Lvery so ofLen a new Lechnology surfaces LhaL enables Lhe bounds of compuLer performance Lo be

pushed furLher forwards lrom Lhe lnLroducLlon of valve Lechnology Lhrough Lo Lhe conLlnulng
developmenL of vLSl deslgns Lhe pace of Lechnologlcal advancemenL has remalned relenLless
LaLely Lhe reducLlon ln slze of LranslsLors ln Lhe processor has become Lhe key ln lmprovlng
processor's performance however golng by Moore's law lL wlll noL Lake much Llme when slze of
LranslsLors wlll become a few aLoms Lhlck lf Lhe LranslsLors become Lhls small Lhe sLrange effecLs of
quanLum mechanlcs wlll come lnLo play Lhereby requlrlng a new breakLhrough ln Lhe fleld of
compuLlng


ln 1982 Lhe nobel prlzewlnnlng physlclsL 8lchard leynman LhoughL up Lhe ldea of a quanLum
compuLer a compuLer LhaL uses Lhe effecLs of quanLum mechanlcs Lo lLs advanLage 23 Comblnlng
physlcs maLhemaLlcs and compuLer sclence quanLum compuLlng has developed ln Lhe pasL Lwo
decades from a vlslonary ldea Lo one of Lhe mosL fasclnaLlng areas of quanLum mechanlcs 1he polnL
ls quanLum Lechnology offers much more Lhan crammlng more and more blLs Lo slllcon and
mulLlplylng Lhe clockspeed of mlcroprocessors lL can supporL enLlrely new klnd of compuLaLlon
wlLh quallLaLlvely new algorlLhms based on quanLum prlnclples!

1he very Lhlng LhaL makes quanLum compuLlng so powerful lLs rellance on Lhe subaLomlc golngson
governed by Lhe rules of quanLum mechanlcs also makes lL very fraglle and dlfflculL Lo conLrol lor
example conslder a qublL LhaL ls ln Lhe coherenL sLaLe As soon as lL measurable lnLeracLs wlLh Lhe
envlronmenL lL wlll decohere and fall lnLo one of Lhe Lwo classlcal sLaLes 1hls ls Lhe problem of
decoherence and ls a sLumbllng block for quanLum compuLers as Lhe poLenLlal power of quanLum
compuLers depends on Lhe quanLum parallellsm broughL abouL by Lhe coherenL sLaLe 14 1hls
problem ls compounded by Lhe facL LhaL even looklng aL a qublL can cause lL Lo decohere maklng
Lhe process of obLalnlng a soluLlon from a quanLum compuLer [usL as dlfflculL as performlng Lhe
calculaLlon lLself
This usually means isolating the system from its environment as interactions with the external world
causes the system to decohere.
These issues are more difficult for optical approaches as the timescales are orders of magnitude
shorter and an often-cited approach to overcoming them is optical pulse shaping. Error rates are
typically proportional to the ratio of operating time to decoherence time, hence any operation must be
completed much more quickly than the decoherence time.
f the error rate is small enough, it is thought to be possible to use quantum error correction, which
corrects errors due to decoherence, thereby allowing the total calculation time to be longer than the
decoherence time. An often cited figure for required error rate in each gate is 10
~4
. This implies that
each gate must be able to perform its task in one 10,000th of the decoherence time of the system.
Meeting this scalability condition is possible for a wide range of systems. However, the use of error
correction brings with it the cost of a greatly increased number of required qubits. The number
required to factor integers using Shor's algorithm is still polynomial, and thought to be
between and
2
, where is the number of bits in the number to be factored; error correction
algorithms would inflate this figure by an additional factor of . For a 1000-bit number, this implies a
need for about 10
4
qubits without error correction.
[19]
With error correction, the figure would rise to
about 10
7
qubits. Note that computation time is about

or about

steps and on 1 MHz, about

10 seconds.
A very different approach to the stability-decoherence problem is to create a topological quantum
computer with anyons, quasi-particles used as threads and relying on braid theory to form stable logic
gates.
[20][21]

There are several reasons that researchers are working so hard to develop a practical quantum
computer. First, atoms change energy states very quickly -- much more quickly than even the fastest
computer processors. Next, given the right type of problem, each qubit can take the place of an entire
processor -- meaning that 1,000 ions of say, barium, could take the place of a 1,000-processor
computer. The key is finding the sort of problem a quantum computer is able to solve.
f functional quantum computers can be built, they will be valuable in factoring large numbers, and
therefore extremely useful for decoding and encoding secret information. f one were to be built today,
no information on the nternet would be safe. Our current methods of encryption are simple compared
to the complicated methods possible in quantum computers. Quantum computers could also be used
to search large databases in a fraction of the time that it would take a conventional computer.
t has been shown in theory that a quantum computer will be able to perform any task that a classical
computer can. However, this does not necessarily mean that a quantum computer will outperform a
classical computer for all types of task. f we use our classical algorithms on a quantum computer, it
will simply perform the calculation in a similar manner to a classical computer. n order for a quantum
computer to show its superiority it needs to use new algorithms which can exploit the phenomenon of
quantum parallelism.
The implications of the theories involved in quantum computation reach further than just
making faster computers. Some of the applications for which they can be used are
Quantum Communication-
Quantum communication systems allow a sender and receiver to agree on a code without ever
meeting in person. The uncertainty principle, an inescapable property of the quantum world, ensures
that if an eavesdropper tries to monitor the signal in transit it will be disturbed in such a way that the
sender and receiver are alerted.
Quantum Cryptography-
The expected capabilities of quantum computation promise great improvements in the world of
cryptography. ronically the same technology also poses current cryptography techniques a world of
problems. They will create the ability to break the RSA coding system and this will render almost all
current channels of communication insecure.
rtificial Intelligence-
The theories of quantum computation suggest that every physical object, even the universe, is in
some sense a quantum computer. As Turing's work says that all computers are functionally
equivalent, computers should be able to model every physical process. Ultimately this suggests that
computers will be capable of simulating conscious rational thought. And a quantum computer will be
the key to achieving true artificial intelligence.

WlLh classlcal compuLers gradually approachlng Lhelr llmlL Lhe quanLum compuLer promlses Lo
dellver a new level of compuLaLlonal power WlLh Lhem comes a whole new Lheory of compuLaLlon
LhaL lncorporaLes Lhe sLrange effecLs of quanLum mechanlcs and conslders every physlcal ob[ecL Lo
be some klnd of quanLum compuLer A quanLum compuLer Lhus has Lhe LheoreLlcal capablllLy of
slmulaLlng any flnlLe physlcal sysLem and may even hold Lhe key Lo creaLlng an arLlflclally lnLelllgenL
compuLer
1he quanLum compuLers power Lo perform calculaLlons across a mulLlLude of parallel unlverses glves
lL Lhe ablllLy Lo qulckly perform Lasks LhaL classlcal compuLers wlll never be able Lo pracLlcally
achleve 1hls power can only be unleashed wlLh Lhe correcL Lype of algorlLhm a Lype of algorlLhm
LhaL ls exLremely dlfflculL Lo formulaLe Some algorlLhms have already been lnvenLed Lhey are
provlng Lo have huge lmpllcaLlons on Lhe world of crypLography 1hls ls because Lhey enable Lhe
mosL commonly used crypLography Lechnlques Lo be broken ln a maLLer of seconds lronlcally a spln
off of quanLum compuLlng quanLum communlcaLlon allows lnformaLlon Lo be senL wlLhouL
eavesdroppers llsLenlng undeLecLed
lor now aL leasL Lhe world of crypLography ls safe because Lhe quanLum compuLer ls provlng Lo be
vary dlfflculL Lo lmplemenL 1he very Lhlng LhaL makes Lhem powerful Lhelr rellance on quanLum
mechanlcs also makes Lhem exLremely fraglle 1he mosL successful experlmenLs only belng able Lo
add one and one LogeLher nobody can Lell lf Lhe problems belng experlenced by researchers can be
overcome some llke ur Cershenfleld are hopeful LhaL Lhey can whllsL oLhers belleve LhaL Lhe
quanLum compuLer wlll always be Lo fraglle Lo be pracLlcal