Quantum Computing and Communication

Quantum Computing and Communication

Abstract

During the past forty years astounding advances have been made in the manufacture of computers. The number of atoms needed to represent a bit in memory has been decreasing exponentially since 1950. Likewise the numbers of transistors per chip, clock speed, and energy dissipated per logical operation have all followed their own improving exponential trends. Despite these fantastic advances, the manner in which all computers function is essentially identical. This rate of improvement cannot be sustained much longer, at the current rate in the year 2020 one bit of information will requite only one atom to represent it. The problem is that at that level of miniaturization the behavior of the components of a computer will become dominated by the principles of quantum physics. (Williams, Clearwater)
With the size of components in classical computers shrinking to where the behavior of the components may soon be dominated more by quantum physics than classical physics researchers have begun investigating the potential of these quantum behaviors for computation. Surprisingly it seems that a computer whose components are able to function in a quantum are more powerful than any classical computer can be.
It is the physical limitations of the classical computer, and the possibilities for the quantum computer to perform certain useful tasks more rapidly than any classical computer that drive the study of quantum computing.
During the past forty years astounding advances have been made in the manufacture of computers. The number of atoms needed to represent a bit in memory has been decreasing exponentially since 1950. Likewise the numbers of transistors per chip, clock speed, and energy dissipated per logical operation have all followed their own improving exponential trends. Despite these fantastic advances, the manner in which all computers function is essentially identical. This rate of improvement cannot be sustained much longer, at the current rate in the year 2020 one bit of information will requite only one atom to represent it. The problem is that at that level of miniaturization the behavior of the components of a computer will become dominated by the principles of quantum physics. (Williams, Clearwater)
With the size of components in classical computers shrinking to where the behavior of the components may soon be dominated more by quantum physics than classical physics researchers have begun investigating the potential of these quantum behaviors for computation. Surprisingly it seems that a computer whose components are able to function in a quantum are more powerful than any classical computer can be.
It is the physical limitations of the classical computer, and the possibilities for the quantum computer to perform certain useful tasks more rapidly than any classical computer which drive the study of quantum computing.