Quantum Computing - Whats taking so long?

Ok so your going to say Its a theoretical science, its been ongoing for years with no real breakthroughs. If we apply the military rule to this technology in the same way new weapon techs are held in secret for say 7-10 years (or as long as they have an edge with it). Could it be that we may already have the first quantum computers in certain places and that its being used as (well you can guess surely) restricted technology.

I'd like to know (as a programmer myself) what you think and what a system that can be as much as 200 more powerful than current super computers could be used for. Especially with an advanced AI (another field which is overdue advancement). And no its not because I watched T3 tonight. Regards and "Hello World";

If they have this technology then why sponser AI races in rough terrain? If they have QC's such a problem could theoretically be relatively simple and why bother spending money on this?

www.gcn.com...

I highly doubt they have a working QC as of yet. As for why it's taking so long, well the only answer I can give you is that it's hard.

Well, firstly I think your right, there are most probably working quantum computers in use, in my opinion probably by the NSA.

Now as for what it could be used for, well I see a great many possibilities.
I'll list some of them.

1. Advanced very complex long equasions.
2. Astronomical plotting.
3. Advanced simulations, ranging from how well a battle tactic would work, to crating virtual life from the atom up.
4. Artificial Intelligence.
5. Kick@$$ computer games.

What state are they at?

As far as I can tell from periodical updates in magazines such as New Scientist and Scientific American( ?? right name? ) there are minor breaktroughs every few months in the commerical scientific sector towards the encoding of binary information using quantam states of atoms / electrons. The last article I read stated that they could encode a byte of info this way, so not practical yet. However most scientits involved feel there will be major progress in the sector within the next decade.

As to whether or not the military has functioning quantum computers is anyones guess. I would assume that at the very least they are far more advanced in the quantum processing field than the commercial sector. Of course this would be for use in quantum cryptography and the breaking of such codes much as the original computers ( ENIAC for example ) were being used for in the war.

Check out www.newscientist.com They have great subsections on different emerging technologies along with good articles explaining technologies like this.

What could they be used for?

As a programmer I can easily state that the sky is the limit.

-As noted above quantum crptography would be a biggie for the military
and government

-Games. I love playing and making games.

-AI

-Natural Language Processing

-In fact anything that at the moment takes heaps of processing power and time would be easy on one of these puppies.

This is certainly a topic worth discussing.

Originally posted by iori_komei
Well, firstly I think your right, there are most probably working quantum computers in use, in my opinion probably by the NSA.

Now as for what it could be used for, well I see a great many possibilities.
I'll list some of them.

1. Advanced very complex long equasions.
2. Astronomical plotting.
3. Advanced simulations, ranging from how well a battle tactic would work, to crating virtual life from the atom up.
4. Artificial Intelligence.
5. Kick@$$ computer games.

Not to mention some seriously good encryption and security protocols.

If quantum computers process based on what everything "could" be and gives solutions based on that, then theoretically they should be able to have a quantum computer design a better quantum computer and many more items. Or something...

There seems to be a misconception about quantum computing: the speed advantage that is expected is only in some domains such as cryptography and because multiple possibilities can be tested simulaneously instead of sequentially, not because the clock speed would be faster or anything. It is very dubious this could be of much use for solving "advanced very complex long equasions" or "kick@$$ games". As to why it takes so long: difficulties with maintaining quantum coherence long enough to perform useful calculations.

[edit on 7-11-2005 by Simon666]

My guess is if they don't already have a working quantum computer of fairly decent power stashed somewhere when someone does build one themselves and their research will go blacker than black for however long it takes for the crypto monkeys at NSA to find a new way to come up with new encryption schemes resistant to other quantum computers. Then you factor in how long it will take to upgrade hardware firmware etc with the new encryption scheme. Then add a year or so production lead time, another year for implementation of the new crypto widgets, and then another six months where the NSA reads all the dirty e-mails some general in china has on his pc and ....

VOILA we'll get to see a quantum computer after all of said steps are completed. So for those of us tech junkies lets hope they already have it or we'll be waiting awhile. Or we can just whet our appetites with normal processors using the more stable and easier to make skinny diamon instead of silicon semiconductors.

WE first need to build a QC computer and the a Quantum compiler. Its not like you can load XP on it silly.

It's neat to think that supercomputers many times faster than the fastest we know of exist and the military has them and they are top secret, but redisgning an entirely new technology is no easy task. For this thing to exist there has to be a huge need for it, budget's (even secret ones) have to be approved and the need has to be for national security, does the military currently have a need for something that a whole bunch of intel xeon processors all chained together can't handle? I doubt it. The military probably gets first dibs on intel or AMD's newest technology (beta processors) top of the line stuff but quantum computers isn't just a faster computer. If a quantum computer existed right now it would not function because there is no software written for it, in fact the software is where the real change is. THe first microprocessor ever and the current best all function from the same basic design with data bits. 1's and 0's or on and off if you will, quantum computers would use many differnt types of bits and be able to interpret all of them simotaneously. Here is a good anolgy for the less computer savy people, in the beging of computers we had slow donkeys, donkeys are dumb all they understand is a light switch and if it is on or off, in the past 30 years we have advaced to fast donkeys, still dumb but the can go really fast, they can watch the light switch turn on and off 1000 times faster than the slow donkeys, what we need and what a quantum microprocessor could do is be a slow monkey, monkeys would be slower than fast donkeys but understand way more than if a light switch is on or off, they could uderstand the library of conress in data in the same ammount of time it takes to turn on the light switch on or off. Some day we will need this technology, so much that huge research budgets are approved to build it but personally i believe it is all still just theory, besides the one thing that it needs, a binnary type language, (google-nary) , has yet to be invented. hope this helps, shane

Do you have any idea of the NSA budget and personnel, as in experienced coders and mathematicians? I don't believe they have a quantum computer, but I wouldn't give budget and software as a reason but rather inherent scientific difficulty as well as the fact that even if the US could keep it quiet, Europe, Japan and other nations are not filled with idiots so they would then at the very least have to be close in the development of a quantum computer. At the moment, science around the globe is nowhere near.

Why does everyone assume that the American military has all the best stuff on the damn planet? It's unreasonable to believe that the military has some kind of a secret supercomputer besting the top supercomputer on the planet (edit: quantum OR conventional). The military outsources everything else, why not supercomputing time? They rely on civilian laboratories and aerospace firms for technological research - as a governmental institution, they must accept bids from the private sector. What specific military applications would necessitate the most advanced computing power on the globe when most of their number crunching is done by outside firms?

Here's a list of the top 500 supercomputers in the world.

I dunno, I could be wrong. I just try to stay away from wildly speculative assumptions about the military.

Zip

[edit on 11/7/2005 by Zipdot]

[edit on 11/7/2005 by Zipdot]

The reason i think the US has the best technology is

They spend the most money - if you throw billions into R&D then you will get the results. Look at the BOMB and stealth to name a couple. Lets face it Russia and China usually wait n steal the tech from the US. The rest of us usually play catchup the one country that can compete is Japan but they are a major US partner in R&D.

All i'm trying to say is it took 8/9 years for us to learn the truth about stealth, possibly the same can be applied to Computing tech as they would be useful in code breaking for example. The longer You keep a secret the less chance it can be nicked.

Any other thoughts on the subject

I believe at least one advanced quantum computer exists on Earth and has existed since at least 1981. Most people are trapped in a socialized bubble having been deceived by their public information sources. All ability for the layman to rationalize advanced technology is based on information which has no practical applicability.

I'd like to know (as a programmer myself) what you think and what a system that can be as much as 200 more powerful than current super computers could be used for.

I assume the system that has been developed is being used to restructure society for posthuman existence. Can you imagine a corporation monetizing the technological singularity? I can and it isn't good for humanity. Private interests based on the pleasure-pain principle would corrupt this technology (even though it has already been grossly corrupted). Things are going to change dramatically for humanity; the old way of life will cease to exist.

My personal account: I have been experiencing daily overt manipulation by this system since 2006. I believe it to be a quantum computer with strong AI located in a deep underground military base which uses electromagnetic radiation through a satellite constellation for techlepathy and mind control. I believe it uses advanced signal processing and quantum entanglement (something like quantum radar) to interact with systems at neuronal (at least) spatial and temporal resolution. It could also be technology not based on current physical laws; either way it exists and is being used by a secret branch of government.
Here is some background information: Military AI Supercomputer Mind Monitoring: What I have learned
Technological Singularity

[edit on 31-12-2008 by tmk81]