FUTURE COMPUTER: ATOMS PACKED IN AN “EGG CARTON” OF LIGHT?

[lightspeed]

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scientists at Ohio State University have taken a step toward the development of powerful new computers -- by making tiny holes that contain nothing at all.

The holes -- dark spots in an egg carton-shaped surface of laser light -- could one day cradle atoms for quantum computing.

Worldwide, scientists are racing to develop computers that exploit the quantum mechanical properties of atoms, explained Greg Lafyatis, associate professor of physics at Ohio State . These so-called quantum computers could enable much faster computing than is possible today. One strategy for making quantum computers involves packaging individual atoms on a chip so that laser beams can read quantum data.

Lafyatis and doctoral student Katharina Christandl recently designed a chip with a top surface of laser light that functions as an array of tiny traps, each of which could potentially hold a single atom. The design could enable quantum data to be read the same way CDs are read today.

For full article with pics, click here

 

[cybermole]

Very interesting. Specifically, if possible, the potential of long distance communication without dependence on the infrastructure of the big telcos could be a release from the snail-paced broadband speeds we currently have to endure in Australia.

 

[Vrecknidj]

In order for Moore's Law to continue apace, we'll need to see some amazing advancements in the next 30 years or so. I suppose quantum computing might get us some distance on this path.

I, for one, find Ray Kurzweil's work absolutely fascinating.

Dave

 

[Ermine]

hmm. Sounds really interesting. At first, when I saw the thread title, it struck me as so strange that I had to check it out. I guess advances in technology always sound far fetched and somewhat humorous until they become commonplace.

 

[Wisp]

Quantum computong does seem like the logical next step, doesn't it.

 

[Agent Intellect]

definitely interesting. nanotechnology has sparked my interest as of late, and this certainly seems to fit that category (manipulating atoms at the nano scale). bottom up production will definitely be the wave of the future.

 

[icywindow]

Here's my take on quantum computing:
Ironically, quantum computing really doesn't solve many issues that regular computers have still: we still generally have the problem that our von Neumann machines are built in such a way that makes iteration the most efficient, and the main things that quantum computing address are the impossibility of a stack overflow, the ability to model synapse functions efficiently, and having memory that is quasi-incorruptible. Oh right, and that whole scalability thing with light being a lot more resilient compared to EMW.

Some of this probably won't mean much to anyone other than CS majors, but bear with me:
Stacks work in such a way currently that you have a dedicated area of memory which tells what process is working, and how much to offset, and what is returning. It works on the principle of LIFO (Last in: first out, Last thing in is the thing that is worked on). You set aside only so much memory to the stack, and so once you get over a certain point, you can't add things to the stack anymore. With the advent of memristance, you have a mechanism that remembers many many previous states of the circuit, and thus it is easy to just go back to a previous state. However, the same thing exists to a certain point with magnetic media, which is why sometimes you can get data back after writing over it on a hard drive.

 

[Chronomar]

Has anyone heard about Lene V. Hau, a researcher at Harvard who built a machine that stopped light? This may not soud cool, but it is. All the light you've ever seen has been moving. Always so fast that no one could study the photons properly. But, using a super-dense mass (Bose-Einstine condensate), Dr. Hau stopped it. They plan to use this for super-atom-computer-things in the future.

 

[Artifice Orisit]

Interestingly quantum computers will be able to transfer data with complete disregard for distance. I find the implications of universal perfect data transfer to be very interesting indeed.

Imagine watching live video from another galaxy!

 

[hopefulmonster]

Quantum computong does seem like the logical next step, doesn't it.

quantum computing seems like the final step to me . I was thinking about ray kurzweils prediction that we will become a race of self-enhancing replicating machine intellignce the other night and then of course tried to picture what you would do once the universe was saturated. The only conclusion I could come up with was that you would have to either entangle the universe making all communication instant thus becoming a god or commit mass suicide. Assuming we would still have petty emotions like despair and boredom.

 

[Ancalion]

Most definitely the quantum will be the next major breakthrough of humanity. Also communication will be changed forever by quantum entanglement . You could talk to another entity from another galaxy without any lag. And you could even communicate through time.

 

[hopefulmonster]

Most definitely the quantum will be the next major breakthrough of humanity. Also communication will be changed forever by quantum entanglement . You could talk to another entity from another galaxy without any lag. And you could even communicate through time.

Yeah but don't concepts like "another entity" break down when you bring entanglement into the picture? It seems to me that a entangled universe like I described would be like a kind of universal human instrumentality project.

Here's my line of reasoning:
1.machine intelligence discovers X arrangement of matter is best suited for intelligence.
2.machine intelligence rearranges universe in said configurement
3.machine intelligence realizes they have to entangle the universe to progress
4.universe gets entangled
5.entangled universe=monolithic godlike AI. Line between self/other and universe/machine intelligence breaks down.
6.???

and time would break down to since it's basically a reference point for a lag in communication.

 

[Ancalion]

I am referring to entanglement of 2 particles.

 

[hopefulmonster]

I am referring to entanglement of 2 particles.

Even so is it possible for two entangled particles to have an identity? Wouldn't you have to untangle them to tell them apart?

 

[Da Blob]

Crap I must be getting old! I thought that Superprisms, Photovaics, Carbon nanos and Diatomic shells were going to be components of the next generation of computers...
Every time I check in and try to update/upgrade it seems that my my knowledge is obsolete within microseconds...

 

[Luzian]

In order for Moore's Law to continue apace, we'll need to see some amazing advancements in the next 30 years or so. I suppose quantum computing might get us some distance on this path.

I, for one, find Ray Kurzweil's work absolutely fascinating.

Dave

In 30 years, I'll be too smart to have any useful online discussions! what's the point

Hopefully people's brainwaves will be searchable by google. That would be interesting.

 

[Ancalion]

Even so is it possible for two entangled particles to have an identity? Wouldn't you have to untangle them to tell them apart?

Two particles entangled by a quantum connection cannot be untangled.

 

[FusionKnight]

Quantum entanglement does not allow the transmission of information (as it is understood today). Sorry, no FTL communication with this method...

 

[Ancalion]

As far as i know it has been used for quantum teleportation. Even if it's transporting information on a quantum level...

 

[FusionKnight]

Quantum teleportation also disallows the transmission of information at superluminal speeds.

From wikipedia:

Quantum teleportation, or entanglement-assisted teleportation, is a technique used to transfer information on a quantum level, usually from one particle (or series of particles) to another particle (or series of particles) in another location via quantum entanglement. It does not transport energy or matter, nor does it allow communication of information at superluminal (faster than light) speed. Its distinguishing feature is that it can transmit the information present in a quantum superposition, useful for quantum communication and computation.

 

[Ancalion]

Uh oh. My bad.