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Successful quantum calculation uses single iodine molecule to smash computational speed record
The science is way over my head, and the Popular Science article is pretty heavy going, but basically: current computers have a latency of about 500 picoseconds. Using an iodine molecule to do the processing, it took tens of a femtoseconds to complete a complex Fourier transform.
I'm not very good with numbers, but I'm going to try and put pico and femto seconds into a form you can understand... here we go!
Current latency of a 2GHz processor: 0.000,000,000,5 seconds (i.e. one instruction is processed every 500 picoseconds)
Latency of a quantum iodide processor: 0.000,000,000,000,010 seconds (i.e. ten femtoseconds)
Extrapolating that, the iodide molecule used in the quantum computer is vibrating about 5,000 (?) times faster than the clock generator in a 2GHz processor. 10,000GHz... or ONE THOUSAND BILLION HERTZ!
[Please, correct me if my maths are wrong...]
Comments
9
Subscribe to commentsJack KnottMay 10th 2010 9:16AM
10,000GHz would be 10 thousand billion hertz wouldn't it? Or 10 terahertz.
mahMay 10th 2010 12:36PM
you are correct.
erkenbrand2xMay 10th 2010 9:27AM
Impressive! Hope this kind of technology can become mainstream :)
put-itMay 10th 2010 9:28AM
quoting a comment (which i think highlights the caveat) from the linked article:
This is not a calculation. This is simply exploiting the fact that harmonic oscillators will naturally transform a wavepacket into it's Fourier Transform periodically. Sort of like a bucket is a natural accumulator--you add one drop of water and another drop of water and you magically get two drops of water in the bucket. Another less accurate but maybe more familiar example is that one's ear takes the sound input it gets and through the structure of the cochlea transforms it into a Fourier Transform. This is not strictly programming at all since you have no control over altering the program (what is being calculated). You only have control over the input. Furthermore, while this is a quantum effect, the use of the word quantum computing is misleading since this feat is not at all associated with the usual concerns of quantum computing which is programmable albeit not very intuitively.
SmithMay 10th 2010 10:15AM
To make it clear, quantum computing is really cool, realy fast and all that but as put-it sais, it's not really applicable to today's comuters. There are a few algorithms we can do with quantum computers, but nothing that really will make your web browsing or gaming experience any better.
So it's a really cool research field, but you won't see this in computers for a long long time, if ever.
put-itMay 10th 2010 9:31AM
btw correct me if i understood the article wrong...
Sebastian AnthonyMay 10th 2010 9:48AM
I'd correct you if I knew any better... but I don't :)
Though, as far as I know, all computational logic is done on a very low level with very few actual instructions!
3tearMay 10th 2010 10:33AM
Does this mean I will be able to download porn faster?
ericloeweMay 10th 2010 1:16PM
No.