2007-12-14

Major step towards the first quantum computers


Physicists perform the first ever execution of a quantum calculation

Professor Andrew White, from UQ's Centre for Quantum Computer Technology together with colleagues from the University of Toronto in Canada, said by manipulating quantum mechanically entangled photons – the fundamental particles of light – the prime factors of the number 15 were calculated.
[...]
15 = 5 x 3 Not a very spectacular result, but
as the number becomes bigger and bigger the problem becomes more and more difficult. Quantum computers are in principle well suited for this task
Ben Lanyon, UQ doctoral student and the research paper's first author, said calculating the prime factors of 15 was a crucial step towards calculating much larger numbers, which could be used to crack cryptographic codes that are unbreakable using conventional computers.

via: KurzweilAI.net
related: LinkNotes: Search results for "quantum computer"