Researchers are nearing the point of actualizing the dream of quantum computing, and thus speeding up the rate at which we can solve some problems by at least several orders of magnitude.

A quantum computer is a computational device that makes direct use of quantum mechanical phenomena, such as superposition and entanglement, to perform operations on data. The basic principle behind quantum computation is that quantum properties can be used to represent data and perform operations on these data. Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, CO, have performed experiments in which quantum computational operations were executed on a very small number of qubits (quantum bits).

Part of the speed increases come because these computers use quantum bits, or qubits, which can represent both a 1 and a 0 at the same time, in contrast to classical bits that can represent only a 1 or a 0. The computers at NIST use beryllium ions stored within so-called ion traps. Lasers are then used to control the electronic states of the ions, depending on the frequency to which the laser light is tuned. The electronic states of the ions and their interactions determine the quantum operations that the machine performs.

Researchers have been making progress towards quantum computing for several decades, such as storing data on qubits, or using them to make calculations. NISTs work has taken the process several steps further, according to a TechnologyReview article. They have succeeded in putting an ion into a desired state, storing qubit data in it, performing logical operations on one or two of the qubits, transferring that information among different locations, and finally reading out the qubit result individually, and have been able to perform multiple serial operations during a single experiment.

So far, the NIST system performs at only a 94 percent accuracy rate due to ion heating problems, so the researchers need to work on improving accuracy. Much of the accuracy problem come from intensity fluctuations in the lasers used to perform operations on the trapped ions. New, more powerful lasers already being tested in other research may be able to solve these problems, bringing us another step closer to the elusive goal of quantum computing.

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Entry was posted on Sunday, August 9th, 2009 at 4:04 pm under Science and technology, Storage, Technology.

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