather difficult concept is perhaps best explained through an experiment. Consider Figure 1 below:
Introduction Does Schrödinger's wave function describe physical reality (“it” in John Wheeler's terminology (Wheeler 1994)) or some kind of information (“bit”)? The answer to this question must crucially depend on the definition of these terms. Is it then merely a matter of words? Not quite – I feel. Inappropriate words may be misleading, while reasonably chosen terms are helpful. A bit is usually understood as the binary unit of information, which can be physically realized in (classical) computers, but also by neuronal states of having fired or not. This traditional physical (in particular, thermodynamical) realization of information (“bit from it”) has proven essential in order to avoid paradoxes otherwise arising from situations related to Maxwell's demon. On the other hand, the concept of a bit has a typical quantum aspect: the very word quantum refers to discreteness, while, paradoxically, the quantum bit is represented by a continuum (the unit sphere in a two-dimensional Hilbert space) – more similar to an analog computer. If this quantum state describes “mere information,” how can there be real quantum computers that are based on such superpositions of classical bits? The problematic choice of words characterizing the nature of the wave function (or a general “quantum state”) seems to reflect the common uneasiness of physicists, including the founders of quantum theory, about its fundamental meaning. However, it may also express a certain prejudice.
Information can be considered as the most fundamental, philosophical, physical and mathematical concept originating from the totality by means of physical and mathematical transcendentalism (the counterpart of philosophical transcendentalism). Classical and quantum information, particularly by their units, bit and qubit, correspond and unify the finite and infinite. As classical information is relevant to finite series and sets, as quantum information, to infinite ones. A fundamental joint relativity of the finite and infinite, of the external and internal is to be investigated. The corresponding invariance is able to define physical action and its quantity only on the basis of information and especially: on the relativity of classical and quantum information. The concept of transcendental time, an epoché in relation to the direction of time arrow can be defined. Its correlate is that information invariant to the finite and infinite, therefore unifying both classical and quantum information.
Information can be considered as the most fundamental, philosophical, physical and mathematical concept originating from the totality by means of physical and mathematical transcendentalism (the counterpart of philosophical transcendentalism). Classical and quantum information, particularly by their units, bit and qubit, correspond and unify the finite and infinite. As classical information is relevant to finite series and sets, as quantum information, to infinite ones. A fundamental joint relativity of the finite and infinite, of the external and internal is to be investigated. The corresponding invariance is able to define physical action and its quantity only on the basis of information and especially: on the relativity of classical and quantum information. The concept of transcendental time, an epoché in relation to the direction of time arrow can be defined. Its correlate is that information invariant to the finite and infinite, therefore unifying both classical and quantum information.