A Working Quantum Computer in 3 Years? 292
prostoalex writes "Vancouver, BC-based D-Wave Systems got $17.5 mln from Draper Fisher Jurvetson to work on a preliminary version of a quantum computer, Technology Review reports. Delivery date? Within three years: 'It won't be a fully functional quantum computer of the sort long envisioned; but D-Wave is on track to produce a special-purpose, "noisy" piece of quantum hardware that could solve many of the physical-simulation problems that stump today's computers, says David Meyer, a mathematician working on quantum algorithms at the University of California, San Diego.'"
Re:got my hopes up (Score:5, Interesting)
Nope, it is a quantum computer qubit. E.g. Google for "Cooper pair boxes"
This is a solid state quantum computer, an artifical atom, where the state could be encoded as the presence or absence of charge on an island. It tunnels on and off quantum mechanically, creating a qubit. Its just how the underlying system works.
Entanglement requires the coupling of more than one qubit, and is more part of the maths of QM. However, this may be done practically through capacitve or inductive coupling for the above devices.
Re:Vaporware Award goes to.... (Score:2, Interesting)
However, given that they have narrowed their focus (from a general purpose machine) to a special purpose machine using (they say) todays level of technology, they have a good chance..
Known and working tech + narrow problem = Engineering + Marketing = A working product
What's the big deal? (Score:4, Interesting)
Seems to me that this is only news since they plan on selling quantum-CPU time.
Re:Quantum is just another buzzword (Score:2, Interesting)
Second, we all know that we are pretty far away from shors factorization algorithm, but at least with the technology that dwave is using (cooper pairs in superconductors), there is a chance of hitting that point sometime in the future.
NMR computers are fun to play with, and are pretty cheap for the number of qubits you can use, but will not likely ever get past 15 or so qubits, because it relies (from what I understand) on each qubit needing to be in the same molecule, and they need to be different atoms, which is rough to do. It seems that alot of people think "most quantum computers are NMR"+"NMR will never work for shors algorithm with large numbers"="quantum computers will never work with shors algorithm", which is just dumb.
Dwave is far more interested in molecular simulation, which could be useful anywhere from creating new medicines, to designing new polymers for the superpants of the future.
Third, no one is stupid enough to try to build a state machine with a quantum computer
Quantum Computers have a far reaching implications (Score:2, Interesting)
Application 1: Optimization
[dwavesys.com] http://www.dwavesys.com/optimization.php [dwavesys.com]
Quantum computers can be used to get approximate solutions to large NP-complete [wikipedia.org] optimization problems much more quickly than the best known methods running on any supercomputer.
Application 2: Quantum Simulation
[dwavesys.com] http://www.dwavesys.com/quantumsimulation.php [dwavesys.com]
Simulation has always been an important part of what conventional computers do. For engineers and scientists, simulation is about asking "what if?" questions without having to actually do it. Today's engineering marvels would not be possible were it not for computer modeling. Everything from the car you drive, to the plane you last flew in, to the building in which you sit, to the computer chip in your PC, are made possible by simulation.
There is an implicit assumption that the tactics used in engineering today will apply to engineering at the nanoscale. The promise of nanotechnology is based on the premise that since everything is built of atoms, if we can manipulate matter on the level of atoms, we can build anything that is physically possible.
Building, however, is only a part of engineering. Just being able to build any given assembly of atoms does not mean that we can predict how it behaves before we build it.
Unfortunately, conventional (non-quantum) computers, no matter how powerful, are very bad at predicting the behaviour of nature at the nanoscale. The quantum properties of matter and energy that make nanotechnology so interesting wreak havok with conventional simulation methods.
Quantum computers are the only known solution to this problem. They are able to directly solve the fundamental equations of quantum mechanics for any physical system. Sufficiently robust quantum computers will be able to create the ultimate virtual reality environment, where products and processes at the level of atoms and molecules can be exactly and effortlessly probed.
Solve the travelling salesmen problem in seconds? (Score:3, Interesting)
How many seconds?
Are they claiming that the travelling salesmen problem can be solved in polynomial time? This would be the biggest news to come out of the computer industry since the invention of the transistor. As far as I know, no quantum algorithms exist for solving NP complete problems such as the travelling salesmen problem. Can anyone here enlighten me?
Total Agreeness (Score:1, Interesting)
He didn't even work as a mathematician. He was a patent clerk or something.
Never was a very good mathematician.
Didn't do experiments.
I don't believe that relativity garbage either.
Flaw in Business Model (Score:2, Interesting)
But even if they do get this thing to succeed, with all the technical issues solved, the business model won't work. They want to sell solutions, not hardware? So company X asks a question, but the answer is only worthwhile if competing company Y can't ask the same question. The resolution is simple, company X will patent the question! Imagine how innovation can be stiffled now -- an order of magnitude better than under the current system. It won't be long before company Y, to preempt other companies from gaining an advantage, will start to patent questions it has no intention of asking! With a little lobbying to conservative politicians, legistation will be passed to outlaw thinking entirely! Is this what we have to look forward to in three years?
Bt seriously, it's an old problem -- social systems can't keep up with technological advancements, and all attempts only make thing worse.