By William Fellows
After years working on quantum information and computation theory, researchers at IBM Corp’s Almaden labs in California have received the green light to pursue the realization of their theoretical work in an experimental solid state environment, namely silicon. Almaden researcher Nabil Amers is leading a team of five – based at Big Blue’s Thomas J Watson labs in New York – which will test for the feasibility of constructing a quantum computer.
Amers doesn’t care to speculate how long it will take or what a quantum computer might eventually look like, but because the laws that govern quantum mechanics are now quite well understood, it is possible to estimate what such a computer would be capable of. The promise of quantum data processing is that it can deliver almost unimaginable exponential leap in computation power, speed and storage. It also has important implications for cryptography, communications and networking. The practical application of these techniques would, for example, radically improve the performance of conventional IT functions such as data mining, database sorting and querying. The logic of even the most advanced parallel computing systems dictates that a processor must wait for the outcome of other instructions before proceeding. In a quantum computer processing occurs simultaneously.
The application of quantum theory to a solid state experimental environment is a crucial watershed because the science, development and application of silicon-based technology, including the so-called Moore’s Law governing performance improvements and miniaturization, is so well understood; it’s what IBM does for a living. Amers says it is also important because it is driving leading computer scientists around the world to revisit their theories and revise how they carry out their daily work.
Until now, the application of quantum theory in a field or lab situation has centered mainly on arcane experimental techniques such as ion traps, quantum dots and NMR nuclear magnetic resonance. Amers’ three-year-old project at Almaden has been experimenting with an NMR environment. Recently NEC Corp was able to demonstrate a technique for controlling quantum states – a potential building block for future quantum computers – within an experimental environment based upon superconducting (in this case supercooling) physics.
Even reaching this experimental stage is a remarkable feat, Amers believes. For eight years he worked on quantum theory, including the time when, in the early 1990s, IBM was in dire straits: we’re not making any money and he’s thinking about quantum computing? was a typical reaction to his work, Amers says.
Now, not only is IBM’s work causing something of a stir in the quantum science community but the biggest purveyor and incubator of new technologies – the defense industry – is waking up to the promise of quantum computing. In the US, DARPA the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, has already bitten the bullet and is currently deciding at what level and to what degree it should fund its own quantum project. Amers has been presenting to DARPA this week.
See separate story in Barbed Wire for more details.
