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	Guest Post – Quantum Computers: Cool Computer Science of the Future by Alexis Bonari July 28, 2010 Alexis Bonari No Comments
	Categories: Guest Articles, Miscellaneous Tags: Quantum Computing

Put the word “quantum” in front of any other term, and you get something that sounds like it belongs on an episode of Star Trek. Quantum computers, however, are no longer relegated to the world of science fiction. In a few short years they will be science fact.

A quick review of modern memory storage and processing

Modern computer memory manipulation and storage is transistor based. Information is stored in bits, and each bit represents a one or a zero. Essentially, the modern computer’s logical processes are limited to the two dimensional one and zero paradigm. Also, the speed at which processes can take place is limited by the speed the electrons can pass through the wires/circuits that make up the guts of the computer.

What the heck is a quantum computer?

Quantum computers are based on what is called a quantum Turing machine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_computer). Essentially, the original Turing machine was a strip of paper divided into little squares. The programmer would designate each square as a 0, 1, or leave it blank.
In the early days of computers, this literal strip of paper would be fed into the computer that would then read and interpret the 0’s and 1’s. In a quantum Turing machine, the “strip of paper” is quantum sized and the potential designation for the boxes are 0, 1, and what’s called a superposition of 0 and 1. In other words, there’s a third state that allows the box to exist as 0, 1, and everything in between.

Instead of bits, quantum computers will work on the principal of qbits. These qbits will be able to exist in three different states instead of two, and are composed of atoms, ions, photons and electrons.

3D+ logic and multitasking

The nature of the qbits would allow a quantum computer to exhibit parallelism, running multiple computations simultaneously. Our current computers can only a few computations at a time. Imagine this: a 30-qbit computer would run at 10 teraflops. Today’s most advanced super computers don’t even come close to that level of computing power.

What does this mean?

To say that quantum computers will revolutionize technology is an understatement. Algorithms that are too time-intensive to run will become accessible for data gathering. One quantum computer would be able to quickly break into our most advanced encryption programs and network security systems, rendering them obsolete. Some even believe that truly sentient AI’s will become possible, as our biological brains most likely work on a similar set of principals.

Computer science will continue to be the science of the future, but the next generation of computer scientists might well have to moonlight as quantum physicists.

Bio: Alexis Bonari is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at onlinedegrees.org, researching various accredited online degree programs. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.