Introduction

In the last few years, the discussion of quantum computers has escaped from the research universities and labs into the mainstream. This is an excellent development. As a physics-engineering dual major who has spent most of his career implementing cutting-edge technology in medium-sized organizations, I got excited when I heard about quantum computing and the D-Wave Leap program in 2018. In 2019, I shifted my career to quantum computing and jumped in with both feet. I found the concepts, achievements, and the whole discipline fascinating. This discipline called upon so much of my past background in mathematics, materials, entropy, quantum mechanics, and so on. A lot of the scientific work in bringing quantum computing out of the laboratory and onto the cloud was accomplished by D-Wave Systems, Inc., and IBM. Now, people like me could jump in and start using these systems. We were told the drive was towards commercializing the technology, using quantum computers in real...