QUANTUM
COMPUTER THE FUTURE OF COMPUTING
Will we ever have the
amount of computing power we need or want? If, as Moore's Law
states, the number of transistors on a microprocessor continues to double every
18 months, the year 2020 or 2030 will find the circuits on a microprocessor
measured on an atomic scale. And the logical next step will be to create quantum
computers, which will harness the power of atoms and molecules to
perform memory and processing tasks. Quantum computers have the potential to
perform certain calculations significantly faster than any silicon-based
computer.
EARLY
DEVELOPMENTS
Quantum computing was
first theorized less than 30 years ago, by a physicist at the Argone National
Laboratory. Paul Benioff is credited with first applying
quantum theory to computers in 1981. Benioff theorized about creating a quantum
Turing machine based on the Turing Theory.
Shor's algorithm,
named after mathematician Peter Shor, is a quantum algorithm (an algorithm
which runs on a quantum computer) for integer factorization formulated in 1994.
Informally it solves the following problem: Given an integer N, find its
prime factors.
Defining the Quantum Computer
THE WEIRED LAWS OF QUANTUM MECHANICS
If quantum
mechanics hasn't profoundly shocked you, you haven't understood it yet (Neil’s
Bohr). As we are humans we likely to predict it to happen as we likely to think
it happens. But Quantum’s laws are so mysterious and weird like Quantum Superposition [existence of an
subatomic particle’s in both the states (clockwise and antilock wise) at the
same time], Quantum Entanglement (Quantum
mechanical phenomenon in which the quantum states of two or more objects have
to be described with reference to each other, even though the individual
objects may be spatially separated theoretically even by infinity) . An quantum
Computer is constructed or formalized on above properties of subatomic
particles.
PRINCIPLE OF
WORKING:
The
Turing Machine developed by Alan Turing in the 1930s, is a theoretical
device that consists of tape of unlimited length that is divided into little
squares. Each square can either hold a symbol (1 or 0) or be left blank. A
read-write device reads these symbols and blanks, which gives the machine its
instructions to perform a certain program. Well, in a quantum Turing
machine, the difference is that the tape exists in a quantum state, as does the
read-write head. This means that the symbols on the tape can be either 0 or 1
or a superposition of 0 and 1; in other words the symbols are both 0 and
1 (and all points in between) at the same time. While a normal Turing machine
can only perform one calculation at a time, a quantum Turing machine can
perform many calculations at once
Today's computers, like a Turing
machine, work by manipulating bits that exist in one of two states: a 0 or a 1.
Quantum computers aren't limited to two states; they encode information as
quantum bits, or qubits, which can exist in superposition.
Qubits represent atoms, ions, photons or electrons and their respective control
devices that are working together to act as computer memory and a processor.
Because a quantum computer can contain these multiple states simultaneously, it
has the potential to be millions of times more powerful than today's most
powerful supercomputers. A quantum computer maintains a sequence of qubits. A
single qubit can represent a one, a zero, or any quanturm superposition of
these two qubit states; moreover, a pair of qubits can be in any quantum
superposition of 4 states, and three qubits in any superposition of 8. In
general, a quantum computer with N qubits can be in an arbitrary
superposition of up to 2n different states
simultaneously (this compares to a normal computer that can only be in one
of these 2n states at any one time).
Significant
Developments in the field :
1.In 2001, researchers were able to
demonstrate Shor's algorithm to factor the number 15 using a 7-qubit NMR
compute.
2.In 2009, researchers at Yale
University created the first rudimentary solid-state quantum processor. The
two-qubit superconducting chip was able to run elementary algorithms. Each of
the two artificial atoms (or qubits) were made up of a billion aluminum atoms
but they acted like a single one that could occupy two different energy states
3. In 2011, D-Wave Systems announced the
first commercial quantum annealer on the market by the name D-Wave One. The
company claims this system uses a 128 qubit processor chipset. On May 25, 2011
D-Wave announced that Lockheed Martin Corporation entered into an agreement to
purchase a D-Wave One system.
4. In September 2011 researchers also
proved that a quantum computer can be made with a Von Neumann architecture
(separation of RAM)
4. In November 2012, the first quantum
teleportation from one macroscopic object to another was reported
5. Google Inc. announced that it was
launching the Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab, to be hosted by NASA’s Ames
Research Center. The lab will house a 512-qubit quantum computer from D-Wave
Systems, and the USRA (Universities Space Research Association). The goal being
to study how quantum computing might advance machine learning
Potential of
Quantum Computer:
1. The ability of quantum computing to
solve problems thousands of times faster than traditional computers is
attracting attention of the world.
2. Integer
factorization is believed to be computationally infeasible with an ordinary
computer for large integers if they are the product of few prime numbers (e.g.,
products of two 300-digit primes). By comparison, a quantum computer could
efficiently solve this problem using Shor's algorithm to find its factors that
a classical computer cannot. This ability would allow a quantum computer to
decrypt many of the cryptographic systems in use today, in the sense that there
would be a polynomial time (in the number of digits of the integer) algorithm
for solving the problem.
3.Quantum Computers can be fully
exploited in the field of Artificial Intelligence, Physical and Chemical
Simulation’s.
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Editors Quote
Although the quantum computers were at
the early developments as of that of classical computers in the 60’s and 70’s,
the developments are at the peak and growing exponentially and soon a day will
come that a classical computer is likely to be replaced by the quantum
computer. Then even your (RSA)RSA would be
broken in no time. So please keep in mind while using your credential details
in a real quantum world.
