72 replies to this topic

[clay]

Twenty years before most scientists expected it, a commercial company has announced a quantum computer that promises to massively speed up searches and optimization calculations.

D-Wave of British Columbia has promised to demonstrate a quantum computer next Tuesday, that can carry out 64,000 calculations simultaneously (in parallel "universes"), thanks to a new technique which rethinks the already-uncanny world of quantum computing. But the academic world is taking a wait-and-see approach.

D-Wave is the world's only "commercial" quantum computing company, backed by more than US$20 million of venture capital (there are more commercial ventures in the related field of quantum cryptography). Its stated aim is to eventually produce commercially available quantum computers that can be used online or shipped to computer rooms, where they will solve intractable and expensive problems such as financial optimization.

It has been predicted that quantum computing will make current computer security obsolete, cracking any current cryptography scheme by providing an unlimited amount of simultaneous processing resources. Multiple quantum states exist at the same time, so every quantum bit or "qubit" in such a machine is simultaneously 0 and 1. D-Wave's prototype has only 16 qubits, but systems with hundreds of qubits would be able to process more inputs than there are atoms in the universe.

Scientists in the world's many quantum science departments are looking anxiously at whether the demonstration -- linked to a computer museum in Mountain View California, will vindicate their work or cast doubt upon it.

"This is somewhat like claims of cold fusion," said Professor Andrew Steane of Oxford University's Centre for Quantum Computing. "I doubt that this computing method is substantially easier to achieve than any other."

Others are more enthusiastic: "I'll be a bit of a sceptic till I see what they have done," said Professor Seth Lloyd of MIT. "But I'm happy these guys are doing it." Lloyd is one of the scientists who helped develop the "adiabatic" model of quantum computing which D-Wave's system exploits -- a method which D-Wave believes will sidestep the problems which have restricted progress in quantum computing so far.

http://www.linuxworl...681;fp;2;fpid;1

Thoughts?

EDIT: http://www.technolog...Infotech/14591/

"D-Wave's first computer won't be able to accomplish the most widely touted payoff of quantum computing: factoring the extremely large numbers at the heart of modern cryptographic systems exponentially faster than any known computer."

Edited by clay, 10 February 2007 - 10:40 PM.

[chmstar]

Twenty years before most scientists expected it, a commercial company has announced a quantum computer that promises to massively speed up searches and optimization calculations.

D-Wave of British Columbia has promised to demonstrate a quantum computer next Tuesday, that can carry out 64,000 calculations simultaneously (in parallel "universes"), thanks to a new technique which rethinks the already-uncanny world of quantum computing. But the academic world is taking a wait-and-see approach.

D-Wave is the world's only "commercial" quantum computing company, backed by more than US$20 million of venture capital (there are more commercial ventures in the related field of quantum cryptography). Its stated aim is to eventually produce commercially available quantum computers that can be used online or shipped to computer rooms, where they will solve intractable and expensive problems such as financial optimization.

It has been predicted that quantum computing will make current computer security obsolete, cracking any current cryptography scheme by providing an unlimited amount of simultaneous processing resources. Multiple quantum states exist at the same time, so every quantum bit or "qubit" in such a machine is simultaneously 0 and 1. D-Wave's prototype has only 16 qubits, but systems with hundreds of qubits would be able to process more inputs than there are atoms in the universe.

Scientists in the world's many quantum science departments are looking anxiously at whether the demonstration -- linked to a computer museum in Mountain View California, will vindicate their work or cast doubt upon it.

"This is somewhat like claims of cold fusion," said Professor Andrew Steane of Oxford University's Centre for Quantum Computing. "I doubt that this computing method is substantially easier to achieve than any other."

Others are more enthusiastic: "I'll be a bit of a sceptic till I see what they have done," said Professor Seth Lloyd of MIT. "But I'm happy these guys are doing it." Lloyd is one of the scientists who helped develop the "adiabatic" model of quantum computing which D-Wave's system exploits -- a method which D-Wave believes will sidestep the problems which have restricted progress in quantum computing so far.

http://www.linuxworl...681;fp;2;fpid;1

Thoughts?

How fast can a Folding@Home client be written for this thing?

[Mind]

I can understand people being skeptical, but holy mackeral, I thought this announcement would generate a lot more news. It didn't even make any of the national media outlets in the U.S.

Granted, most people have no clue about quantum mechanics/physics, and I only have a layman's understanding, but I do understand how much of a seismic shift this represents in the computing landscape. If this thing works - even with only 16 qbits - it is one of the biggest engineering accomplishments of my life, bar none.

If you accept David Deutsch's (and D-wave's) intepretation of QM then this computer is reaching across parallel universes to do it's calculations. Does anyone realize how wierd and powerful this concept is? Why is no one talking about it? This is science fiction coming true.

Can wait to read about the demo next week. Maybe after they prove a working quantum computer, it will generate more press.

[jerpoint]

As a person who has been burned by the promise of new technology before, I will be quietly watching with healthy amount of skepticism.

Engineers and scientist have been closing in on this sort of thing for a while now. The technology is interesting, but it takes more than that to make a viable technology. I think a lot of researchers get blinded by their fascination with the science. They tend to under-estimate the cost of developing a product and over-estimate the potential market.

If the cost of developing or implementing the technology exceeds the advantages it provides, it won't gain wide acceptance.

Still, I have been watching this group for the last couple of months. I would love to live in Vancouver if they gave me a job.

[chubtoad]

The current best quantum comp can factor 15 into 3 and 5. Lets see this one can factor 21...

[Karomesis]

I can understand people being skeptical, but holy mackeral, I thought this announcement would generate a lot more news. It didn't even make any of the national media outlets in the U.S.

they're too busy watching mindless pop culture crap on tv.

I think this is very, very good news and I look forward to a quantum comp outdoing every computer on the planet within the next 10-20 years.

I love progress. [thumb]

[JohnDoe1234]

I thought this announcement would generate a lot more news. It didn't even make any of the national media outlets in the U.S.

Yeah, I thought the same thing here... I think it's partially because very few actually know the importance of the technology, but I would have figured that the "Parallel Universes" phrase would have been picked up by CNN... but I guess not

I just hope everything pans out... I think it is for real, otherwise they wouldn't risk being destroyed as a company, because if they don't show what they tell... they are finished... simple as that.

[Reno]

http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/508991.html

I wonder how long it will be till I have one running in my living room?

[Richard Leis]

I know it is difficult if not impossible to predict the ramifications of quantum computers, but I wonder how they will be useful in the home? In industry and science, their uses are already apparent; the home seems less clear to me.

How will quantum computers impact media playback, content creation (using tools like Photoshop), business applications (spreadsheets), the Internet (including web browsers), etc? I can see readily apparent benefits to gaming and perhaps virtual worlds.

New technology not only replaces how we use to do things, but enables brand new things to do. I wonder what some of those things will be.

Any neat ideas?

[xanadu]

Probably it has gotten little attention because it doesn't exist yet. I've seen way too many of those breathless announcements that never pan out. When they show up and the bugs are worked out, then we can talk.

[bgwowk]

Quantum computers are not general purpose computers. They can only solve restricted classes of problems. But they are extremely good at solving those problems. Whether D-wave builds them or not, they will eventually be built because, like molecular nanotechnology, the laws of physics say they can.

With regard to parallel universes, quantum computers aren't doing anything new that quantum mechanics hasn't always predicted. The Oxford Interpretation (Many Worlds) just happens to be the favorite QM interpretation of quantum computing experts. There are good philosophical reasons why quantum computing motivates this interpretation, but a working demonstration of quantum computing isn't going change anybody's mind about their interpretation of quantum mechanics. It's sort of like when the first molecular copies of people are made, people will still argue about whether the personal identity of the original transfers to the copy or not.

[Mind]

So Brian, are you saying it is impossible for a quantum computer to do boolean logic?

Also, the CEO of d-wave claims their computer is a hybrid. It has traditional and quantum parts working together.

[Karomesis]

It's sort of like when the first molecular copies of people are made, people will still argue about whether the personal identity of the original transfers to the copy or not. smile.gif

with the current levels of intelligence leaving much to be desired, the mere thought of that argument scares me .

needless to say, we'll need substantially upgraded GPI rates in order to even begin discussing such matters.

So Brian, are you saying it is impossible for a quantum computer to do boolean logic?

forgive my unacceptable ignorance Mind, but what the hell is boolean logic?

[jaydfox]

The current best quantum comp can factor 15 into 3 and 5. Lets see this one can factor 21...

If it's really 16 qubits, it can probably go a lot higher than that, e.g., 54,707 factors into 241 and 227

[jerpoint]

Also, the CEO of d-wave claims their computer is a hybrid. It has traditional and quantum parts working together.

You could have a computer that strickly uses quantum parts, but you would never be sure of the results of the calculations.

[Richard Leis]

Probably it has gotten little attention because it  doesn't exist yet. I've seen way too many of those breathless announcements that never pan out. When they show up and the bugs are worked out, then we can talk.

The company plans to demonstrate a working device on Tuesday. The principals appear to have their backgrounds in order and funding levels are quite substantial for such an undertaking. Unlike Media Fusion, Constellation 3D, and other early announcements of fancy new technologies that never came to pass, this appears to be the real deal. I'll remain skeptical until Tuesday, but until then I don't see any harm in talking

I am also looking forward to Numenta's planned research release next month.

[jaydfox]

I'll remain skeptical until Tuesday, but until then I don't see any harm in talking

I wasn't going to allow myself to get excited until they got a good demo. Of course, I'm not sure how their demo would be validated, so there's always that off chance that we'll get excited following a "successful" test, and then be disappointed later on when we find out they somehow tricked us.

[bgwowk]

So Brian, are you saying it is impossible for a quantum computer to do boolean logic?

No, just that their ability to process logic with massive parallelism is restricted to certain types of problems. You can't just put any computer program into a quantum computer and expect it to run a zillion times faster. It's a specialized kind of processor.

jerpoint wrote:

You could have a computer that strickly uses quantum parts, but you would never be sure of the results of the calculations.

Ba boom (sound of drum to standup comic punchline). Except as a joke, the statement has nothing to do with the subject of the thread.

[Ghostrider]

How fast can a Folding@Home client be written for this thing?

I dunno, but I bet it would run even faster on a Pentium :-)

Anyone remember that slogan? That was good marketing...

I wish Intel would drop those stupid annoying "people dancing" ads. Might as well have Black Eyed Pea's song "Let's get retarded in here" playing in the background. (Not to offend anyone...pretty sure no one here is retarded).

[xanadu]

Probably it has gotten little attention because it  doesn't exist yet. I've seen way too many of those breathless announcements that never pan out. When they show up and the bugs are worked out, then we can talk.

The company plans to demonstrate a working device on Tuesday. The principals appear to have their backgrounds in order and funding levels are quite substantial for such an undertaking. Unlike Media Fusion, Constellation 3D, and other early announcements of fancy new technologies that never came to pass, this appears to be the real deal. I'll remain skeptical until Tuesday, but until then I don't see any harm in talking

I am also looking forward to Numenta's planned research release next month.

OK, but a demonstration while interesting is a far cry from a working model with the bugs ironed out. We have yet to see the fully functioning demo as yet. I'm not saying the concept can't work, I'm just saying I'm not holding my breath with visions of utopia dancing in my head. I remember "cold fusion" and the promise it held. I'm still waiting on delivery of my table top cold fusion power generator.

[bgwowk]

I remember "cold fusion" and the promise it held.

Apples and oranges. While some physics models proposed to support Pons-Fleishman cold fusion may have some foundation, they are not solid. As far as I'm aware, there is no solid physics argument that says electrolytic cold fusion should work. Not so with quantum computers. The physics of quantum computing is solid. It's the practical details of setting up the required physical conditions that are daunting. Worst case, molecular nanotechnology will likely provide the platform to finally build the things late this century.

[jerpoint]

Assuming that the technology is demonstrated to perform as advertised, they still will have a long road ahead of them.

It could be a valuable tool in both academic and industrial research, but I have a hard time see a market big enough to justify the cost of development. It seems like an unlikely under-taking for a small company using venture capital. It would only take one major technical problem to drain their reserves.

It wouldn’t make sense to market this technology for typical home or commercial applications in the short-term. You could never compete with the cost and reliability of conventional systems.

[xanadu]

Converting lead or other base materials to gold is also theoretically possible but has never become economically feasible. Just because something is possible or can be done does not mean you are going to see one in your home any time soon... or ever. Speaking of cold fusion, they are still claiming it works with cavitation supposedly driving it now. It still only works if you really believe in it and interpret your data creatively. That being said, it does not follow that quantum computers can't be built just that we need to keep a healthy sense of skepticism and not expect miracles.

[Mind]

Ok, which day this week is the demo supposed to happen? I have forgotten already.

[Richard Leis]

Today at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California and Thursday in Vancouver, B.C.

[theone]

Interesting statement they made yesterday.

"Paraphrasing (with a technological twist) a 1942 Winston Churchill speech given at the Lord Mayor's Luncheon in London, Martin reassured the audience that the advent of the D-Wave quantum computer does not if fact signal the end of digital computing."

"Nor does it signal the beginning of the end." he added. "It does, however, mark the end of the beginning of quantum computers."


Now all we have to do is wait for 1,000-qubit version that should be available by the end of 2008. I wish them the best of luck.

http://www.extremete...,2094849,00.asp

[A941]

Very interessting!

[JohnDoe1234]

Very interessting!

Yes, very!

[Mind]

Obviously they claim to solve NP-complete problems, however I also noticed this:

The computer solves only one type of problem, which mathematicians call a two-dimensional Isling model in a magnetic field, but through some software trickery, other problems can be recast as this problem.

I wonder if software and mathematical "trickery" will allow people to utilize the special computing of a quantum computer for more mundane number crunching problems encountered by classical computers. Of course, there will need to be quite a few more qbits.

[xanadu]

Quantum computing is still looking a lot like "cold fusion" in the plethora of promises and scarcity of results. Maybe in the year 2525?

***********************
Scientists dubious of quantum claims
Mon, February 19, 2007
By AP


MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. -- Quantum computing is such an elusive goal that even the company claiming to have the "world's first commercial quantum computer" acknowledged it isn't entirely sure the machine is performing true quantum calculations.

And independent quantum computing researchers said they are dubious of some of the claims made by D-Wave Systems Inc. because the privately held Canadian company has not yet submitted its findings for peer review, a standard step for gaining acceptance in scientific circles.

Many scientists believe that true quantum computing -- which is based on the unusual properties of quantum physics -- promises to solve certain factoring, simulation and other intensive problems faster than today's machines that rely on classical physics. Most say it's likely still years or decades away.

"Until we see more actual measurements, it's hard to know whether they succeeded or not," said Phil Kuekes, a computer architect in the Quantum Science Research Group at Hewlett-Packard Co.'s HP Labs.