[LINK] Qubits

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

From:   "SecurityProNews" <securitypronews at ientrynetwork.net>
Date:   Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:51:31 -0400 
Subject:   Scientists Prove Uncrackable Quantum Concept 


Some mind-blowingly smart scientists from the University of Michigan, US 
Naval Research Lab, and the University of California at San Diego, have 
figured out how to use lasers to trap an electron in a dark state. 

That means lots of things, but from a security standpoint, it also means 
computers based on quantum technology would be uncrackable by conventional 
machines. 

"The National Security Agency has said that based on our present 
technology, we have about a 20-year window of security," explained UM 
physics professor Duncan Steele. 

"That means if we sent up a satellite today, it would take somebody about 
20 years to crack the code. Quantum computers will let you develop a code 
that would be impossible to crack with a conventional computer." 

Steel and colleagues were able to create a quantum state of a solid-state 
quantum bit (qubit) at rates of a billion times per second (one gigahertz)

Conventional computing requires a bit to be either a 0 or 1, but a qubit 
can be both simultaneously. 

The quantum state was achieved with lasers by trapping and stabilizing a 
single electron within a single semiconductor quantum dot, which, in 20th 
Century now-caveman-esque terms, is similar to a transistor. 

The electron's spin is trapped in a dark state, named such because it does 
not absorb light - which would destabilize it - and while in this state, 
scientists can adjust the amount of 0 and 1 the qubit represents. 

"We are the first to show that you can do this to a single electron in a 
self-assembled quantum dot," Steel said. "If you're going to do quantum 
computing, you have to be able to work with one electron at a time." 

As mind-boggling as that is, how much you want to bet that in 50 years (or 
sooner), young, gifted hackers will be programming electrons as naturally 
as they read a digital book, as if this type of thing has always existed?

About the Author: Jason is a graduate of the University of Kentucky. He 
covers business, technology, and security issues.  
--

Cheers people
Stephen Loosley
Victoria Australia