First Quantum Computer demonstrated

Proof of concept


By Nick Farrell: Thursday 15 February 2007, 07:20

MORE THAN 20 years earlier than expected, D-Wave Systems showed off what it claims is the world' s first commercially viable quantum computer.
Dubbed the " 16-qubit" Orion, the machine uses an analogue processor to process gubbins by tapping into the laws of quantum mechanics, rather than using conventional physics.

Chief executive Herb Martin said the Orion was not the beginning of the end for conventional computers but it the was beginning of quantum computers.

In fact it looks like the quantum computer needs digital technology to run classical algorithms and do a bit of pre-processing.

Chief technical officer Geordie Rose said that the product was a devil to sell because the maths behind it tended to make people' s head spin.

The Orion employs a technique called adiabatic quantum computing, developed by Seth Lloyd, a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT. It cools metal circuits into a superconducting state where the electrons can flow freely, resulting in qubits. Then they gradually vary a magnetic field, which lets the qubits slowly adjust to one another. The computer uses 16 microcircuits made of niobium, a rare metal that has conductive properties when cooled.

Orion' s 16 qubits rest on a microchip smaller than the head of a pin and liquid helium, stored in a large vat, is used to do the cooling. In other words, it is about as portable as an elephant stuck in 14 tons of cement and is a long way from getting to your desktop.

For now, it is even slower than most punters' PCs, although D-Wave thinks that there will be a potentially faster 1,000-qubit version available by the end of 2008. However at solving some problems it is a lot faster.

As part of the demonstration, a D-Wave assistant remotely accessed Orion, which is housed in Burnaby, British Columbia, from his laptop in front of audience members and asked it three problems.

The first was to searching for molecular structures that match a pre-selected caffeine molecule, the next was to create a complicated wedding seating plan with stipulations about who could sit where. Finally, Orion was made to successfully fill in various Sudoku puzzles.

The computer managed them ok. Now D-Wave thinks that it will be able to deliver products using the system in the next few years. µ