Quantum computer to debut next week

[dantes76]

OS and Servers News

08 February 2007
Quantum computer to debut next week

By Peter Judge, Techworld

Twenty years before most scientists expected it, a commercial company has announceda quantum computer that promises to massively speed up searches and optimisation calculations.

D-Wave of British Columbia has promised to demonstrate a quantum computer next Tuesday, that can carry out 64,000 calculations simultaneously (in parallel "universes"), thanks to a new technique which rethinks the already-uncanny world of quantum computing. But the academic world is taking a wait-and-see approach.

D-Wave is the world's only "commercial" quantum computing company, backed by more than $20 million of venture capital (there are more commercial ventures in the related field of quantum cryptography). Its stated aim is to eventually produce commercially available quantum computers that can be used online or shipped to computer rooms, where they will solve intractable and expensive problems such as financial optimisation.

It has been predicted that quantum computing will make current computer security obsolete, cracking any current cryptography scheme by providing an unlimited amount of simultaneous processing resources. Multiple quantum states exist at the same time, so every quantum bit or "qubit" in such a machine is simultaneously 0 and 1. D-Wave's prototype has only 16 qubits, but systems with hundreds of qubits would be able to process more inputs than there are atoms in the universe.

Scientists in the world's many quantum science departments are looking anxiously at whether the demonstration - linked to a computer museum in Mountain View California, will vindicate their work or cast doubt upon it.

"This is somewhat like claims of cold fusion," said Professor Andrew Steane of Oxford University's Centre for Quantum Computing. "I doubt that this computing method is substantially easier to achieve than any other."

Others are more enthusiastic: "I'll be a bit of a sceptic till I see what they have done," said Professor Seth Lloyd of MIT. "But I'm happy these guys are doing it." Lloyd is one of the scientists who helped develop the "adiabatic" model of quantum computing which D-Wave's system exploits - a method which D-Wave believes will sidestep the problems which have restricted progress in quantum computing so far.

http://www.techworld.com/opsys/news/index.cfm?newsID=7972&pagtype=all


http://dwave.wordpress.com/2007/01/ [Pics]

http://dwave.wordpress.com/2007/01/19/quantum-computing-demo-announcement/ Info1


http://dwave.wordpress.com/2007/02/08/some-technical-papers-for-interested-folks/ info2


http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/08/quantum-computer-to-debut-next-tuesday/

[dantes76]

This is a picture of the Orion chip’s sample holder attached to one of our dilution fridges, ready to begin a cooldown.

The base temperature at which we operate (5mK, or 0.005 degrees above absolute zero) is about 500 times colder than interstellar space. In other words the difference between interstellar space and the base temperature of our fridges is about 5 times greater than the difference between room temperature (about 300K) and interstellar space (about 2.7K).
http://dwave.wordpress.com/files/2007/02/img_5568-2.jpg
This is a Leiden Cryogenics dilution fridge. These are beautiful, dependable machines that come highly recommended. We have three of these operational and haven’t had any problems with them in over 2 years of operation.



A picture of one of the filter stages January 24, 2007
Posted by Geordie in World Domination, Superconducting Electronics. trackback
Removing noise from input lines is very important. Here is a picture of one of the filtering stages. Each of the 128 input lines passes through a lumped element filter at this stage.
http://dwave.wordpress.com/files/2007/02/lef-plate-tunnel.jpg


Here’s a view of a 16-qubit processor mounted in its sample holder.
http://dwave.wordpress.com/files/2007/02/sample-holder-with-europa-chip_small.JPG

[lowenz]

But the academic world is taking a wait-and-see approach.
In attesa :O :D

[linuxianoxcaso]

:eek:

[Giovannino]

Speriamo bene.

[nonsense]

In attesa :O :D

pure io :O

[harbinger]

In attesa :O :D

* :eek:

[D.O.S.]

si attende a breve la nuova versione di Windows Q :O
preceduta come al solito dal MacQ :nono:

[Xalexalex]

Ho avuto un orgasmo :O

[FastFreddy]

Da quanti MegaWatt serve l'alimentatore? :D

[Ziosilvio]

Mi risulta che il problema principale dei calcolatori quantistici, sia dotarli di unità di memoria in grande quantità.
Quanti qubit dovrebbe avere quel coso?

EDIT: ho appena letto 16... e dato che, se ricordo bene, n qubit equivalgono a 2^n bit... direi che siamo ancora lontani dal VIC 20...

(Comunque: 18 mesi fa erano solo 10...)

[Kaioman]

Ma sono già arrivati a questo punto!!!! :eek:
così senza un passaggio intermedio per i computer ottici?
aspetto e spero.... :stordita
tra l'altro, avevo sentito che nessun sistema di criptazione attualmente usato era in grado di resistere alla potenza bruta di un computer quantistitico, è ora di tornare a nascondere i soldi sotto il materasso?? :fagiano:

[linuxianoxcaso]

Ma sono già arrivati a questo punto!!!! :eek:
così senza un passaggio intermedio per i computer ottici?
aspetto e spero.... :stordita
tra l'altro, avevo sentito che nessun sistema di criptazione attualmente usato era in grado di resistere alla potenza bruta di un computer quantistitico, è ora di tornare a nascondere i soldi sotto il materasso?? :fagiano:

mi sa di si :stordita:
mi sa che un bestione del genere un algoritmo di cripting lo stronca in pochi minuti se non secondi :stordita: :fagiano:

sarà il nuovo hal ? :flower:

[NeroCupo]

Ho visto solo le foto, l'articolo me lo leggo con calma, dico solo una cosa: se funzionasse, FIGO :D

[Ziosilvio]

avevo sentito che nessun sistema di criptazione attualmente usato era in grado di resistere alla potenza bruta di un computer quantistitico
Al momento attuale, non più di quanto possano resistere alla potenza bruta di un VIC 20.

Puoi comunque approfondire QUI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shor's_algorithm).

[Banus]

Mi risulta che il problema principale dei calcolatori quantistici, sia dotarli di unità di memoria in grande quantità.
Prima ancora di quello, il problema è costruire computer quantistici abbastanza grandi con un tasso di errore accettabile. Le interazioni con l'ambiente possono alterare lo stato quantistico elaborato dal computer introducendo errori; esistono metodi di correzione dell'errore (QEC, quantum error correction) ma per essere applicati richiedono un tasso massimo di errore che attualmente è difficile da ottenere. Alcune scelte progettuali del computer quantistico che deve essere presentato sono discusse qui (http://dwave.wordpress.com/2006/09/14/a-special-treat/).

ora di tornare a nascondere i soldi sotto il materasso??
Ci sono molti studi ed esperimenti sulla crittografia quantistica, teoricamente inattaccabile. Quindi nessun problema per i soldi, se lavori alla NASA :D

[Kaioman]

Prima ancora di quello, il problema è costruire computer quantistici abbastanza grandi con un tasso di errore accettabile. Le interazioni con l'ambiente possono alterare lo stato quantistico elaborato dal computer introducendo errori; esistono metodi di correzione dell'errore (QEC, quantum error correction) ma per essere applicati richiedono un tasso massimo di errore che attualmente è difficile da ottenere. Alcune scelte progettuali del computer quantistico che deve essere presentato sono discusse qui (http://dwave.wordpress.com/2006/09/14/a-special-treat/).


Ci sono molti studi ed esperimenti sulla crittografia quantistica, teoricamente inattaccabile. Quindi nessun problema per i soldi, se lavori alla NASA :D
io mi riferivo ai metodi di crittografia attuali,
avevo letto qualcosa su quella quantistica su un numero di Le Scienze, fisicamente inattaccabile!!!! :yeah:
nel senso che non si riesce nemmeno ad immaginare un metodo che rispetti le leggi fisiche per violarla!

[T3d]

ehhhhh lo fanno :cool:

[Baltico]

quello sopra è il dissipatore stock?

Lo Zalman gli da via :O

[xxxyyy]

ficoficoficoficoficoficoficoficofico
:)

Ora, in attesa.

[*sasha ITALIA*]

non ho capito il funzionamento, ma capisco che è figoso :O

Orientativamente, quanti calcoli effettua al secondo? Un paragone con i desktop è impensabile?

Ma soprattutto, tale tecnologia è destinata a rimanere per pochi o ad entrare nei nostri case?

[NeroCupo]

non ho capito il funzionamento, ma capisco che è figoso :O

Orientativamente, quanti calcoli effettua al secondo? Un paragone con i desktop è impensabile?

Ma soprattutto, tale tecnologia è destinata a rimanere per pochi o ad entrare nei nostri case?In questo momento, o hai a casa un freezer che scende a 5mK o ciccia :D

[nonsense]

io non ho capito invece come fanno i qubit, cioe' se usano fotoni, atomi , ioni...
e quali gradi di liberta' considerano come qubit, c'e' qualcuno che l'ha capito? :fagiano:

[linuxianoxcaso]

io non ho capito invece come fanno i qubit, cioe' se usano fotoni, atomi , ioni...
e quali gradi di liberta' considerano come qubit, c'e' qualcuno che l'ha capito? :fagiano:

un quanto non è un atomo ? :stordita:

[p.NiGhTmArE]

un quanto non è un atomo ? :stordita:
no :stordita:

[linuxianoxcaso]

no :stordita:

spiega :O

[lowenz]

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qubit

[nonsense]

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qubit

Si ma questa e' una spiegazione da un punto di vista puramente computazionale non fisico
(molto simile tra l'altro a quella che si trova nel Nielsen and Chuang :stordita: ).
In genere gli stati |0> e |1> vengono rappresentati da due gradi di liberta' di un "sistema quantistico"
che puo' essere un atomo a due livelli, un fotone con polarizzazione up e down...
ma nei link forniti nell'articolo di udge non ho trovato molto. :fagiano:

[gabi.2437]

io non ho capito invece come fanno i qubit, cioe' se usano fotoni, atomi , ioni...
e quali gradi di liberta' considerano come qubit, c'e' qualcuno che l'ha capito? :fagiano:
Atomo e ione sono più o meno la stessa cosa, lo ione è un atomo con qualche elettrone in più o in meno...e cmq gli atomi vengono usati anche ora, tutto è fatto di atomi

I fotoni sono la luce e è un pc quantico, non ottico


I quanti non sono una cosa fisica come un protone o un elettrone, sono...si, una "quantità minima", per es l'energia è quantizzata nel senso che il minimo di energia è un quanto e così via...

Come funziona nel pc quantistico? Mboh

[lowenz]

Funzionando con stati quantici penso che l'entità fisica scelta sia vincolante solo a livello tecnologico, un po' come i transistor oggi per i bit classici: sono economici=si usano, ma mica ci sono solo quelli per "avere" i bit.

[nonsense]

Atomo e ione sono più o meno la stessa cosa, lo ione è un atomo con qualche elettrone in più o in meno...e cmq gli atomi vengono usati anche ora, tutto è fatto di atomi

in termini di qubit non sono la stessa cosa.
E' vero che gli stati computazionali sarebbero codificati in modo simile, tipo stati elettronici con determinati numeri quantici |F,M>,
ma a livello di realizzazione del chip e' diverso in quanto vengono intrappolati in maniera diversa
e interagiscono con l'ambiente in modo differente
(e quindi i fenomeni di decoerenza a cui sarebbe sottoposto lo stato quantico son diversi).


I fotoni sono la luce e è un pc quantico, non ottico


si parla di computazione quantistica anche con i fotoni, no? :stordita:
basta pensare alla one-way quantum computation realizzata tramite cluster states... :fagiano:


I quanti non sono una cosa fisica come un protone o un elettrone, sono...si, una "quantità minima", per es l'energia è quantizzata nel senso che il minimo di energia è un quanto e così via...

Come funziona nel pc quantistico? Mboh
si parla di computer quantistico perche' l'idea base e' di avere gli stati computazionali |0> e |1> in una sovrapposizione quantistica,
non realizzabile classicamente :stordita:

comunque...aspettiamo un po' :O

[dantes76]

February 13, 2007

First "Commercial" Quantum Computer Solves Sudoku Puzzles

Quantum computing company banks on a long-shot form of quantum computing

A Canadian manufacturer today unveiled what it called "the world's first commercially viable quantum computer." D-Wave Systems, Inc., "The Quantum Computing Company," during a much ballyhooed rollout at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., hailed the new device as a big step toward the age of quantum computing, decades earlier than scheduled.

But experts say the announcement may be a bit—er—premature. Even if the computer were to work as advertised, it still would be nearly 1,000 times too small to solve problems that stump ordinary computers. Moreover, researchers do not know whether it will work at bigger sizes.

"There are still a lot of ifs and maybes here," says quantum computing researcher Seth Lloyd of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But he credits D-Wave for its willingness to test the idea. "From the scientific perspective," he says, "what they're doing is very interesting."

A working quantum computer is the dream of every national security official and hacker on Earth. The bits inside existing computers constantly flip between 0 and 1 as they perform small steps such as "if 0, then 1." But quantum physics allows particles like atoms, electrons and photons to be in two places at once—meaning they can represent 0 and 1 simultaneously, allowing more complex calculations.

Researchers believe that by combining many of these quantum bits, or qubits, they will be able to perform certain tasks that are currently out of reach. Chief among them: the ability to swiftly crack encrypted communications.

D-Wave is pursuing a different method that is easier to implement but cannot break encryption schemes, although simulations suggest it could solve other problems extremely rapidly. In most prototype quantum computing systems, researchers hit atoms with lasers or use other means to excite particles into fuzzy quantum states. But in a technique called adiabatic quantum computing, researchers cool metal circuits into a superconducting state in which electrons flow freely, resulting in qubits. They then slowly vary a magnetic field, which lets the qubits gradually adjust to each other, sort of like people huddling in the cold. In 2005 German researchers built a three-qubit adiabatic quantum computer.

D-Wave announced that it has constructed a 16-bit version crafted from the superconducting element niobium [see image above]. "What we've built is really a systems-level proof of concept," says Geordie Rose, D-Wave's co-founder and chief technology officer. "We want to get people's imagination stimulated."

For the demonstration, he says D-Wave operators remotely controlled the quantum computer, housed in Burnaby, British Columbia, from a laptop in California. The quantum computer was given three problems to solve: searching for molecular structures that match a target molecule, creating a complicated seating plan, and filling in Sudoku puzzles.

Rose says D-Wave plans to submit its results for peer review at a major journal. He notes that experts will be given a chance to inspect the system, and that the company plans to make its prototype available online free of charge to stir interest. Users would enter a problem to be solved, and the device would send the solution from Canada.

And how exactly would users know that it was the quantum computer rather than a human or ordinary computer answering their queries? "There's really no way to convince a skeptic who's accessing the machine remotely," Rose admits. For now, D-Wave's device is slower than an inexpensive home computer, but Rose says a potentially faster 1,000-qubit version should be available by the end of next year.

Reality check: Lloyd says that a quantum computer would probably need thousands of qubits to solve puzzles that today's computers cannot. The big question, he says, is whether the adiabatic method's gradual adjustment of qubits would operate rapidly at that size. Researchers are skeptical of adiabatic quantum computers because "it sounds too good to be true," Lloyd says. "It's not yet known whether they work or not, so really it actually makes sense to go and build some and see what happens.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa001&articleID=BD4EFAA8-E7F2-99DF-372B272D3E271363

[dantes76]

A detour into the strange world of quantum computing

2/12/2007 12:16:26 PM, by John Timmer

On Tuesday, a startup company called D-Wave is going to publicly demonstrate a quantum computing system that they call Orion. Is this the dawn of a new era of computing or simply an exercise in hype? It's hard to say prior to the announcement, but my guess is a little of both. To fully appreciate why, we'll have to take a detour into the strange world of quantum computing.
Speeding calculations through superposition

In what passes for normal in the quantum world, a properly prepared quantum object kept in isolation from the environment will actually exist in all possible states (be they energy, spin, etc.) at once—it exists as a superposition of states. Depending on the inputs to the system, a single state will be the most probable one occupied; repeated measurements of the same, freshly-prepared system can identify this most probable state. If you think of that object as a bit, it's easy to see how calculations can be done: set it in a ground state, perform a calculation by providing an input that influences its state, and then read it. Repeat the process a few times to get the probabilities sorted, and you've done a 1-bit calculation with a quantum bit, or qubit.

Needless to say, such a computer would badly underperform whatever is currently running your cell phone. But in the quantum world, two objects can be entangled; the state of one is linked to the state of another. Thanks to the combination of superposition and entanglement, this two-particle system will simultaneously exist in 22 states, but with only one probable state, influenced by experimental inputs. As more entangled particles are added, the system can simultaneously explore 2n possible answers, where n is the number of qubits.

This ability to explore a large number of states simultaneously may have applications for a subset of a class of math problems called NP-complete, and D-Wave specifically claims that Orion solves these problems faster than a traditional computer. Those of you wanting to learn more about NP-complete problems can read more at Nobel Intent, but their most important feature is that there are no algorithms that work consistently to find a solution to an NP-complete problem. This leaves brute-force testing of possible answers as the only generalized approach. The difficulty of solving an NP-complete problem is the foundation for the cryptography we all rely on to ensure the security of our transactions on the internet. But a 128-bit quantum computer could, via superposition, potentially test all keys at once, providing a rapid answer to an otherwise unapproachable problem.
Bringing theory to the real world

So why is AMD talking about making one of their cores a GPU and not a quantum coprocessor? For one, allowing any of the quantum objects to interact with their environment will immediately destroy the entanglement, eliminating the system's superposition of states. Avoiding this takes a room full of equipment, much of it dedicated to chilling qubits to temperatures near absolute zero. For another, it's not always clear how to provide the system an input so that a single superposed state becomes probable. A few algorithms have been described (including a quantum database search), but currently only a limited number of problems can be explored by a quantum computer.

Because of these limitations, quantum computers have rarely escaped the world of academic research labs. But D-Wave has attracted some academic talent, as well as both private and government funding. That combination of minds and money has gotten them to a point where they're ready to demonstrate a 16-bit quantum computer on Tuesday at the Computer History Museum. A repeat of the demo will occur on their home turf on Thursday; Ars will have a reporter in attendance.

The computer itself won't be traveling to the demo; it will be accessed remotely. It operates at 5 milliKelvin, just a hair above absolute zero, which requires some specialized equipment. The qubits are laid out on a four-by-four grid, and each is entangled with up to eight of its neighbors. It is designed specifically to solve NP-complete problems by reading the free energy state of the qubits, putting it in the class of computers called "adiabatic." There is some doubt within the quantum computing community regarding the utility of adiabatic systems compared to some of the alternatives being explored; a detailed examination of these issues appears at Nobel Intent.

It appears that there may be a number of additional reasons to question whether Orion will perform as promised. These go well beyond the Ars staff's ability to analyze the arguments; it's worth noting, however, that our physics expert (Chris Lee) was unable to find a single paper on this sort of system published by anyone at D-Wave. Although D-Wave's head scientist supplies links to some relevant publications coming out of the academic community, not all of these appear to have survived peer review.
Is D-Wave's demo all about their market position?

D-Wave's demos will show Orion crunching through a database search and handling a seating plan with a large number of constraints, such as you might find at a wedding reception. It's probably safe to say that, despite any of the doubts about the company, Orion will almost certainly show a major speed advance when applied to these two problems. But, given the limitations and questions, and the fact that D-Wave doesn't appear to currently be hurting for money, why are they bothering?

I think Jon Stokes' recent analysis of the extension of x86 into new markets is probably informative here. Even when an x86 processor isn't necessarily the "best" solution (in terms of price or power requirements), the extensive set of software tools, support chips, and human expertise may make up for any deficiencies. I think D-Wave's announcement may be their attempt to try to become the x86 of the quantum world.

As best as anyone is aware (and as evidenced by the lack of a competing set of press releases), nobody else is close to putting together a usable quantum computer. The adiabatic system they're using may not wind up being the "best" in terms of its practicality or ability to solve a wide range of problems (the academic world is primarily working with other systems) but it's apparently ready for some sort of usage now. And that may be all D-Wave needs. If they can convince others to work with their system—code additional algorithms, provide high-level interfaces to Orion, work around its limitations—their approach may not have to be the "best" in any sense.

In order to induce developers to begin building up an Orion-specific toolkit, D-Wave plans to provide free access to Orion to anyone interested in porting software to it over the next few months. If this lure works out, it can ensure two things. First, that D-Wave will have customers interested in paying for access as more sophisticated successors to Orion come online. Second, that by the time other quantum system comes online, it will face a competitor with a variety of advantages in terms of tools and expertise.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070212-8818.html

[MrPeriwinkle]

allora si puo usare anche x la roulette...

[cangia]

qualcuno potrebbe spiegare le parti più importanti ?

[lowenz]

http://www.winbeta.org/comments.php?shownews=6189

D-Wave's quantum computer demonstration this week has generated lots of buzz, but some experts doubt the authenticity of the demo. At the Computer History Museum in Mountain View California, company reps solved Sudoku problems and calculated seating plans, but some university researchers and corporate scientists need to see more data to be convinced. They are also concerned about D-Wave's lack of peer research and of the test's remote nature.

D-Wave demoed the computer on Tuesday and solved several complex problems that would have required a good amount of traditional computer power. Orion, the company's code-name for the prototype computer, appeared to solve a Sudoku puzzle, along with calculating a complicated seating plan which had several rules like Guest A couldn't sit near Guest B, but Guest B had to sit with C. Orion supposedly has 16-qubits, or quantum binary bits of power and D-Wave says that could reach 1024-qubits in two years.

Unlike traditional bits that represent just 1 and 0, quantum bits could represent an almost infinite number of variations, making computers built on quantum technology good for solving cryptography, pattern matching and database search problems.

While impressive, some scientists don't like the fact that the calculations were actually being done at a remote location and that the computer couldn't be physically inspected. D-Wave reps were actually quite open about that detail saying the computer was too delicate to be moved because of its liquid helium cooling system and sensitive components.

Lieven Vandersypen, an associate professor at Delft University and quantum computing researcher, told the IEEE Spectrum that he is surprised that investors have put money into the company and that D-Wave "hasn't published any major advances or breakthroughs in the scientific literature." He adds that the company has very little detail to support their claims, something that a peer-reviewed article would have.

Phil Kuekes, a computer architect in the Quantum Science Research Group at HP Labs, was also skeptical telling the Associated Press, "Until we see more actual measurements, it's hard to know whether they succeeded or not."

According to the Associated Press, even D-Wave's own Chief Executive Herb Martin says the machine isn't a real quantum computer, but is instead a "kind of special-purpose machine that uses some quantum mechanics". But despite this admission, D-Wave still expects a commercial quantum computer will be available in 2008. Like traditional mainframes, computation time would be rented out.

[dantes76]

la cosa tragica e che nei Ziti italiani, non c'e nessuna notizia riguardante questo "prodotto"

[p.NiGhTmArE]

avrà il bollino?
http://news.com.com/i/ne/p/2006/vista_136x210.jpg

:asd:

[Giovannino]

avrà il bollino?
http://news.com.com/i/ne/p/2006/vista_136x210.jpg

:asd:

Mi pare che non soddisfi le specifiche minime per vista :sofico:

[nin]

la cosa tragica e che nei Ziti italiani, non c'e nessuna notizia riguardante questo "prodotto"


http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1892143&r=PI

[MrPeriwinkle]

ma se a livello commerciale sono arrivati a questo punto, anche se nn è forse un elaboratore quantistico, a livello militare super top secret dove dispongono delle menti migliori e di fodni illimitati, a che liveelli saranno?

[lowenz]

ma se a livello commerciale sono arrivati a questo punto, anche se nn è forse un elaboratore quantistico, a livello militare super top secret dove dispongono delle menti migliori e di fodni illimitati, a che liveelli saranno?
Penso che i tempi di Los Alamos siano lontani.....e i fondi NON sono illimitati :D

[treslunas]

Riguardo la crittografia si è già molto avanti:

http://magiqtech.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_cryptography

In effetti è più semplice implementarla rispetto al computer quantistico; sistemi di crittografia quantistica sono già in commercio (aggiungo da diversi anni) e alcuni già operanti (tra due banche a Zurigo, ma non mi ricordo altro).

A quello che si diceva (ho fatto una tesina sull'argomento qualche anno fa), l'nsa americana avrebbe già da qualche tempo un computer quantistico (è vero che i tempi del manhattan project sono lontani, ma la possibilità di decrittazione di tutte le transazioni economiche mondiali fa sbucare finanziamenti più della ricerca sulle armi... :)) ma con capacità limitate (tipo questo del topic) e con dubbia possibilità di utilizzo pratico.

[LUVІ]

A detour into the strange world of quantum computing

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070212-8818.html

Thread interessante, grazie anche per questo link.

[OT] Dantes, splendido il tuo avatar... è Bowman, giusto?

LuVi

[dantes76]

Thread interessante, grazie anche per questo link.

[OT] Dantes, splendido il tuo avatar... è Bowman, giusto?

LuVi

Di niente per il link:D ( ops una faccina, anzi due :asd: )

Si David Bowman, quando si trova dentro il modulo , e tenta di rientrare

[razziadacqua]

Non ho capito una cippa nel dal sito inglese ne da quello italiano,specie sul qubit,forse anche perchè fondamentalmente non l'ho letto tutto e quel papiro matematico mi ha smontato.

CMQ :sofico: :sofico: :sofico: :sofico: :sofico: :sofico: :sofico: :sofico:

Interessante il sistema di raffreddamento :°D ma caspita vuole una centrale nucleare tutta sua?Tipo iter potrebbe andargli giusto :°D

[lowenz]

Ormai è una telenovela :D

http://www.winbeta.org/comments.php?shownews=6445

The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration confirmed Thursday that it built a special chip used in a disputed demonstration of quantum computing in February.

NASA engineers used their experience with sub-micrometer dimensions and ultra-low temperatures to build a quantum processor for Canadian startup D-Wave Systems Inc., said Alan Kleinsasser, principal investigator in the quantum chip program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

D-Wave claimed to demonstrate a prototype quantum computer during a news conference Feb. 13 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. But industry experts became skeptical when D-Wave revealed it had left the computer at its Vancouver office, then conducted the demonstration over a Web link.

"You could characterize our announcement as being met with enthusiasm from industry and skepticism from academia," D-Wave CEO Ed Martin said in an interview Feb. 27. But he said the event served as proof of concept of the technology, and that D-Wave's potential customers are businesses that don't care how the technology works as long as it can solve their complex models. He plans to start renting time on the machine to customers in 2008.

"Businesses aren't too fascinated about the details of quantum mechanics, but academics have their own axes to grind. I can assure you that our VCs look at us a lot closer than the government looks at the academics who win research grants," Martin said.

He described D-Wave's computer as a hybrid, running applications on a traditional, digital computer and using a single quantum processor as an accelerator or co-processor. Martin said the back end is a rack-mounted PC with an off-the-shelf processor, but wouldn't cite the specific brand.

The crucial part is the quantum chip, which is a processor built from the superconducting materials aluminum and niobium, then chilled in a tank of liquid helium. It achieves supercomputing speeds because its basic data units -- called qubits -- can hold both the values 0 and 1 simultaneously, and instantly share those values among all the qubits. A standard digital processor assigns a specific value to each data bit, and handles them one at a time.

D-Wave designed the quantum chip and then contracted with NASA to build it. The request was nothing new for engineers at the Microdevices Laboratory (MDL), a unit of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who were accustomed to building superconducting circuits for clients such as Hypres, a company in Elmsford, New York, and for instruments used aboard spacecraft such as the European Space Agency's Herschel mission.

"There has been activity in MDL in quantum technology, including quantum computing, for around 10 years," Kleinsasser said. "Superconducting quantum computing technology requires devices and ultra-low [millikelvin] temperatures that are also required in much of our sensor work. A couple of years ago, D-Wave recognized that JPL is capable of producing the chips it wished to design. There is no [private] industry that can deliver such superconducting devices. So, we worked out a collaboration that produced the chips that D-Wave is currently using."

The computer that D-Wave used for the Feb. 13 demonstration had a chip capable of running at 16 qubits, Martin said. The company plans to scale its machine much larger in the next 18 months, reaching 32 qubits by the end of 2007, then 512 qubits and 1,024 qubits by the end of 2008.

Still, D-Wave will surprise a lot of experts if it can reach its goals. Many analysts say quantum computing is feasible but that a working system is still a decade or more away.

"Given the kind of upheaval a working quantum system would bring, especially to the financial system where cryptography would become vulnerable, it would be major technology breakthrough," said Martin Kariithi, an analyst with Technology Business Research, Inc.

"I don't think a small company like D-Wave would pull it off; they are likely to get absorbed by a tech heavyweight like Intel or IBM as they get within five to eight years of a solution," he said.

[stbarlet]

Ormai è una telenovela :D






Sbaglio o hanno tutti un disperato bisogno di soldi?:p

[lowenz]

Versione sintetica delle dichiarazioni di prima: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=6450

[lowenz]

Una buona notizia a latere :D

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=8238

Hidden order found in a quantum spin liquid could lead to quantum computer advancement

Scientists have made yet another advancement in the area of quantum computers. An international team composed of members from the London Center for Nanotechnology, U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, among others, reported that they detected a hidden magnetic “quantum order” or “string order” that extends over chains of 100 atoms, or a length of 30 nanometers, in a ceramic without classical magnetism.

These findings, published last week in the journal Science, could help lead to the development of quantum computers and other materials at the nanoscale.

“Quantum mechanics is normally appreciated only on the atomic scale. However, here we present evidence for a very long and very quantum mechanical magnetic molecule,” said Collin Broholm, professor in the Henry A. Rowland Department of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins' Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. “While disordered to a classical observer, the magnetic moments of almost 100 nickel atoms arranged in a row within a solid were shown to display an underlying quantum coherence limited only by chemical and thermal impurities. The progress we made is really a demonstration of quantum coherence among a larger number of atoms in a magnet than ever before.”

The spin of an individual electron is an excellent qubit, but in a real material it interacts with other electrons, disturbing its quantum properties. The new research is important because it explicitly demonstrates, using a practical material, that a large number of electron spins can be coupled together to yield a quantum mechanical state with no classical analog. In addition, the team has also established the factors that affect the distance over which the hidden 'quantum order' can be maintained.

“Our goal is to understand the factors that affect the distance over which the hidden 'string order,' or quantum phase coherence, can be maintained,” says Brookhaven Lab physicist Guangyong Xu. “If you are manufacturing something, you don't want a certain property to be maintained only at one spot. You want the property maintained throughout the material.”

Quantum computing uses the concept of a “qubit,” which differs from the traditional computer bit in that it does not rely on the binary states of 1 or 0, or on or off. The qubit architecture lead some to believe that quantum computing may be far more effective at solving certain problems that still challenge even the world’s fastest computers today.

[D1o]

coda ritiro a mano