News tagged with quantum computing

143 is largest number yet to be factored by a quantum algorithm

(Phys.org) -- While factoring an integer is a simple problem when the integer is small, the complexity of factorization greatly increases as the integer increases. When the integer grows to more than 100,000 ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Apr 11, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (19) | comments 10 | with audio podcast feature

Researchers engineer molecular magnets to act as long-lived qubits

(PhysOrg.com) -- Some physicists today are investigating the possibility of using molecular magnets as information storage units in future quantum computers. Molecular magnets are molecules whose magnetic ...

Physics / General Physics

created Mar 21, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (14) | comments 0 | with audio podcast feature

Could silicon be ideal in quantum computing?

(PhysOrg.com) -- "Quantum computing could provide a way to significantly speed up the way we process certain algorithms," Malcolm Carroll tells PhysOrg.com. "The primary issue, though, is that you need a well controlled two-le ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Sep 16, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (9) | comments 1 | with audio podcast feature

Reducing noise in quantum operation at room temperature

(PhysOrg.com) -- "A quantum memory is a crucial component of future quantum information processing technologies. Among these technologies, a quantum communications system based on light will enable vastly improved performance ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Aug 23, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 3 | with audio podcast feature

Two atoms entangled using microwaves for the first time

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have for the first time linked the quantum properties of two separated ions (electrically charged atoms) by manipulating them with microwaves ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Aug 10, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (17) | comments 38 | with audio podcast

Large scale qubit generation for quantum computing

(PhysOrg.com) -- "Many people are trying to build a quantum computer," Olivier Pfister tells PhysOrg.com. "One to the problems, though, is that you need hundreds of thousands of qubits. So far, scalability has been someth ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Jul 27, 2011 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (11) | comments 1 | with audio podcast feature

Vertical cavity quantum switch could lead us away from electronics-based computing

(PhysOrg.com) -- Right now, many researchers around the world are working on ways to move away from electronics-dominated computing systems. There are a number of ideas about how this can be accomplished. "We are trying to ...

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Jun 30, 2011 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (27) | comments 5 | with audio podcast feature

D-Wave researchers demonstrate progress in quantum computing

(PhysOrg.com) -- Taking another step toward demonstrating quantum behavior in a quantum computer, researchers from the Vancouver-based company D-Wave Systems, Inc., have performed a technique called quantum ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created May 14, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (25) | comments 8 | with audio podcast report

Fast tunable coupler could lead to better quantum computing models

(PhysOrg.com) -- One of the subjects of immense interest to scientists (and non-scientists as well) is the development of quantum computers. However, there are many challenges associated with quantum computing. One of the ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Mar 02, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast feature

Could light and matter coupling lead to quantum computation?

(PhysOrg.com) -- In science, one of the issues of great interest is that of quantum computing, and creating a way to make it possible on a scalable level. This could be achieved by taking advantage of the strong interaction ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Oct 11, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (20) | comments 1 | with audio podcast feature

Physicists investigate fate of five-dimensional black strings

(PhysOrg.com) -- While black holes in four-dimensional space-time are stable and can persist for a long time, their higher-dimensional analogues are usually unstable. One such theoretical analogue is a five-dimensional ...

Physics / General Physics

created Sep 10, 2010 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (36) | comments 14 | with audio podcast feature

Quantum non-demolition measurement allows physicists to count photons without destroying them

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a way, the quantum world seems to know when it's being watched. When physicists make measurements on photons and other quantum-scale particles, the measurements always disturb the system ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Jul 09, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (36) | comments 7 | with audio podcast feature

Physicists set guidelines for qubit candidates

(PhysOrg.com) -- To build a quantum computer, it's essential to be able to quickly and efficiently manipulate the quantum states of qubits. The qubits, which are the basic unit of quantum information, can be composed of many ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created May 04, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (17) | comments 2 feature

Physicists demonstrate 100-fold speed increase in optical quantum memory

(PhysOrg.com) -- As with today's computers, future quantum computers will require more than just quantum information processing; they will also require methods to store and retrieve the quantum information. ...

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Apr 01, 2010 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (31) | comments 0 | with audio podcast feature

Quantum measurement precision approaches Heisenberg limit

(PhysOrg.com) -- In the classical world, scientists can make measurements with a degree of accuracy that is restricted only by technical limitations. At the fundamental level, however, measurement precision ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Feb 26, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (46) | comments 16 | with audio podcast feature

Quantum computer

A quantum computer is a device for computation that makes direct use of quantum mechanical phenomena, such as superposition and entanglement, to perform operations on data. The basic principle behind quantum computation is that quantum properties can be used to represent data and perform operations on these data.

Although quantum computing is still in its infancy, experiments have been carried out in which quantum computational operations were executed on a very small number of qubits (quantum binary digits). Both practical and theoretical research continues with interest, and many national government and military funding agencies support quantum computing research to develop quantum computers for both civilian and national security purposes, such as cryptanalysis.

If large-scale quantum computers can be built, they will be able to solve certain problems much faster than any of our current classical computers (for example Shor's algorithm). Quantum computers are different from other computers such as DNA computers and traditional computers based on transistors. Some computing architectures such as optical computers may use classical superposition of electromagnetic waves. Without some specifically quantum mechanical resources such as entanglement, it is conjectured that an exponential advantage over classical computers is not possible.

For more information about Quantum computer, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.