Posted on 03/24/2016 1:38:22 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
"all you have to do is go in the lab, apply more technology, and you should be able to make a bigger quantum computer"
So the only thing preventing a more general purpose quantum computer is money and enough engineers...
Hmm...
(POLL-AT-LINK)
Via: PC World:
Much of the encryption world today depends on the challenge of factoring large numbers, but scientists now say they've created the first five-atom quantum computer with the potential to crack the security of traditional encryption schemes.
In traditional computing, numbers are represented by either 0s or 1s, but quantum computing relies on atomic-scale units, or "qubits," that can be simultaneously 0 and 1--a state known as a superposition that's far more efficient. It typically takes about 12 qubits to factor the number 15, but researchers at MIT and the University of Innsbruck in Austria have found a way to pare that down to five qubits, each represented by a single atom, they said this week.
Using laser pulses to keep the quantum system stable by holding the atoms in an ion trap, the new system promises scalability as well, as more atoms and lasers can be added to build a bigger and faster quantum computer able to factor much larger numbers. That, in turn, presents new risks for factorization-based methods such as RSA, used for protecting credit cards, state secrets and other confidential data.
The development is in many ways an answer to a challenge posed back in 1994, when MIT professor Peter Shor came up with a quantum algorithm that calculates the prime factors of a large number with much better efficiency than a classical computer.
Fifteen is the smallest number that can meaningfully demonstrate Shor's algorithm. Without any prior knowledge of the answers, the new system returned the correct factors with a confidence better than 99 percent.
"We show that Shor's algorithm, the most complex quantum algorithm known to date, is realizable in a way where, yes, all you have to do is go in the lab, apply more technology, and you should be able to make a bigger quantum computer," said Isaac Chuang, professor of physics and professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT.
"It might still cost an enormous amount of money to build--you won't be building a quantum computer and putting it on your desktop anytime soon--but now it's much more an engineering effort, and not a basic physics question," Chuang added.
They have always had this already working or not.
Maybe they will finally be able to determine how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.
That’s what the poll at the site is about. I tell my wife when we’re watching television that if it shows a new technology, we’ve had it for at least twenty years.
Quantum computing - how FR finally fixed the apostrophe problem.
Or the singularity.
Classical Ballet or Modern Interpretive?
Both, since this imaginary computer is so capable.
Maori Haka
;>)
Ah, the old ion trap.
Love, Maxwell
I’m calling bull shit on this. No MIT, Apple is not going to give up security on iPhones because of this BS story. Let’s see it hot shots. We should just be able to apply more technology and fly through space at the speed of light but don’t hold your breath.
My job is Angel Choreographer, aka Software Engineer.
Nice— hadn’t seen that before.
Cracking the iPhone security would require thousands of qbits.
Never say never...
Right now they are using laser beams to hold the qbit atoms. Set up a chipful of laser LEDs and the proper cryogenic equipment, and you have your qbit jig. Not everything has to be hand-fabricated.
Japan will probably have kilo-qbits before we do.
Schrodinger’s cat might have knocked it off of the lab bench.
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