196 lines
6.3 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
196 lines
6.3 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
sponsored
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motoring
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ford-future-sessions
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future-of-science
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8206632
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-----
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# Quantum computers
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## Find out why tiny could be huge in the future thanks to the mysterious
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world of quantum computing.
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Stuart Houghton 12:34PM GMT 16 Dec 2010
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Years ago, Intel's Gordon Moore came up with Moore's Law: that due to
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miniaturisation, the number of transistors on an integrated circuit roughly
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doubles every two years.
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However, if that continues for another 15 to 20 years, electronic components
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eventually approach the size of the very atoms they are constructed from. What
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then?
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"There is a natural limit to miniaturisation and hence to conventional,
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silicon-based technology," says Artur Ekert, professor of quantum physics at
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the Mathematical Institute, Oxford. "Whether we want this or not we have to
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eventually venture into a quantum domain."
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Quantum mechanics is the science of the sub-atomic particles that lie at the
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very heart of all matter; quantum computing is a (so far largely theoretical)
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technique for using these particles to perform computations. Easier said than
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done, however.
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The laws of the universe work rather differently at the quantum scale. Events
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are described in terms of probabilities rather than certainties. A classical
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computer stores and manipulates data in bits which can be either one or zero.
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Quantum computers use the quantum bit or qubit which, thanks to the strange
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laws of the quantum world, can be either one, zero or both at the same time.
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This intriguing property allows certain types of calculation to be performed
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much faster than a conventional computer.
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Many encryption systems use highly complex mathematical functions, but with a
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quantum computer years of conventional processing time could be collapsed into
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seconds.
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This potential to crack "unbreakable" codes has understandably led to
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significant investment by intelligence agencies. However, a number of
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fundamental problems still need to be solved.
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"The two main ones are how to protect a quantum computer from errors, and how
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to scale it to many qubits," says Dr Sean Barrett of Imperial College, who
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recently published a paper showing significant progress on the former. But the
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latter is still some way off.
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"The solutions could come very quickly from a serendipitous discovery," says
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Barrett, "or they could take years to figure out." "Most likely quantum
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computers will be used in a way that we cannot even imagine today," says
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Professor Ekert.
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[X][1] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][2]
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* Share: [Share][1] [ ][3] [ ][4]
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[Tweet][5]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions/future-of-
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science/8206632/Quantum-computers.html
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Telegraph
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## [Future of science][6]
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* ### [Sponsored »][7]
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* ### [Motoring »][8]
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* ### [Ford Future Sessions »][9]
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[X][1] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][2]
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Share:
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* [ ][1]
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* [ ][3]
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* [ ][4]
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* [Tweet][5]
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* ![][10]
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[The Hubble Telescope »][11]
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### [WIN! a new book about the Hubble Space Telescope's amazing
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discoveries][12]
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[![Light echoes from a red supergiant star, as captured by the Hubble Space
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Telescope. ][13] ][12]
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The Telegraph has five copies of Hubble: Window on the Universe by Giles
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Sparrow, worth £40 each, to give away.
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### [The Hubble Space Telescope: the big picture][14]
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For 20 years the Hubble Space Telescope has shown us amazing images like
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these. Giles Sparrow, author of Hubble: Window on the Universe, explains why
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it's a modern marvel.
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### [Images from the Hubble Space Telescope][15]
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[![Images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope from Giles Sparrow's Hubble:
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Window on the Universe. ][16]][15]
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Images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope from the book Hubble: Window on the
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Universe.
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[The new silicon? »][17]
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### [Graphene: our miracle material][18]
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[![Graphene is a planar sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal pattern.
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Stacked graphene sheets form graphite, used in pencils. ][19] ][18]
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Graphene is harder than diamond, just a single molecule thick and conducts
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electricity. Kat Hannaford talks to the two Nobel prize-winning scientists who
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discovered it about why it could revolutionise everything.
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[1]: #
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[2]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/4590190/Share-this-article-
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What-are-these.html
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[3]: mailto:?subject=A Telegraph reader thought you would be interested in
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this article&body=Depending on your email program, you may be able to click on
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the link in the email. Alternatively, you may have to open a web browser, such
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as Firefox or Internet Explorer, and copy the link over into the address bar.
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%0A%0Ahttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions
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/future-of-science/8206632/Quantum-computers.html %0A%0AFor the best content
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online, visit www.telegraph.co.uk
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[4]: javascript:print()
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[5]: http://twitter.com/share?via=Telegraph
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[6]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions
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/future-of-science/
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[7]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/
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[8]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/motoring/
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[9]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions/
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[10]:
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http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01766/Ford_in_asso_1766175a.jpg
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[11]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions
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/future-of-science/8206698/Celebrating-the-Hubble-Space-Telescope.html
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[12]: /sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions/future-of-
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science/8206679/Win-a-copy-of-Hubble-Window-on-the-Universe.html
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[13]:
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http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01786/hubble1_1786847e.jpg
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[14]: /sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions/future-of-science/8206698
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/The-Hubble-Space-Telescope-the-big-picture.html
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[15]: /sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions/future-of-science/8207252
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/Images-from-the-Hubble-Space-Telescope.html
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[16]:
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http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01787/hubble3_1787067e.jpg
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[17]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions
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/future-of-science/8207121/Graphene-our-miracle-material.html
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[18]: /sponsored/motoring/ford-future-sessions/future-of-science/8207121
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/Graphene-our-miracle-material.html
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[19]:
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http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01787/graphene_1787024e.jpg
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