Physics

Quantum Computer: First-Ever Blueprint For Building The Most Powerful Computer On Earth Developed

Elaine Hannah
First Posted: Feb 02, 2017 03:30 AM EST

Scientists have developed the first-ever blueprint for building the most powerful computer on Earth, which is the quantum computer. This discovery could revolutionize technology that includes industry, science and commerce.

The findings of the discovery were printed in the journal Sciences Advances (1) on Feb. 1, 2017. It was led by an international team of scientists from Google (USA), the University of Sussex (U.K.), RIKEN (Japan), Aarhus University (Denmark) and Siegen University (Germany).

The new blueprint could lead to the development of a large scale that is more powerful to solve certain problems than any other computer built before. This proposed quantum computer could answer many questions in science and solve scientific problems, develop new, lifesaving medicines, solve the mysteries of space and problems that an ordinary computer could not resolve easily, according to Phys.org.

"It is the Holy Grail of science, really, to build a quantum computer," Professor Winfried Hensinger, the head of the Ion Quantum Technology Group at Sussex University, told The Independent. He further said that they are now publishing the actual nuts-and-bolts construction plan for a large-scale quantum computer.

Professor Hensinger also said that life will change completely. Humans will be able to do certain things that they could never even dream before. He added that this is not an academic study anymore; it really is all the engineering required to build such a device.

The new discovery would introduce connections generated by electric fields that allow charged atoms (ions) to be transported from one module to another. This allows 100,000 times faster connection speeds between individual quantum computing modules likened to now state-of-the-art fiber link technology.

Dr. Toby Cubitt, a Royal Society research fellow in quantum information theory at University College London, said that many different technologies are competing to build the first large-scale quantum computer. He further said that ion traps were one of the earliest realistic proposals. He added that this work is a significant step towards scaling up ion-trap quantum computing.

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