Saturday 27 June 2009

Computers with power of Quantum!

*Aside: I am sorry, Reader, for my tartiness, yet again. All I can say is sorry. I will not make any excuses (Flying to a new Province, Working LONG shifts and trying to make best of being to my "lonesome"). Without further delay...*

Hello Readers, last time we were together I said that electrons are nasty bugger because they do weird stuff that is out of the norm compared to our perception of thing in the world we see with our naked eye. Well here I will discuss a practical use of such phenomenon.

Now, when "Computer" is mentioned, you probably think about the PC (Personal Computer... Mac or Windows). It's kinda hard not to... it's right in front of you. I will define a computer as a machine that can do work. I consider a robot a computer, it seems fitting.

As eveyone is well aware, computers have been getting extremely faster in the last decade or so. And we also all know that devices that control the "thinking" of the computer have gotten smaller. This is in accordance to Moore's Law. The law pretty much states, the number of transisters on a microprocessor (which is inside the key ingredient to what you are seeing) doubles after 18 months. This will keep going until atleast 2020 but up to 2030! I'm telling you now, the microprocessors are pretty small now compared to the processor in the Commador 64.

So if a processor is supposed to get smaller after 18 months, how will it get done?

That's when we Quantify the processor. What I mean is, we need to harness the power of an atom! If we can use the energy generated from an excited electon, or even fission reaction (without giving us cancer in the process), the we would be able to run a computer faster, stronger and more stable (unless you have Windows, then your just SOL! Sorry, I use Windows so I am only attacking myself).

Other than a smaller processor is there really an advantage? Sure there is! In order for you to understand, let go back to last post. I said that small object (atoms, electron ect.) act like a wave... and can interfere. The diagram showed a Double Slit experiment. Well, there are 2 types of interferance. Imagine 2 sinosoidal waves coming at each other.
  1. If the the waves are in phase, when a crest meets a crest or trough meets the other trough (or 2 of the same points meet) you have Constructive interferance. The 2 waves make a "super wave" and the waves add onto each other.
  2. If the wave is out of phase (all the other times ie. crest meets trough) we have Destructive interferance. the waves cancel each other out.
This is the Law of Superposition. When 2 wave fronts meet, the waves are "additive". They will add on to each other.

This relates to the Quantum Computer because of our own basic unit of data... BITS. Your computer's memory works using a binary system, a series of 1's and 0's. But with a quantum comupter this will change. Think as if a bit was a wave now. When it interacts with another bit (4 bits to a byte, so constant interaction) we will have interferance. Thus, we will have a superposition of a bit. The bit will be call a Quabit (or Qubits)!

This makes for a more efficient machine. It's able to to store more memory (kinda like our brain except not). It will also promote laziness (don't all PC's do that?). Instead of calculating huge factored numbers and what not in our head (pencil and paper), it will be able to process the numbers.

That's pretty much it. Like always, please leave a comment so I know you are still living and also interest. Also, I take topic suggeustion. After the next post on Entanglement, I will something to pop in my head (my mind WILL comeup with something weird) or I'll use your suggeustion. Up to you.

Have a good week!

1 comment:

JPoisson said...

Now computers with the power of quantum arises a new problem. Machines now have a genetic structure and can easily adapt to their surroundings if given the right framework.