London: Scientists have unveiled the
world's first universal programmable quantum computer, capable
of processing two quantum bits or qubits which store more data
than the simple "on" or "off" bits of conventional computing.
But, the test programme has revealed significant
hurdles which the scientists claim must be overcome before it
is ready for real work, the 'New Scientist' reported.
A team, led by the National Institute of Standards and
Technology in Colorado, has developed the experimental device
which uses beryllium ions to store qubits in the way they spin
while the laser-pulse quantum gates perform the simple logic
operations on the qubits.
According to the scientists, the trick to making
a quantum logic gate is in designing a series of laser pulses
that manipulate the beryllium ions in a way which processes
information. Another laser then reads off the results of the
calculations.
"Once we had demonstrated we could successfully
combine lots of components in this way, we ask -- what can you
do with that?" David Hanneke, who led the team, said.
They found their answer in quantum computational
theory. "One of the more interesting results to come out of
the early years of quantum information was that you can do any
quantum operation on any number of qubits using only single
and two-qubit logic gates," said Hanneke.
Although one and two-qubit gates have been built and
used to perform specific algorithms, no one built a device
capable of all quantum routines till now.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, November 16, 2009, 20:10