Naked Science Forum
General Science => General Science => Topic started by: DoctorBeaver on 11/12/2005 02:43:09
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I was reading about this earlier. It seems that a quantum computer could perform 50 trillion zillion squillion calculations in the blink of an eye but there are some basic problems to iron out.
1) Apparently it could collapse halfway through.
2) The answer it gives may or may not be right.
3) The answer can't actually be read anyway as this would interfere with the quantum aspect of it.
4) There's difficulty working out a way a quantum computer more powerful than an zx80 could actually be built in the 1st place.
But, if all those problems can be sorted, it could be quite an interesting development.
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And imagine the games[:D]
Michael (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi11.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fa186%2Fukmicky%2Frofl.gif&hash=481319b762ee9d57cda15e90d2e83ee6)
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A quantum XBox... virtually bug-free! [:D]
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Not entirely true Dr Beaver
Quantum computing can be viewed as the next dimension in computing. That's because computers use binary - 0 or 1 - or Black and White - to compute. To maintain the black and white analogy, quantum computing offers all the greyscale between these two extremes too.
Chris
"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception"
- Groucho Marx
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Chris - I know. I was just being a wee bit facetious
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Eth - I know - I was just trying to indulge in some shameless self-promotion...[;)]
Chris
"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception"
- Groucho Marx
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Although quantum computing does posess the properties that are given for it I feel that many statements of its potential power are rather overblown the quantum states get more and more fragile as you increase the number of Qbits so you have to isolate your quantum material more carefully. OK progress in conventional computing power during my lifetime has been almost unbelievable following moores law for the whole time but progress in building analogue to digital converters has been somewhat less spectacular but still very considerable. The trchnologies of A/D converters are more likely to be the way quantum computing improves rather than moores law.
Learn, create, test and tell
evolution rules in all things
God says so!
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And imagine the games[:D]
Mobius Tetris
Klein Mahjong
Schrodinger's Portal
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I the early days of electronic computing not only binary code was used also decimal and I recall designs for three state storage units but I do not know if any computers were actually built using them.
Vast memory storage units are built by such as Google and Bing could not something like this be used to simulate quantum computing without all the technical problems associated with qubits
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Vast memory storage units are built by such as Google and Bing could not something like this be used to simulate quantum computing
The (so far, theoretical) advantage of quantum computation is that it can do many calculations "in parallel".
The number of parallel computations goes up as 2#qubits.
It is estimated that there are about 1080 nucleons in the universe.
- So a hypothetical 80-qubit quantum computer could solve a problem that could (in theory) only be solved by conventional computers if every proton in the universe was turned into a computer.
a quantum computer more powerful than an zx80
Many times over the past 50 years, the impending termination of Moore's Law (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_law) has been forecast (it suggests that the number of components on a chip doubles every couple of years).
Currently, commercial silicon chips are available with 7nm feature sizes. But the diameter of a silicon atom is about 0.2nm, so this provides a limit on how small you can make features on a silicon chip.
But there is a parallel to Moore's Law which is that the speed of computation increases significantly every few years.
- This is not limited to silicon microprocessors, as it is a quantity which can be measured on computers made of discrete transistors, and even computers made with vacuum tubes.
- It can even be estimated for a person using a mechanical calculator, which is how many calculations were done in the early 1900s
- It has even been extrapolated for mechanical card counters that were used by the US Census in the late 1800s. (These Hollerith cards later became an international standard that lasted almost a century).
So, perhaps, neuromorphic computing or quantum computing could be ways that computing power continues to grow beyond the limits of conventional (Von Neumann) computers built with silicon chips?
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heh, some people actually suggest that we have 'quantum computers' inside our heads. But, if so we're quite fail able.