First Commercially Viable Quantum Computer

[Kitdy]

I am a bit of an amateur physics buff (I like reading about the non-techincal side of quantum physics and the like) so this is kinda interesting. Using the concept of non-locality to get both 1 and 0 is fascinating. Quantum computing could be one of the most important leaps in applied science in a while. Anyways, read this, read some Wiki, if you have any further questions I can try to answer them.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?cha...2B272D3E271363

PS When I re-enter Uni, I think I may go in a Theoretical Physics coruse. Sweet.

[Lagonda]

Actually it isn't really commercially viable.. It's pretty useless right now. It's slower than your average modern desktop PC. It needs be able to process thousands of qubits before it gets usefull and economically viable. This is more of a proof of concept.

But it's cool

[Egg Nog]

It needs be able to process thousands of qubits before it gets usefull and economically viable.

Not quite. A 100 qubit processor would be able to perform more calculations in a second than there are atoms in the entire universe.

I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss it; it's been said that it may be about 20 years ahead of its time.

[Lagonda]

Not quite. A 100 qubit processor would be able to perform more calculations in a second than there are atoms in the entire universe.

That's not what the article said..

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."

[derekthetree]

I reckon quantum computers are the future, but won't be even viable, let alone commercially, for at least 100 years

I am a bit of an amateur physics buff ... if you have any further questions I can try to answer them.

A definition of the |ck(t)|^2 function in terms of the angular frequencies and potentials commonly known as Fermi's Golden Rule, please

[digitalcraft]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/ptech/0....ap/index.html

"And notwithstanding lofty claims in the company's press release about creating the world's first commercial quantum computer, D-Wave Chief Executive Herb Martin emphasized that the machine is not a true quantum computer and is instead a kind of special-purpose machine that uses some quantum mechanics to solve problems.

"Users don't care about quantum computing -- users care about application acceleration. That's our thrust," he said. "A general purpose quantum computer is a waste of time. You could spend hundreds of billions of dollars on it" and not create a working computer."

[electrao]

maybe this shed´s some light in the subject:
http://www.nature.com/news/2007/0702.../070212-8.html

[Kitdy]

That was the article I read in the first place.