With the quantum computer, humanity is on the brink of a technological revolution of unimaginable potential. When present record-keeping methods require us to know the beginning and end of an exchange, how will accounting adapt to the reality of transactions generated by quantum computers – when there is no difference between beginning and end?
Introducing Quantum Accounting
The vast speed power of the quantum computer comes from the physics of quantum entanglement – in which signals are both on and off at the same time. This is called “superposition”, the phenomenon in quantum physics that provides no indication of the order of a sequence. What is the past and future, what is the cause and what is the effect, when the trade between buyer and seller simultaneously exists and doesn’t exist? The binary computer you are using now keeps a reliable record of the order of its signals because of the time it takes to switch between on and off, but accounting will have to adapt to maintain an accurate record of cause and effect in the account of exchanges of data in the quantum computer.
A quantum computer has just been used to simulate a wormhole, holding potential for future space travel. With recent advances in powerful computing capacity, and the rapid growth of the quantum computing industry, the technology promises many benefits including reduction of pollution and conflict.
Quantum accounting records the order of the quantum computer’s signals that begin in two states simultaneously and output to two points on the spherical limit of the qubit. The first principle of quantum accounting considers the geometry of the sphere, the time order of signals from present to past and future, and the nature of the quantum as the universal medium of the account.
In Part 2 of our series, we find that to balance the quantum account, zero must remain in the middle of the qubit sphere, but we face the problem and paradox of locating that point. We conclude the only way to pinpoint the middle is to define – simultaneously – the radius of the debit and credit.
The theory of Quantum Accounting begins with the meaning of two words: “account” and “quantum”. We start with “account” and its dual application in the record of quantum computer functions.
Computing technology is on the brink of a revolutionary change. With prototypes already in operation, the quantum computer will deliver huge – possibly unlimited – increases in speed and accuracy to existing and new applications when the technology is available for widespread use.
As accounting moves from one dimension to three, it will require the use of complex numbers and two values in particular – zero and one-half – that are the basis of Bernhard Riemann’s famous hypothesis.
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