Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have enticed six atoms into spinning simultaneously in two opposite directions in an experiment that could advance quantum computing.
Researchers believe quantum computers could solve problems exponentially faster than today's computers of a similar size. It would take today's supercomputers years to break the best encryption code employed to protect bank transactions, for instance. Quantum computers could quickly decipher codes. Researchers see quantum computers being used to optimize complex systems such as airline schedules and database searching, develop fraud-proof digital signatures, or simulate complex biological systems to create new drugs.
The experiment, along with another one conducted by Austrian researchers, are described in the Dec. 1 issue of the science journal
Nature.
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Information Week
Dec 1, 2005, 05:41 PM
