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Tech Stuff IBM achieves major breakthrough in quantum computing By Crystalyn Dalsen, ITP Staff Writer In the future, two dilemmas await computer companies in their attempt to improve conventional computers: physical bounds to miniaturization, since transistors and electrical wiring can not be made slimmer than the width of an atom, and cost, because facilities for fabricating more powerful microchips will become extremely expensive. However, there is a way out and maybe the only one: Quantum computing. "Somewhere around the year 2020 or 2030 is when we hit one bit per atom-and when a new semiconductor fabrication plant will cost the gross national product of the planet," said Dr. Isaac Chuang, researcher at the IBM's Almaden Research in an interview with Technology Review. "So if we want to keep getting faster, there aren't many other places to turn. Quantum weirdness is essentially the only resource we have that's still untapped for computing. It's the only big thing that's left in the universe," added Chuang who also leads the team of scientists from IBM Research, Stanford University and the University of Calgary delving on the field. According to IBM technical literature, "quantum computing depends on the often non-intuitive quantum physics interactions of atoms and nuclei compared with conventional electronic computers which use the flow of electrons through transistors and circuits." Doing away with mere electrons and therefore microchips, miniaturization and cost problems could then be dealt with. But the advantage doesn't end there. Quantum computers, if realized are deemed to perform certain calculations exponentially faster than conventional computers. This remained a theory until Chuang's recent release of his 5-bit qubit quantum computer, the most powerful quantum computer demonstrated to date. The new quantum computer contains five fluorine atoms within a molecule specially designed so the fluorine nuclei's "spins" can interact with each other as qubits, be programmed by radio frequency pulses and be detected by nuclear magnetic resonance instruments similar to those commonly used in hospitals and chemistry labs. Using the molecule, Chuang's team solved in one step a mathematical problem for which conventional computers require repeated cycles. The problem is called "order-finding"-finding the period of a particular function -which is typical of many basic mathematical problems that underlie important applications. "For certain types of calculations-such as complex algorithms for cryptography or searching-a quantum computer can perform billions of calculations in a single step. So instead of solving the problem by adding all the numbers in order, a quantum computer would add all the numbers at the same time," a material from IBM's website explained. For instance, the paper added, a conventional computer would need to crank away for billions of years to factor a 400-digit number but a quantum machine could do the job in about a year. This implied that unbreakable codes might now be breakable-for instance, the most sophisticated encryption schemes now in use such as those of the Pentagon and the US National Security Agency. But according to IBM Almaden, through this, another encryption could be created: quantum cryptography which might solve all present and future security woes as it promises absolute foolproof protection. However, these possibilities may yet be far out, according to Chuang since "quantum computers must have at least several dozen bits before difficult real-world problems can be solved". Nevertheless, IBM's 5-qubit quantum computer is considered as an important milestone along the way not only because it will serve as a research instrument but also because it emphasized again the reality of what was once considered an esoteric era of interest or a "fanciful theorist's dream." "This result gives us a great deal of confidence in understanding how quantum computing can evolve into a future technology. It reinforces the growing realization that quantum computers may someday be able to live up to their potential of solving in remarkably short times problems that are so complex that the most powerful supercomputers can't calculate even if they work on them for million of years," said Chuang. He said the first applications are likely to be as a co-processor for specific functions such as database lookup and finding the solution to a difficult mathematical problem. But the myriad of future benefits is limited only by imagination, according to Chuang's co-researcher Neil Gershenfeld as quoted by Tech Review. "This has the feel of being a whole new science breaking down the institutional boundaries at almost institution you can name." To this, Chuang agreed saying, "Every so often, something new comes along in physics, and everybody says, 'Wow!' then they get caught up in a whirlwind. In the 1970's, the whirlwind was chaos theory. In the late 1980's, it was high temperature superconductivity. And now, it's quantum computing." The experimentalist, consi-dered as one of the best in his field, added that for 50 years, the world has focused on one technique of computing but it has now found something that will further extend its ability to manipulate nature's laws to perform the computation it wants.

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