A Shortcut Through Time: The Path to A Quantum Computer

A Shortcut Through Time: The Path to A Quantum Computer
ISBN-10
1407073532
ISBN-13
9781407073538
Category
Science
Pages
224
Language
English
Published
2011-02-15
Publisher
Random House
Author
George Johnson

Description

The newest Pentium chip powering PCs and laptops contains 40 million electronic switches packed onto a piece of silicon about the size of a thumbnail. Several years from now, if this incredible shrinking continues, a single chip will hold a billion switches, then a trillion. The logical culmination is a computer in which the switches are so tiny that each consists of an individual atom. At that point something miraculous happens: quantum mechanics kick in. Anyone who follows the science news or watches 'Star Trek' has at least a notion of what that means: particles can be in two or more places at once. Atoms obey a peculiar logic of their own - and if it can be harnessed society will be transformed. Problems that would now take forever would be solved almost instantly. Quantum computing promises nothing less than a shortcut through time.

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