Quantum Computing: What It Is, Why We Want It, and How We're Trying to Get It

T. Fryer

One of the problems with quantum technologies is that they exist in an intellectual plane that hovers some distance above the vast majority of us. Where else would you find a beast such as Schrodinger's cat that is both dead and alive at the same time? As Douglas Adams might observe, presumably Schrodinger himself disappeared in a puff of logic at some point. Quantum's other problem is that it is perceived to be some distance over the technological horizon in terms of being useful. But this is a perception that is not shared by everyone. Dave Wilson, vice president of product marketing for software, academia and customer education at National Instruments, said at the recent NI Days conference: We are working with the University of Aarhus on quantum computing. One of the points they are making is that it won't let you stream high-def video faster, that's not the kind of computing you will get out of it. But if you rely on brute force to work on a billion different iterations of something, then quantum will come in and do it in just a few cycles. That is the kind of place where it will help tremendously. There are more immediate possibilities, but even then they need to be developed with one eye kept on doors opening down different application and technology routes. Teledyne e2v, which includes imaging sensors within its portfolio and rims one of the few wafer fabs in the UK, is such a company that is already looking at the application end of quantum technology. Steve Maddox, systems engineer with the company, says: We've had to try to keep a lot of organisation on what we're doing: trying to follow a really rigorous engineering approach but keeping things flexible enough, because technology's emerging and we don't want to squash innovation. It's quite a difficult balance to achieve and the science is all new. We're working with lots of academics and it's a really exciting place to be, but there are challenges. Originally the English Electric Valve Company (hence the e2v), Teledyne has been around for over 70 years and is an established supplier of imaging sensors on Nasa and European Space Agency (ESA) missions. It is exploring quantum technologies for use in space with a view to using that technology for ground-based activities as well. It's happened before - really high-end space imaging has spun off into top-of-the-range machine vision for production lines. One example is measuring individual pixels on TVs as they speed down a conveyor.

Stefano Patarnello

M. Arvindhan

Maliki Javier Martinez

I did it. People are trying to steal this so im just uploading it as is. I dont have a degree in math or physics. I know enough to see that this will rewrite all of physics and recover every formula. And it'll get you new proofs. Whatever though, I dont want every award.

S. Rakesh Kumar, N. Deepa, N. Gayathri +1 more

Andrew M. Childs

Suppose Alice wants to perform some computation that could be done quickly on a quantum computer, but she cannot do universal quantum computation. Bob can do universal quantum computation and claims he is willing to help, but Alice wants to be sure that Bob cannot learn her input, the result of her calculation, or even the function she is trying to compute. We describe an efficient protocol by which Bob can help Alice perform the computation, but there is no way for him to learn anything about it. Furthermore, we show how Alice can efficiently detect whether Bob is honestly helping her or if he is introducing errors.