New Step Towards The Quantum Computer

[MelT]

I found this quite inspiring.

MelT


Two Qubits In Action, New Step Towards The Quantum Computer

Science Daily — Researchers at Delft University of Technology have succeeded in carrying out calculations with two quantum bits, the building blocks of a possible future quantum computer. The Delft researchers are publishing an article about this important step towards a workable quantum computer in this week's issue of Nature.

Superconducting rings on a chip. (Credit: TU Delft)
Quantum computers have superior qualities in comparison to the type of computers currently in use. If they are realised, then quantum computers will be able to carry out tasks that are beyond the abilities of all normal computers.
A quantum computer is based on the amazing properties of quantum systems. In these a quantum bit, also known as a qubit, exists in two states at the same time and the information from two qubits is entangled in a way that has no equivalent whatsoever in the normal world.
It is highly likely that workable quantum computers will need to be produced using existing manufacturing techniques from the chip industry. Working on this basis, scientists at Delft University of Technology are currently studying two types of qubits: one type makes use of tiny superconducting rings, and the other makes use of 'quantum dots'.
Now for the first time a 'controlled-NOT' calculation with two qubits has been realised with the superconducting rings. This is important because it allows any given quantum calculation to be realised.
The result was achieved by the PhD student Jelle Plantenberg in the team led by Kees Harmans and Hans Mooij. The research took place within the FOM (Dutch Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter) concentration group for Solid State Quantum Information Processing.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Delft University of Technology.

[Rasta_Man]

wicked stuff.

One more step towards my own holodeck!

[MelT]

LOL! You know, that was the first thing that ran through my mind too

MelT

[mistertr1ck]

maybe im retarded.. but i still dont understand quantum and how it works (fundamentally). and what sorts of abilities would it allow a computer to carry out?

[Rasta_Man]

Originally Posted by mistertr1ck

maybe im retarded.. but i still dont understand quantum and how it works (fundamentally). and what sorts of abilities would it allow a computer to carry out?

I honestly don't understand the specifics of it; but it takes advantage of the unusual physics occurring at the quantum level, such as superposition.

It also provides a solid option for the eventual limitations of conventional silicon transistors.


Ultimately it will result in very powerful and incredibly small computers. I've heard that you'll have a vastly powerful computer located within your day to day clothing.

And the ability of computers like that has a profound ripple effect throughout the technological world.

It means good things!


Maybe MelT or Skywalker can explain it better than I can; they seem to be more knowledge about that sort of stuff.

[Boosh]

Originally Posted by Rasta_Man

I honestly don't understand the specifics of it; but it takes advantage of the unusual physics occurring at the quantum level, such as superposition.

It also provides a solid option for the eventual limitations of conventional silicon transistors.


Ultimately it will result in very powerful and incredibly small computers. I've heard that you'll have a vastly powerful computer located within your day to day clothing.

And the ability of computers like that has a profound ripple effect throughout the technological world.

It means good things!


Maybe MelT or Skywalker can explain it better than I can; they seem to be more knowledge about that sort of stuff.

DOES it mean good things?

[Rasta_Man]

Originally Posted by Boosh

DOES it mean good things?

Yeah! It means I get my holodeck!

[Dark_Angers]

Right now computer are limited to 0 and 1, but a quantum computer does not have the limits of 0 and 1 they have more (not sure how much). That is the basic of it, but it mean more power beyond your dreams.

[Gods_Sun08]

Too much power scares me.Heres a few just to spook you...

Clonining technology so advanced you can breed and train 5000 Super troopers(no

pun untended) in 1 hour,imagine that.

Guns that dont need to be reloaded and have auto aiming technology.(Fifth Element)

Cloaking, teleportation and thats just the front page.

I'm not saying not good technology will come from it(holodeck),but with the good

theres always the bad and the ugly.~Turk

[Rasta_Man]

Originally Posted by Gods_Sun08

Too much power scares me.Heres a few just to spook you...

Clonining technology so advanced you can breed and train 5000 Super troopers(no

pun untended) in 1 hour,imagine that.

Guns that dont need to be reloaded and have auto aiming technology.(Fifth Element)

Cloaking, teleportation and thats just the front page.

I'm not saying not good technology will come from it(holodeck),but with the good

theres always the bad and the ugly.~Turk

I get what you're saying, technology has the potential for both good and evil.

Humanity is refining this though, and I feel that the price of not pursing technology is far greater than the risks it offers.


But where are you coming up with the idea of cloning technology? We haven't even cloned a single human being yet! and genetic modification is still largely in it's infancy.

[MelT]

This explains it far better than I can.

MelT


So what is a 'Quantum Computer'?

In the classical model of a computer the most fundamental building block, the bit, can only exist in one of two distinct states, a '0' or a '1'. In a quantum computer the rules are changed. Not only can a 'quantum bit', usually referred to as a 'qubit', exist in the classical '0' and '1' states, but it can also be in a superposition of both! In this coherent state, the bit exists as a '0' and a '1' in a manner which may at first seem hard to accept. Let's consider a register of three classical bits: it would be possible to use this register to represent any one of the numbers from 0 to 7 at any one time. If we then consider a register of three qubits, we can see that if each bit is in the superposition or coherent state, the register can represent all the numbers from 0 to 7 simultaneously!
A processor that can use registers of qubits will in effect be able to perform calculations using all the possible values of the input registers simultaneously. This phenomenon is calledquantum parallelism, and is the motivating force behind the research being carried out in quantum computing.
The advantages of Quantum Computing

It has been shown in theory that a quantum computer will be able to perform any task that a classical computer can. However, this does not necessarily mean that a quantum computer will outperform a classical computer for all types of task. If we use our classical algorithms on a quantum computer, it will simply perform the calculation in a similar manner to a classical computer. In order for a quantum computer to show its superiority it needs to use new algorithms which can exploit the phenomenon of quantum parallelism.
Such algorithms are not easy to formulate, but once discovered they yield spectacular results. An example of one such algorithm is the quantum factorisation algorithm created by Peter Shor of AT&T Bell laboratories. The algorithm tackles the problem of factorising large numbers into its prime factors. This task is classically very difficult to solve; in fact it is so difficult that it forms the basis of RSA encryption, probably the most popular method of encryption used today. Shor's algorithm cleverly uses the effects of quantum parallelism to give the results of the prime factorisation problem in a matter of seconds whereas a classical computer would take, in some cases, more than the age of the universe to produce a result!

[Digit]

demonstration of a quantum computer running
and
search for quantum computer on youtube

wow, eh?