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The Viterbi Algorithm and Quantum Communications

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the sneaky-states dept.

eldavojohn writes "There have been a lot of tests in using quantum mechanics to communicate across large distances. But a student & a professor at USC have proven that the Viterbi algorithm can be applied to quantum communication. In the traditional Alice sends Bob a message scenario, 'Bob can reliably spot errors, and knows which message qubits are bogus before he opens the message — crucial, because opening it destroys it; and if it is garbled, he has nothing.'"

15 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. Alice by arizwebfoot · · Score: 3, Funny

    So . . . when is ANYTHING Alice says not garbled?

    -----
    Spoken like a true married man.

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    Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
    1. Re:Alice by Tenrosei · · Score: 2, Funny

      And for that matter what is the chance Alice will just say it once?

    2. Re:Alice by Osurak · · Score: 5, Funny

      And for that matter what is the chance Alice will just say it once?

      Go ask Alice. I think she'll know.

    3. Re:Alice by B'Trey · · Score: 2, Funny

      Go ask Alice. I think she'll know.

      Well, we are talking about QM, where logic and proportion do indeed fall sloppily dead...

      --

      "The legitimate powers of government extend only to such acts as are injurious to others." Thomas Jefferson.

    4. Re:Alice by neomunk · · Score: 3, Funny

      She's the chick that Bob is seeing behind Eve's back, if I understand the situation correctly.

  2. Alice 3 Bob by nategoose · · Score: 5, Funny

    I wish Alice and Bob would just go ahead and do it already. Everybody knows they have the hots for one another.

    1. Re:Alice 3 Bob by Warll · · Score: 5, Funny

      Everybody knows they have the hots for one another.

      Kids these days. When will they learn that its not worth the risk. Safe encryption should be practised all the time, not just when you feel like it.

    2. Re:Alice 3 Bob by rubycodez · · Score: 3, Funny

      oh crap, now you had to upgrade Schroodinger's cat to a fetus

  3. Alice? by RandoX · · Score: 3, Funny

    Who the ---- is Alice?

    1. Re:Alice? by Kingrames · · Score: 3, Funny

      You can get anything you want at her restaurant, I know that much.

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      If you can read this, I forgot to post anonymously.
    2. Re:Alice? by lilomar · · Score: 2, Funny

      'Cepting Alice, of course.

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      The creator of this post (Jacob Smith) hereby releases it, and all of his other posts, into the public domain.
    3. Re:Alice? by Alpha+Whisky · · Score: 2, Funny

      Call yourself a nerd? Alice is Dilbert's violent cow-orker and Bob is a large green dinosaur they found behind the couch when they correctly deduced that dinosaurs didn't go extinct but just went into hiding. Sheesh, I thought everyone knew that.

      --
      it's = it is

      its = belonging to it

  4. Re:This is for deriving information from Markov se by Intron · · Score: 4, Funny

    And for those of you wondering...

    Markov was Chekov's evil twin on Star Trek.

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    Intron: the portion of DNA which expresses nothing useful.
  5. Entangling... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    So you're suggesting Bob and Alice get entangled? That's spooky... too bad we wouldn't be able to watch.

  6. Re:This could be huge by hansraj · · Score: 3, Funny

    A big part of the problem with building quantum computers right now is keeping the qubits stable. The real world is constantly trying to "observe" (or interfere with) the qubits. When that happens, your quantum states break down and you lose your computation. This is a bit reason why we've only been able to build small (5-qubit) machines: it's very hard to keep things isolated and stable.

    [Emphasis added]

    I think the qubits' behavior is very suspicious. Surely if the qubits have nothing to hide, they shouldn't have any problems!