“Quantum Computers and Raising Schrödinger's Cat” (Prof. David Wineland)

Two energy levels of an atom can represent a binary bit of information. Quantum systems can also exist in “superposition states”, storing both states of the bit simultaneously - a quantum bit or “qubit.” N qubits could store 2N binary numbers yielding an exponential increase in memory and processing capacity. Qubit operations with trapped atomic ions are described, and could eventually lead to an analog of Schrödinger's famous cat.