Asking questions about not yet built aspects of quantum computing

Question

I have a series of questions I have been considering asking. My dilemma is that I want to make sure they are on topic. It's also physiological: I feel like I should be posting in sci-fi.

I am giving serious thought to a few different quantum projects all of which I see as being part of a larger quantum system. Some examples:

Blo(ch)ain How could a bloch chain be realized? (my thinking: XOR Linked Lists)

Qloch How do quantum clocks work? Could a time bloch be used in a distributed system as a controlled bloch to produce entanglement between nodes?

Qloud Could a cloud based QOS (quantum operating system) be built upon a bloch chain? In a virtual environment, what distinguishes the qomputer (quantum computer) from the OS?

Is there a better place than here to post abstract questions regarding the practical realization of things such as: quantum programming (proqraming), quantum networking (qNet), quantum applications (qApps), etc?

Answer 1

I would argue that these sorts of questions should be on-topic, but that there is a line.

I think a good rule of thumb is: if it involves non-mainstream physics, no. If it involves mainstream physics, and even more so if the idea has been discussed, yes, it's probably on-topic.

However, I would wait a little bit before asking to see what the rest of the community thinks.

Especially considering that quantum computing is a rather new field that is rapidly developing, different approaches that are being used to tackle not-yet built topics I think would almost unanimously be considered on-topic (consider, for example, a question about a purely theoretical paper to see what I mean).

I think questions like the first half of all three of yours (what approaches are being used to tackle such-and-such problem) are similarly almost unanimously considered on-topic.

From those two points, it is not a far jump to asking about approaches you've come up with to tackle those not-yet built topics, such as your thoughts about the blockchain and so forth. Of course, there's a difference between that and asking "can we use string theory out of a spray can to solve world hunger and quantum computing gimme teh codez".

By which I mean: use mainstream physics, and perhaps lean your questions more towards the commonly accepted types than your approaches, or bring the two together - like, "I saw this approach, how do my thoughts compare to it?"