Canadian the first to make a quantum computer

[Fozzie_DeBear]

A B.C. company that says it has built the first marketable "quantum computer" -- a hyper-fast data processor it touts as potentially "the most significant invention of our generation" -- has the high-tech community buzzing ahead of the machine's unveiling next week.


The Vancouver Company D-wave


Pretty amazing stuff if they pull it off...something you will probably eventually see in your PS5

[mykalberta]

I have been waiting for this announcement for a while.

It better be worth the hype, comp eng boards have been buzzing about this ever since this company was able to snatch up the Indian dude from CalTech.

MYK

[bluejays]

AOK, I'm not a science major by any stretch, but in laymans terms, what exactly is the difference b/w this computer and regular Core 2 Duo's, and what are it's capabilities?

[TheyCallMeBruce]

Now we can time travel freely and visit John Titor!

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by fleury

AOK, I'm not a science major by any stretch, but in laymans terms, what exactly is the difference b/w this computer and regular Core 2 Duo's, and what are it's capabilities?

Eep, that's a toughie. Dumbed down BIG TIME but.....Current computers run binary information (0 or 1) where as a quantum computer can run as a 0 or 1 or both at the same time and everything in between. In short, it can calcualte informatioin much, much faster than current systems and hold far more information. The comupters we are using now are pretty much the same as the first ones invented back in the 40's, only difference is they are now much more compact and efficient. Quantum computers represent the first steps in a whole new generations of computers.

Man, I really hope these guys are for real. It would be SWEET if a Canadian company managed to put together the worlds first working quantum computer.

[underGRADFlame]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Eep, that's a toughie. Dumbed down BIG TIME but.....Current computers run binary information (0 or 1) where as a quantum computer can run as a 0 or 1 or both at the same time and everything in between. In short, it can calcualte informatioin much, much faster than current systems and hold far more information. The comupters we are using now are pretty much the same as the first ones invented back in the 40's, only difference is they are now much more compact and efficient. Quantum computers represent the first steps in a whole new generations of computers.

Can you dumb that down a little more, you with your high tech talk!

Actually that was a good explanation, so when can I expect to be using this there duhicky in my double wide?

[GoinAllTheWay]

Hard to say when joe user will have one on his desktop, not anytime soon unfortunatley. These processors use very rare metal and I believe they need to be cooled down to absolute 0 to use (-260 C or something like that) so they will also be pricey for some time. Doubt the average user would ever need one, they are meant to handle massive amounts of information like climate models and such.

[HockeyPuck]

[quote=underGRADFlame;752354] Can you dumb that down a little more, you with your high tech talk!

quote]


I know this doesn't have anything to do with the conversation, but what you said here reminded me of this:

Hibbert: Homer, I'm afraid you'll have to undergo a coronary bypass operation.
Homer: Say it in English, Doc.
Hibbert: You're going to need open heart surgery.
Homer: Spare me your medical mumbo jumbo.
Hibbert: We're going to cut you open, and tinker with your ticker.
Homer: Could you dumb it down a shade?

Gold!

[HelloHockeyFans]

The Bloch Sphere...? That's crazy stuff.

[Hack&Lube]

As dumbed down as possible:

Normal computers and basically everything electronic and digital that you know:

Basically it's just a set of switches that go on and off as that's how it all started, switches going on and off on electrical circuits. Nowadays, you have billions and trillions of switches that go on and off inside a normal comptuer. But because everything is defined in terms of on and off, it can only think in binary which is where the 1 and 0 comes from. 1 is on, 0 is off. Every set of instructions a computer (and even your pocket calculator) processes is just a series of 1s and 0s.

Quantum computers are more difficult to explain. They basically work of the quantum state of particles and if you can image it, you can have 1 and 0 and everything in between. Lets just say that a quantum computer would be so exponentially more powerful, its hard to imagine.

[Looger]

finally, we can solve the flames' road and special teams problems.

[photon]

Yeah, a normal bit can be either a 0 or a 1. Computers work by processing those 0's and 1's, adding them, subtracting them, manipulating them in various ways. However all those operations happen sequentially, one after the other.

A quantum bit (qbit) however, can be 0, 1, or a superposition of both (be a 0 AND a 1 at the same time). So imagine a computer where all possible states exist at the same time (including the answer you want), then when the system is observed and collapses you get the info you want. Rather than millions of years of clock cycles to break some cryptography, you only need one.

That's of course insanely oversimplified, but gives an idea of the power of a quantum computer.

I'm highly skeptical that these guys have anything to show, but if they do it'll be VERY interesting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_computer

[Rathji]

As I see it, a quantum computer could in theory crack any type of modern encryption fast enough to make it useful to the person doing the cracking...and very very dangerous. Nothing could be kept safe.

Sounds fun!

[Fozzie_DeBear]

If you want a real mind ****, try to understand/explain quantum entanglement...

Basically you can split a photon (particle of light) one goes left at the speed of light the other right at the speed of light and somehow they are linked and communicate with each other...Einstein called it spooky

BTW we have 2 world class researchers in quantum science
Barry Sanders
Wolfgang Tittle

[Prototype]

So this new computer can read 0.5? Big whoop. :P

Originally Posted by Fozzie_DeBear

Barry Sanders

So that's what he's been doing since leaving the Lions.

/smart remarks... for now.

[HelloHockeyFans]

Originally Posted by Fozzie_DeBear

If you want a real mind ****, try to understand/explain quantum entanglement...

Basically you can split a photon (particle of light) one goes left at the speed of light the other right at the speed of light and somehow they are linked and communicate with each other...Einstein called it spooky

Yeah, we studied this stuff at the very end of my optics course last December. Thank God it wasn't on the exam!

Our professor told us that photon splitting was achieved in the lab for the first time not too long ago (5-6 years?), where one half of the original photon was used to stimulate the emission of a clone photon in an active crystal. Since the polarization of the clone is more likely to match that of the one which stimulated its emission, they were able to compare those findings with the original polarizations of the split (and unsplit) photons.

[cSpooge]

Originally Posted by Rathji

As I see it, a quantum computer could in theory crack any type of modern encryption fast enough to make it useful to the person doing the cracking...and very very dangerous. Nothing could be kept safe.

Sounds fun!

Thats one of the main reasons you may not see them open to the public for a while. Pretty much all cryptographers agree that if you get a working 32 or 64 qbit quantum computer there goes all bank security,etc because of how fast they will be able to brute for them.

Right now a lot of research is going in to finding out faster than brute force algorithms for breaking the problems (Discrete Log, Quadratic Residuoscity Problem, etc).

[mykalberta]

You are right about the current encryption methods.

There are alot of security methodologies/theories that are simply limited by computing speed and bandwidth.

If this is actually true (and that is a big if that a Vancouver company would be the first to do this) that would be an AMAZING feat for a Canadian scientific community. I would put this above Alexander Graham Bell and the telephone in that magnitude and importance.

You will likely see this snapped up but the US special research projects (I am really surprised this hasnt already happend via Darpa or the US University Computing Networking Intiative).

Time to commercial use would easily be 50 years away before you start seeing computers with it and would likely be priced in the 5-10K range for starter systems.

I personally dont expect this to hit the commercial market - there isnt really anything a home user would need. I expect the home compting market to max out at around 8.4 Ghz processors. After that the home computer will liekly become the way of the diosaur with it being built into TV's

MYK

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by TheyCallMeBruce

Now we can time travel freely and visit John Titor!

aahahahahahahahaha, i would give you +skill if i could, that is an awesome line.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Looger

finally, we can solve the flames' road and special teams problems.

hahahahaha, another gem.

this thread is gold