How Quantum Computers Work


	How Quantum Computers Work

Ruud-s-stuff

4-20-2007 6:24 AM

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tags:

science, technology, quantum mechanics, computers

Ruud-s-stuff says:

Did they say 'years away' ?!?! That sounds like very very soon!

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/ffe02bf6-def7-4360-843f-6acb97351c0f/9C37A4B2-DC17-426C-8BA1-50FE5CC6A235/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://computer.howstuffworks.com/quantum-computer.htm" href="http://computer.howstuffworks.com/quantum-computer.htm" style="font-size: 11px;">computer.howstuffworks.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://computer.howstuffworks.com/quantum-computer.htm">
Will we ever have the amount of computing power we need or want? If, as <B>Moore's Law</B> states, the number of transistors on a <A href="http://computer.howstuffworks.com/microprocessor.htm">microprocessor</A> continues to double every 18 months, the year 2020 or 2030 will find the circuits on a microprocessor measured on an atomic scale. And the logical next step will be to create <B>quantum computers</B>, which will harness the power of atoms and molecules to perform <A href="http://computer.howstuffworks.com/computer-memory.htm">memory</A> and processing tasks.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://computer.howstuffworks.com/quantum-computer.htm"><div align="center"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/computer.howstuffworks.com/img/B461B793-1E93-4180-AE2D-5B547CE3A6E3" alt="Bits of Information" /></div></blockquote><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/images/clip-icon.gif" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://computer.howstuffworks.com/quantum-computer1.htm" href="http://computer.howstuffworks.com/quantum-computer1.htm" style="font-size: 11px;">computer.howstuffworks.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://computer.howstuffworks.com/quantum-computer1.htm">
Today's computers, like a Turing machine, work by manipulating bits that exist in one of two states: a 0 or a 1. Quantum computers
aren't limited to two states; they encode information as quantum bits, or <B>qubits</B>, which can exist in superposition.
</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://computer.howstuffworks.com/quantum-computer1.htm">So if left alone, an atom will spin in all directions.  The instant it is disturbed it chooses one spin, or one value; and at the same time, the
second entangled atom will choose an opposite spin, or value. This allows scientists to know the value of the qubits without actually
looking at them.</blockquote><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/images/clip-icon.gif" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://computer.howstuffworks.com/quantum-computer2.htm" href="http://computer.howstuffworks.com/quantum-computer2.htm" style="font-size: 11px;">computer.howstuffworks.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://computer.howstuffworks.com/quantum-computer2.htm">  The computer solved a <A href="http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/sudoku.htm">sudoku</A> puzzle</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/9C37A4B2-DC17-426C-8BA1-50FE5CC6A235/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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