“more bits of information than there are atoms in the universe.”
IBM shows off quantum computing advances, says practical qubit computers are close
Quantum scientists at IBM Research have announced major advances in quantum computing that could place real, practical quantum computers in businesses and homes within the next 10 years.
The main breakthrough revolves around the long-term integrity of qubits. To perform quantum computing, you need to be able to reliably store and interrogate qubits — but qubits are incredibly flighty creatures that readily change their state through decoherence. IBM has created a high-coherence 3D qubit that retains its state for up to 100 microseconds, or 0.1 milliseconds. This is stable enough that engineers can now shift their focus to scaling up the number of qubits to create a quantum logic computer.
In a separate experiment, IBM created a 3-qubit chip (die pictured right; complete chip above) using conventional semiconductor fabrication techniques, which was then used to perform a controlled-NOT logic operation with a 95% success rate. This kind of success rate is unheard of in quantum computers, and again comes down to the fact that IBM has managed to create qubits with relatively high stability (10 microseconds in this case). IBM is confident that this experiment paves the way to multi-qubit logic chips.
All in all, IBM Research is now saying that bona fide quantum computers are now just 10 to 15 years away. Why is this significant? Well, put it this way: According to IBM, 250 qubits would be able to store “more bits of information than there are atoms in the universe.” This in itself is truly awesome — but then when you factor in that a quantum computer could perform logic on all of that data, in parallel, instantaneously… well, you begin to see the power of quantum computing. You’re talking about the performance of a supercomputer on a single chip.
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/120229-ibm-shows-off-quantum-computing-breakthroughs-says-qubit-computers-are-close
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I.B.M. Researchers Inch Toward Quantum Computer
By KENNETH CHANG
Published: February 28, 2012
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I.B.M. is jumping into an area of computing that has, until now, been primarily the province of academia: the quest to build a quantum computer.
A computer that took advantage of the oddities of quantum physics could solve in seconds certain problems that would occupy present-day computers for billions of years. But for now, it is impossible to build such a computer because the bits of information it would need for the calculations fall apart before a calculation can be completed. The problem is, in essence, like trying to knit a sweater with yarn that unravels before the first purl.
On Tuesday, I.B.M. researchers will present experimental results that they say put them close to solving this problem, both by lengthening the lifetime of the quantum bits of information and by quickening the pace of computation. The presentation will take place at a meeting of the American Physical Society in Boston.
“In the past, people have said, maybe it’s 50 years away, it’s a dream, maybe it’ll happen sometime,” said Mark B. Ketchen, manager of the physics of information group at I.B.M.’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. “I used to think it was 50. Now I’m thinking like it’s 15 or a little more. It’s within reach. It’s within our lifetime. It’s going to happen.”
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/28/technology/ibm-inch-closer-on-quantum-computer.html?_r=1
