Slashdot Mirror
On Diamond-Based Quantum Computing
Roland Piquepaille writes "Quantum computing is usually associated with extremely low temperatures. Physicists at Harvard University have shown that diamonds can be used to create stable quantum computing building blocks at room temperature. A nitrogen vacancy in diamond could lead to quantum registers able to store or retrieve data. '"The problem is, what makes single nuclear spin so stable - its weak interaction with its surroundings - also prevents us from directly manipulating it," Lukin says. "How do you control something that can't interact with anything?" You do it gingerly and indirectly, the Harvard physicists report in Science. They found that nuclear spins associated with single atoms of carbon-13 - which make up some 1.1 percent of natural diamond - can be manipulated via a nearby single electron whose own spin can be controlled with optical and microwave radiation.'"
optical radiation? so. . like cyclops rays or something?
If you are about to mod me down, keep in mind that this post was most likely sarcastic.
Nothing says I love you like a diamond quantum computer.
Maybe this will help address the problem of diamonds, namely De Beers. The diamond industry is one of completely false scarcity and the result of a monopoly on a natural resource. The effect is not only rediculous prices for shiny rocks, but lots of blood shed. As all diamonds on the market serve to feed this beast, every diamond is a "conflict diamond".
We are all just people.
Is just how much diamond it takes to achieve this. Are they working with microparticles of diamond shavings, or with larger pieces. If they are using some kind of diamond dust, how do you arrange this to get any kind of usable array for storage?
When computers are built with this technology, their prices will no longer tumble every 18 months! In fact, they will eventually become precious collectibles.
Haven't you ever played final fantasy? Crystal based computers would be far to powerful, we could never win in a fight against them. If they went haywire, no amount of Will Smiths or Neos could save us.
The new MSV alpha
And when they finally get A.I. out of diamond-based computing they could embed it into this package:
4 4-details/Damien%20Hirst%20unveils%20his%20jewels% 20in%20the%20crown,%20a%20&%23253;50m%20diamond-st udded%20skull/article.do
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-233989
spoonerize "magic trackpad"
What nuclear? Missile?
Common sense is not so common
er? pass the bong d00d...
spoonerize "magic trackpad"
quantum phisicists, read my lips... F___ OFF :=]
?
Horse semen! Nice try at starting a new meme but Slashdotters prefer hot grits, preferably on Natalie Portman.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
Luckily there are synthetic diamonds. These diamonds are perfect. Unless natural diamonds which are flawed.
A few years ago I replied to an artical about qubits on slashdot.I said they need to be put in a hexagonal pattern .They still have a long way to go.They will soon discover that the electron will move freely in only eight directions in that lattice.I saw this in a dream .
Aha, so the stargate series were onto something!
I mean, who the hell calls light "optical radiation"? Yeah, it's EM, but come on...
How efficient is the transduction of electromagnetic energy into a diamond convertible into the electron spins that can "charge" nuclear spins? How efficient is the discharge? And how much energy can be stored in these spins, multiplied by 1.1% of the C atoms in a synthetic 1mm^2 diamond?
--
make install -not war
that quantum computer hardware has been making strides recently, I have to think:
Are we going to be thwarted by the difficult of developing software for quantum computers?
I'm no expert on quantum computing, but I can imagine there's a huge amount to think about when programming even trivial applications for it - not so long ago we had an article on parallel programming being too hard - this is just with normal computers where everything is clearly defined in ones and zeroes. I certainly can't imagine dealing with qubits to be any simpler... after all, if quantum computing relies on simultaneity, isn't this a vast extension of the parallel programming problem?
"A deadlock has been reached. One task must die. We must now choose between murder and suicide."
Based on the evidence, I'd say it's not doing that great of a job.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
Comment removed based on user account deletion
you can use my diamond bong... i've been smoking some 400 miles per hour from it.
D6 63 0D 70 89 81 BB 8E 7B 7C 5F 5D 54 EA AB 73
As soon as we can dope them to make transistors out of them, perhaps we'll see these in the consumer pc/electronics market. I wonder how much more efficient as far as energy loss these could be?
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Actually, artificially-made diamonds are rather cheap.
What is more, if the price of 'real' diamonds weren't artificially (sic!) kept high, they too would be cheap as dirt.
My guess, though, is that only man-made diamonds would be suitable for that, just like rubies for lasers - they're cleaner.
Ignore this signature. By order.
Excuse me, but where's the problem?
I thought this! was! Slashdooooot! where no-one ever reads the articles anyway.
No scripts would be needed if you just behaved like any other Slashdotter.
Ignore this signature. By order.
Quantum /b/tard?
Stupid and unfunny!
As Wired has been reporting for years, synthetic diamonds are becoming more and more readily available, and they are not less perfect or more expensive than their dug-up counterparts. Frankly, after watching Blood Diamond, if the truth of things is at all close to that-- my penchant for quantum computing projects aside-- I'm glad to see more reasons for cheap mass diamonds.
When did the future switch from being a promise to a threat? -C. Palahniuk
Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age, anyone?
This story is a classic example of selling your research by pretending it may have a practical application. Do something with a quantum system, and sell it by saying it has a potential quantum computing application. Do something on a nanoscopic scale, and call it nanotechnology. Do something with a semiconductor, and say it is for future chips.
What these researchers have done is pretty standard fare: the nitrogen vacancy defect in diamond is photo-active center that can and has been studied extensively by optical excitation. The unpaired electron spins of these centres can be manipulated via microwaves. With a low concentration and tight focus, you can study individual centers. Some of these will have and adjacent carbon-13 instead of the more abundant carbon-12 neighbor. Its magnetic moment can be observed through its interaction with the electron spin. Cute, but nothing what so fucking ever to do with any kind of practical application.
Science has become colonized by hypesters, marketeers, and slick talking band wagon jumpers. All in pursuit of that next bit of funding and fame.
Is there a GreaseMonkey script to get rid of people bitching and complaining about Roland? I mean, what's your problem with him? He linked to a article at the Harvard Gazette, the only link to his blog is his own homepage link, like anyone else submitting a story.
Did he steal your girlfriend or something?
Him diamond!
Which is worse?
Sex with a mare
Sloppy seconds
All of the above?
Blah blah diamonds.. blah blah dirt-cheap ... blah blah profiteering gluttons... blah blah electron and the switch.
So uh, when do we get guns to go hunt down those DeBeers goons so I can have my Quantum-core Pentium ? Oh and how do you overclock those things anyway ?
-Billco, Fnarg.com
From the article:
"atomic nuclei, fundamental building blocks of matter with sub-nanometer dimensions"
This is like calling a fly an animal of sub-kilometer dimensions.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
The article doesn't say. But if so, this could be cool.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Wow, I'm impressed. Maybe what your relating is common knowledge, but you go my respect.
I've got a question for you. The Bohr model of an atom shows neutrons and protons as 'atomic' sub-particles. How accurate is that? When atoms form a crystal, is the position of the nucleus fixed or is it suspended, able to change its position? For example, I can imagine that carbon, with a valence of 6 (has 6 protons) and a 'weight' of 12 (usually) would have an asymmetrical shape to its nucleus. This would cause a variation to the electrical field that surrounds it. This would, in turn, influence the shape of the lattice. Could you have a nucleus that's 'upside down' in relation to the other nuclei?
Best regards.
The crystal only cares about the electron configuration, which is influcened by the contents of the nucleus. The nucleous itself is constantly vibrating, maybe even roiling in larger atoms, this is more the domain of pure physics than material science. Larger atoms support more varied electron configurations, like f orbitals for Uranium, and well tungsten. But this is always due to the make up of the nucleous, as opposed to the vibrations, unless that internal energy leads to a fission or alpha release. The higher orbitals can occasionally lead to interesting properties like uraniums self-sharpening that makes it useful for penetrating tank armor. The nucleus, which itself is composed of sub atomic particles, is miniscule in comparision to the atom as a whole. If an atom is a sports stadium, the whole nucleus is a ball in the middle of it. The ball in the middle of the stadium is just too far away to influence the neighborhood outside barring drastic changes to the ball (which of course change what the stadium looks like).
To the next poster, my spelling and typing is horrible. I know. I was going to write things like WO3 et al, but who knows what the chemical symbol for tungston is?