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Hybrid Technology Could Bring 'Quantum Information Systems'
An anonymous reader writes "Researchers at Purdue say the merging of plasmonics and nanophotonics is promising the emergence of new 'quantum information systems' far more powerful than today's computers. Plasmons are quasiparticles that combine electrons and photons. And by using them in place of the simple electrons of today's computers, they could overcome limitations in the operational speed of conventional integrated circuits. The technology hinges on using single photons for switching and routing in computers that would harness the exotic principles of quantum mechanics.'"
Get us real optical computers first. Then maybe we can talk about using quantum computing on them. But the first step alone would be a huge improvement.
whatever, call me when it is
Plan me a hypothetical 18 semester credits in Quantum Information Systems so I can get a BSBA in it.
Quantum C. You never know what the variables may hold.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
How do you program randomness?
If you think you have to warp your head to work with non-traditional languages like Erlang, wait until you have to deal with the next generation of technology.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
Simple electrons teH sUk!
I am getting really tired of the "quantum computing" BS. They have basically nothing, and promise the world. By now this is almost an ordinary scam.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
That's a cute catchphrase at the end of the summary, but it means even less than usual as quantum buzz words go. Most non-physicists have a little, somewhat fuzzy idea about Heisenberg's uncertainty, and conjure up this idea where everything in QM is spooky weird juju, but what does it mean in a case like this?
Photons don't have that sort of situation when it comes to uncertainty. A Photon has a fixed velocity, known to incredible accuracy, and if that part of QM applied simplistically, it would mean we had no idea of where a photon was, ever. Instead, measuring a photon's location by absorbing it simply eliminates the photon, it doesn't mean we are suddenly fuzzy for 'quantum reasons' about how fast it was moving until then. How fast a photon moves in a medium besides vacuum isn't really part of QM spookyness either, and even the particle/wave duality model is pre Quantum theory stuff - classical physics. Yeah, the best explanation for why light works that way comes from QM, but that it works that way is an idea developed way before QM came along. (In fact, the apparent particle/wave duality was what pushed Planck to develop his math around the turn of the 20th century. That got the name of Quantum theory, but it was mostly pretty straightforward to the physicists of the time. The 'spookystuff' got added in over the next 30 years or so with Dirac, Heisenberg, and others applying their touches to build the whole edifice that is QM). The same 'uncertainty about position' math that can make the behavior of a something like a Bose/Einstein condensate seem incredibly freaky in QM terms, here translates out to defining the wavelength or frequency, which can be a very precisely known quantity (for example for a laser), and which doesn't create a lot of verbal paradoxes, or imply anything about spooky action at a distance, half-dead/half-alive cats, or time travel.
Adding more optical aspects to a quantum computer design may well be useful, but it isn't likely to up the 'overall weirdness level'. Certainly, optical links between the computing elements, as some here have speculated, won't. Just because the computational core may be working with quibits doesn't mean the north and south busses are suddenly going to pick up extra quantum goodness if they are optical.
Who is John Cabal?
I just read a slashdot summary and it wasn't saturated with acronyms that have several completely different meanings depending on your field of expertise.
Well, I noticed a lot of use of the term "quantum", which has radically different meanings to different people. In this case, I see strong evidence that they were using the Marketing meaning of "quantum", i.e., something vaguely defined but mysterious and powerful that will impress the marks^Wcustomers when you throw it into your ad copy.
They couldn't have been using the physicists' meaning of "quantum"; it's been decades since you could understand how a computer's solid-state components worked without understanding quantum mechanics. TFA is pushing "quantum" as something new, so they must mean something different by that buzz word.
It definitely reads as a buzz word, with lots of hype over something that's vague and fuzzy (but powerful, y'know).
Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
semiconductors.
you posted to slashdot, therefore QM works.