The computer that works best when it's switched off

By /
... I don't know what to say about this NewScientist piece (no 2539, 25-Feb-2006, p 21). I mean, it's freaky isn't it. Check out the film, What The Bleep Do We Know, to blow your mind even more!
The computer that works best when it's switched off

Even for the crazy world of quantum mechanics, this one is weird. A quantum computer program has produced an answer without actually running.

The idea behind the result, suggested in 1998, is to put a quantum computer into a "superposition", a state in which it is both running and not running. It's as if you asked Schrodinger's cat to hit "Run". You would sometimes get an answer out of the computer even though the program did not run.

Now researchers from the University og Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have improved on the original design and built a non-running quantum computer that really works. They send a photon unto a system of mirrors and other optical devices, including a section that runs a simple program by changing the properties of the photon.

The new design includes a quantum trick called the Zeno effect. Repeated measurements stop the photon from entering the actual program, but allow its quantum nature to flirt with the program's components - so it can become gradually altered even through it never actually passes through (Nature, vol 439, p 949).

"It is very bizarre that you know your computer has not run but also know what the answer is," says team member Onur Hosten.

This scheme could have an advantage over straightforward quantum computing. "A non-running computer produces fewer errors," says Hosten. That idea should have technopobes nodding enthusiastically.

Comments

Post a Comment

Be kind

Popular articles

The Difference Between One Million And One Billion

Image
It's feels like a billion is just a bit bigger than a million. Obviously it's bigger but it fits on the same scale as a million, surely. It doesn't. A billion is so so so much bigger than a million. I've trawled the internet finding graphics and videos that show the VAST difference between one million and one billion. Oh, and just to finish with a different misconception about space starting with the classic opening line from the great Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy : “Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.”

Make Your Public Event Calendar Usable To All

Image
If you run a sports club, this post is for you. If you are on a community committee, this post is also for you If you host events, this is for you. If you put on shows, this is for you. In fact, if you do anything that has a date/time component that you'd like to share with people, this is for you . Yep, probably for all of us. Sharing calendars can be both: an effective way of letting everyone know a complete and utter technical pain in the bottomly region If you've posted up an events page onto your website you know how difficult it is to keep up to date, how the readers have to keep coming back to get the latest changes and don't even think about integrating with somebody else's "events page". Ok, so we all know the problem. What's the solution? iCalendar (normally shortened to iCal) ... yep, it's a geek word that you will come to know and love just as much as RSS. In fact, think of it as RSS for calendars. But that's enough geekery, if you want

Catastrotivity, The How To

Image
Exurb2a on teh Interwebs (don't ask me I'm not down wiv da kidz) is a a channel/person/"content creator" that I've only recently discovered and I very glad I have. His videos cover everything, are productions of genius with a lot to say, and can be very funny through some quite deep stuff. He also did, a few years ago, a mini series called Catastrotivity . In 6 episodes of about 10 mins each he gives you the OK, the "Go do it", the "Don't listen to them!" that he's learned over the years of creating. It's is very VERY good. Whilst the above is YouTube you can also get it as a podcast via Spotify, I did, you should.

Mates

Image
Mates, I assume, chatting on the Petone foreshore.