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Computers That Solve Problems Without Being On
Iron Monkey writes: "Nature has this article about how quantum computers can theoretically solve problems without ever actually being turned on! Maybe California can use a few of these to solve their energy crisis - the ultimate in conservation."
I always tended to solve my Windows problems by just not turning the box on.
Not only doesn't this post have anything to do with the article, it's just plain wrong. I got as far as
"Quantum computers are based on the concept of quantum entanglement, the ability of a quantum state to exist in a superposition of all of its mutually exclusive states"
and stopped reading. What he describes is just called superposition; quantum entanglement is when two particles' quantum states depend on each other in such a way that once you know the state of one, you also know the state of the other. To read more about it, look up the EPR paradox.
Don't spout off BS, and please, moderators, don't moderate it up!
Okay, let me give this a try...
It's not so much that it picks a *right* answer out of all possible answers, but rather, the impossible states collapse and you are left with a quantum superposition of all the possible states. (Or, to try to put it more simply, those answers that cannot exist cease to exist, leaving only those answers that can exist.)
The White House said: White House spokesman Ari Fleischer was adamant Monday when asked whether the president would ask Americans to stop using so much energy.
"The president believes that it's an American way of life, that it should be the goal of policy-makers to protect the American way of life. The American way of life is a blessed one."
I say: Iron Monkey, what are you smoking? It's UNamerican to conserve. It is my patriotic duty to be an energy hog. Who needs these new-fangled 'putin machines work'in without 'tricity?
How I wish I had a quantum girlfriend that could take care of my problems without me having to turn her on.. no foreplay necessary...
A Zen machine.
Milo
Will they come with a sticker "Infinite Monkeys Inside"?
And if you watch the screen while it's running, will this collapse the computer's state and break it?
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
They've tried that before, the answer was 42.
But what was the question again?
Does this machine run on software that doesn't have to be written?
Problem solved.
--
Friends don't let friends use multiple inheritance.
I swear, anything that is published through Nature has to be the most questionable of all things. Unfortunately, this argument is missing the most important part of quantum computing, the collapsing of the states into the final results. Without that you end up with unknown states, which you can guess the probabilities for all the possible outcomes, which in the end makes you do the whole thing by hand anyway. Trust me, I've got plenty of quantum particles making up my body and I am the master and doing a whole lotta nothing. By their logic, I should not have failed differential equations.
Why, of course, it should be well-known that while nobody looks at a quantum computer, it can be on, off, or both, right?