Re:IBM will soon launch a 53-qubit quantum computer
by seamyb88 on Thursday September 19, 2019 @10:29AM
(#21016509)
Yes, you are correct. I said it all wrong.
From a physical perspective, holding two states is the most efficient way of computing. I.e. the electronics required to compute in bases other than 2 involve higher power and present difficult challenges.
Assuming the cost of operations on each digit is a multiple of its number of states, the most efficient base for computing with arbitrary numbers is 3, which is the closest integer to the optimal base e:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radix_economy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ternary_computer