So, having read through this, there is quite a bit of going on about the more science-fictiony aspects of a quantum computer, but offer nothing even resembling an explanation as to how such a technology can be utilized.
Their summary basically offers that normal computers operate with 2 bits, 0 and 1, but quantum computers can operate using three, 0, 1, and simultaneous 0 and 1. While this is certainly a brainbending state, I don't really understand how this helps solve any mathematical problem. If this is just a third bit, trinary is a thing now, and it certainly doesn't help solve the worlds greatest computational problems. If it is actually doing math in which 0 and 1 simultaneously is a legitimate number, has there been research done on this type of quantum math? If so, how does it help one crunch real-world hard numbers?
Can anyone give some insight on how any of this could work, from a computational perspective?
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Ah! As far as sources of quantum information go, an interview with Peter Shor is about as primary a source as one could get! Some of the asides in that message were the most interesting pieces of information for me - like that quantum computers must be kept at -273 Celsius or that one of the major challenges is keeping the computers' states in sync over distances longer than 50km.
I wonder, though, if this is one of those interview quotes that will haunt him when quantum computers are all the rage?
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And check out this latest development in the quantum computing saga. Researchers at MIT have developed some fascinating ways to use them for encryption and decryption that could be total game-changers.
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/new_scientist/2013...
My brain just exploded!
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I'm not an expert, but from what I've read before, things like routine search and sort algorithms are greatly sped up with the use of the 3rd "qubit" aka quantum bit. Not sure exactly why, but it somehow allows you to search through a list from multiple directions simultaneously. So the general consensus is that some operations can be sped up incredibly with a quantum computer, but others not so much. Maybe someone has a more mathematicl-proof style of explanation for this?