Bizarre Matter Could Find Use in Quantum Computers

[Ichingcarpenter]

ScienceDaily (Apr. 21, 2010) — There are enticing new findings in the search for materials that support fault-tolerant quantum computing. New results from Rice University and Princeton University indicate that a bizarre state of matter that acts like a particle with one-quarter electron charge also has a "quantum registry" that is immune to information loss from external perturbations

The research appeared online April 21 in Physical Review Letters. The team of physicists found that ultracold mixes of electrons caught in magnetic traps could have the necessary properties for constructing fault-tolerant quantum computers -- future computers that could be far more powerful than today's computers. The mixes of electrons are dubbed "5/2 quantum Hall liquids" in reference to the unusual quantum properties that describe their makeup.
"The big goal, the whole driving force, besides deep academic curiosity, is to build a quantum computer out of this," said the study's lead author Rui-Rui Du, professor of physics at Rice. "The key for that is whether these 5/2 liquids have 'topological' properties that would render them immune to the sorts of quantum perturbations that could cause information degradation in a quantum computer."

Du said the team's results indicate the 5/2 liquids have the desired properties. In the parlance of condensed-matter physics, they are said to represent a "non-Abelian" state of matter.

Non-Abelian is a mathematical term for a system with "noncommutative" properties. In math, commutative operations, like addition, are those that have the same outcome regardless of the order in which they are carried out. So, one plus two equals three, just as two plus one equals three. In daily life, commutative and noncommutative tasks are commonplace. For example, when doing the laundry, it doesn't matter if the detergent is added before the water or the water before the detergent, but it does matter if the clothes are washed before they're placed in the dryer.

"It will take a while to fully understand the complete implications of our results

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100421133125.htm


How soon can we download ourselves into a computer

[bananas]

1. Remember, when you download yourself into a computer,

you're not getting an exact copy, just a rough approximation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizarro

When a scientist is demonstrating his newly invented "duplicating ray" to Superboy, an accident causes the ray to duplicate the teen hero. The copy, quickly labeled "Bizarro", is a flawed imitation as it possesses chalky white skin and childlike erratic behavior. Shunned by the people of Smallville, Bizarro befriends a blind girl. Superboy is eventually forced to "kill" the doppelgänger, using the remains of the duplicating machine, which acts like blue kryptonite (as opposed to green kryptonite, Superboy's weakness) on the copy.<4>