Schrödinger's Killer App: Race to Build the World's First Quantum Computer PDF
Preview Schrödinger's Killer App: Race to Build the World's First Quantum Computer
SCIENCE/PHYSICS Schrödinger’s Killer App Schrödinger’s Killer App Race to Build the World’s First Quantum Computer Race to Build the World’s First Quantum Computer Written by a renowned quantum physicist closely involved in the U.S. government’s Schrödinger’s Killer App: Race to development of quantum information science, Build the World’s First Quantum Computer presents an inside look at the government’s quest to build a quantum computer capable of solving complex mathematical problems and hacking the public-key encryption codes used to secure the Internet. The “killer app” refers to Shor’s quantum factoring algorithm, which would unveil the encrypted communications of the entire Internet if a quantum computer could be built to run the algorithm. Schrödinger’s notion of quantum entanglement—and his infamous cat—is at the heart of it all. The book develops the concept of entanglement in the historical context of Einstein’s 30-year battle with the physics community over the true meaning of quantum theory. It discusses the remedy to the threat posed by the quantum code breaker: quantum cryptography, which is unbreakable even by the quantum computer. The author also covers applications to other important areas, such as quantum physics simulators, synchronized clocks, quantum search engines, quantum sensors, and imaging devices. In addition, he takes readers on a philosophical journey that considers the future ramifications of quantum technologies. Interspersed with amusing and personal anecdotes, this book presents quantum computing and the closely connected foundations of quantum mechanics in an engaging manner accessible to non-specialists. Requiring no formal training in physics or advanced mathematics, it explains difficult topics, including quantum entanglement, Schrödinger’s cat, Bell’s inequality, and quantum computational complexity, using simple analogies. K14277 ISBN: 978-1-4398-9673-0 Jonathan P. Dowling 90000 9 781439 896730 K14277_Cover_mech.indd 1 3/19/13 11:09 AM Schrödinger’s Killer App Race to Build the World’s First Quantum Computer Schrödinger’s Killer App Race to Build the World’s First Quantum Computer Jonathan P. Dowling Boca Raton London New York CRC Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 © 2013 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC Taylor & Francis is an Informa business No claim to original U.S. Government works Version Date: 20130226 International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4398-9674-7 (eBook - PDF) This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. 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Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com and the CRC Press Web site at http://www.crcpress.com Dedicated to My Parents Patricia Mary Dowling and John Philip Dowling Contents Preface ix 1 The Early Years—When Einstein Attacks! 1 Certain Uncertainties 5 All I’m Ever Going to Be Is Incomplete 7 Fairies, Gremlins, and Magic Dice 19 The Inverted Earth Society 28 The Cat in the App 35 2 For Whom the Bell Tolls 49 Clanking Contraptions and Cantankerous Codgers 55 Freedom of Choice, French Finesse, and Loopholes 63 I Never Metaphysics I Didn’t Like 71 3 The Quantum Codebreaker 77 The Trouble with Thulium 82 Turing Machines and a Deutsch Treat 91 Your Pad or Mine? 106 The People’s Key 113 The Bolt from the Blue 120 4 You’re in the Army Now 131 The Great Quantum Diaspora 132 The Notebook, The Spy, and The Workshop 134 The Unlying Lands 171 Interior Panel Siding 178 Needle in a Haystack 179 Quantum Computing in a Coffee Cup—When the Buzz Wears Off 192 D-Wave, BOSS, D-Wave 207 5 More Gadgets from the Quantum Spookhouse 227 Blessed Are the Codemakers 227 Quantum Repeaters and Earth-to-Space Quantum Cryptography 245 vii viii Contents Beam Me Up, Charlie 256 The Tale of the True Timepiece 274 From Quantum Computers to Quantum Sensors 283 Light Blips Shrink Chips 299 The Great Clock Synchronization Saga 308 6 Hilbert Space—The Final Frontier 327 Quantum Technology in a FLASH 327 Qubits, Four Bits, Six Bits, a Dollar 355 The Church of the Larger Hilbert Space 378 To Go Where No Mad Scientist Has Gone Before 396
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