Quantum computing, please explain

[JonJ678]

Simply. normal computer chips can send electrical signals as a "1" or a "0", quantum computers can send data as a "1", "0" or a "1" and a "0". Which makes it able to compute far larger quantities of data.

A few people have said this. Current electronics can do "0", "1", or "not set" quite happily. Adding a third state doesn't represent a massive increase in computational capacity.

I *think* quantum computing is a phrase invented by the media that loosely covers a lot of ideas. Transistors based on light exist, and I'm fairly sure logic gates do too. There are hopes of storing binary data in the spin states of electrons, which would represent a considerable increase in information density. Finally there are ideas relating to entanglement and waveform collapse that might yield fast computation. I believe all these, and various other things, get described as "quantum computing".

It is unlikely that we are on the cusp of throwing out our current technology entirely. The next step beyond silicon is probably carbon, Intel have set up prototype transistors on artificial diamond sheet. The reasoning is that doped carbon can survive higher temperatures than silicon, so moving the barrier of getting 200W out of a tiny surface area. Incremental changes are always far more likely than revolutionary ones.

 

[ng93]

the equipment needs liquid nitrogen or helium cooling to stop thermal photons destroying the qubits.

And I thought water cooling was OTT...

 

[ScoTTyBEEE]

A quantum computer the size of todays chips would be more powerful than a modern chip the size of the universe.

They'll be pretty powerful buggers when they get them working

They'll probably be designed by computers themselves when the singularity occurs.

 

[jak731]

quantum entanglement is when I particle has a link with another particle, these particles could be millions of miles apart, when one particle is changed the other one of the entangled pair also changes at exactly the same time, imagine a computer using this method to transfer data internally and instantly, also imagine if this could be used for transferring data over the Internet, computing would have no bottlenecks and all data will be instant.

Sorry it doesn't work like that, you are getting confused with quantum encryption. When the entanglement is set up it is known that the particles (photons, electrons or whatever is the flavour of the day) will be in opposite states, but until at least one measurement is performed it is not known which particle is in which state. So say if you entangle 2 particles and send one over to Australia and measure yours before they do and it happens to be in the 'up' state then you know instantly that theirs will be in the 'down' state, but you haven't actually transferred any information as the states before measurement are random and unknowable. This is useful for generating encrytion keys because for reasons that are too lengthy to go into if someone intercepts a particle and measures it they cannot setup another particle in the correct state with very high reliability (maximum 75% i think) so both parties would know that there is an eavesdropper.

 

[Efour]

so whats a Finish dishwasher tablet's quantum-ness?

it can be clean, dirty or clean and dirty ? Its mind blowing.

 

[twist3d0n3]

so whats a Finish dishwasher tablet's quantum-ness?

it can be clean, dirty or clean and dirty ? Its mind blowing.

you're either putting your dinner on plates, or the table... that's all i know

 

[kalvindeane]

Snip

Aren't you the guy who created that epic ghetto watercooled pc a while back?

 

[SourChipmunk]

There are hopes of storing binary data in the spin states of electrons, which would represent a considerable increase in information density. Finally there are ideas relating to entanglement and waveform collapse that might yield fast computation. I believe all these, and various other things, get described as "quantum computing".

I was hoping someone would mention that.

Read the first few chapters of "Contact" (read, not watch the film ). Carl Sagan does a wonderful job of explaining this concept in layman's terms. The physics in the book are incredible compared to the slimmed-down model they had to use for the movie.

 

[Hatter The Mad]

They would have to go from binary 0,1 to decimal 0 to 9, I believe some super computers can do this now anyway.

No they wouldn't.

While reading up on it, remember it would be a mistake to interpret almost anything to do with quantum computing from the perspective of our binary computing, or even anything like how we use a desktop computer.

 

[mrk]

While finishing off my Monday Morning Science reads I spotted this on SD:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/release...y:+Latest+Science+News)&utm_content=Google+UK

Pretty amazing how the computer has developed in such a short space of time (50 years), it's pretty clear that in half that time from now things will be even more advanced and with this kind of research being done by teams and such discoveries coming out every few months now, interesting times are very close.

The most important part from the article I felt was the below:

"When I established this program 10 years ago, many people thought it was impossible with too many technical hurdles. However, on reading into the literature I could not see any practical reason why it would not be possible," Simmons says. "Brute determination and systemic studies were necessary -- as well as having many outstanding students and postdoctoral researchers who have worked on the project."

Klimeck notes that modern collaboration and community-building tools such as nanoHUB played an important role.

People working together for a common goal = How it should be in everything.

Edit*
It's interesting to note that the researcher thinks that this tech can't really be made any smaller than the atomic scale. Moore's Law will have lived a short life!