Successful quantum computer created

[brendonnelly]

So I have heard a lot of people mention this on the forums, so I thought I would leave the link to the article (from the Australian Broadcasting Commission's website). A little tidbit; it would take a computer the size of the known universe to be equivalent to the computer they have produced:
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/04/26/3489504.htm
Discuss.

 

[mad825]

I thought quantum computers already exists but are not very effective in terms of performance and physical size.

 

[DoPo]

But the real question is: can it run The Witcher 2 with Ubersampling on?

Are you joking? That's not the real question. That's not a priority at all. First, they have to make Doom run on it. Then use it's enormous computing capacity for trivial pursuits.

Spoiler: Because Doom is no joke

 

[Esotera]

As if programming wasn't hard enough, they had to introduce both threading and quantum mechanics -_-

Processing power seems legit, but it'll be a long time before (1) anyone can actually utilise this effectively and (2) it's feasible for day-to-day use.

 

[Womplord]

This could be an incredible development if it actually works. Creating human or higher level artificial intelligence might even be possible. Its about time computing has come up with a new generation - we've been using integrated circuits for too long now. But it will take a very long time before we see it actually computing anything, if ever.

 

[BreakfastMan]

As if programming wasn't hard enough, they had to introduce both threading and quantum mechanics -_-

Processing power seems legit, but it'll be a long time before (1) anyone can actually utilise this effectively and (2) it's feasible for day-to-day use.

I 2nd this. It is cool, but it will be a pain to program. I mean, programming in regular assembly is hard enough as is. Just imagine how hard it would be on this!

But, the real question, and the thing that will most impress me, is can it solve the Traveling Salesman Problem?

 

[AngleWyrm]

I did not see anything in the quoted article that even remotely suggested a working quantum computer.

I did see where they were talking about something that could possibly be used as part of a device that simulates the operations of a quantum computer.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

There exists a quasi quantum computer already http://www.tomshardware.com/news/d-wave-one-quantum-computer-canada,12776.html

Given, it's not a true quantum computer and the quantum part does very limited operations.

 

[Esotera]

As if programming wasn't hard enough, they had to introduce both threading and quantum mechanics -_-

Processing power seems legit, but it'll be a long time before (1) anyone can actually utilise this effectively and (2) it's feasible for day-to-day use.

I 2nd this. It is cool, but it will be a pain to program. I mean, programming in regular assembly is hard enough as is. Just imagine how hard it would be on this!

But, the real question, and the thing that will most impress me, is can it solve the Traveling Salesman Problem?

Haven't you heard? The salesman decided travelling round the country wasn't really efficient in this day & age, so set up shop on eBay, making the problem O(1).

I don't really understand how a quantum computer works apart from at fundamentals, but I assume that we could get some really interesting programming languages out of it.

 

[Esotera]

Actually I think that they would create a library or API that would allow current languages to work with the Q-Comp. All a quantum computer does is process calculations a crap ton faster than a standard CPU. Plus generating a library that allows for existing programming languages to work with the Q-Comp is infinitely more efficient than having to create a new language from scratch and teaching it to a multitude of would be programmers.

Now all we need is storage manufacturing to develop a means to store data as quickly as the Quantum Computer can crunch it.

Also fun idea? Utilizing quantum networking to run quantum computers in parallel. That yeilds scalable quantum computing for your uber gigantic universe modeling needs.

I'd still be surprised if nobody wrote a language that was specifically designed for any quantum computer, the processor architecture looks incredibly different from any traditional computer. Even if existing languages are ported so that they'll work on quantum devices, they won't necessarily be the best tool for the job.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

According to the article:

The crystal simulator uses a property of quantum mechanics called superposition, where a quantum particle appears to be in two distinct states at the same time. This means the particle, known as a qubit, can be used to solve two equations simultaneously.

Wait, that's the much debated and disputed "Schrodingers cat" theory. This thing is supposed to run off of purely theoretical, untestable physics. So if this computer works it will undeniably prove a huge chunk of quantum physics! I'm actually probably more excited about that than getting a really fast computer.

Of course, unfortunately this would disprove my own theory that Schrodingers cat is a literal explaination of what happens at a quantum level, and all atoms are actually really tiny cats.

Meanwhile somewhere under Switzerland....

Spoiler: Sir! It's finally happened; we found the Higgs Boson...

 

[Zantos]

I literally just handed in my dissertation on this sort of thing. It would have been awesome if they'd released this a few weeks ago. Will have to go in my presentation.

Still, it's better than my flatmate, whose entire project probably just got made obsolete.

 

[Verzin]

Cool stuff. Wish I understood the concept of a quantum computer better though. My math and physics knowledge in inadequate.