Not Today But Here TomorrowThe future of quantum computing at UNLby Tom Cudd The field of quantum computing always inspires thoughts of futuristic lifestyles and people flying around in jet cars. Little do people know that the future is at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln right here, right now.
The idea of quantum computing arose in the 1970s and 1980s when physicists and computer scientists began to entertain the idea of a computational device based on quantum mechanics. In the ensuing years, some strides have been made, but logistical difficulties also hinder the process of quantum computing. However, there are improvements on the horizon said Charles Cusack, computer science lecturer, who is teaching a course in special topics—an introduction to quantum computing. “Quantum computing is growing enough that if you pick the right niche, you can really see results,” said Cusack. Coding theory, in particular, is of great interest to large corporations and the government due to the research in cryptography. “If they can build a quantum computer big enough, you could have access to every public key code out there,” Cusack said. “Those without them would then be unable to protect their data from those with them. Quantum computers would protect from errors and eavesdropping,” he added, while discussing the benefits of quantum computing.
“If two computers agreed on a key, it can’t be defeated,” Cusack said. Unfortunately, there are still many strides to be made in order to reach this level of research. “One of the difficulties is to be able to write an algorithm with a high probability to get the answer that you want,” said Cusack. For many years, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln has been at the forefront of quantum computing technology and research. In November of 2000, former UNL professor Supriyo Banyopadhyay and the Quantum Device Laboratory were in a competition to receive federal funding to build upon what is known as “quantum dots” technology. These electronic structures are so small it would take 10,000 of them to equal the diameter of a human hair follicle. In a UNL news release, Bandypodhyay explained some possible applications for this technology. “The obvious application is that you can make very small structures and if you can store information in them, you can have very high information storage density. You can also use these structures to do very efficient, very high-speed computation. You can build quantum computers.” He went on to explain that while the current design of a computer could never handle two to the 1000th power bits of data, a quantum computer would only need 1000 atoms to do this much processing. When Bandyopodhyay spoke to the Daily Nebraskan in November of 2000, he stated, “A complicated code might take 10 to 100 years to solve with a classical computer, but a quantum computer could crack the code in a matter of seconds.”
This same research group also worked on creating a military intelligence gathering method. “As small, powerful computers with wings, these bees have to be somewhat intelligent,” said Ianno. Ianno was also asked about the implications of this technology in artificial intelligence. “I am not so sure that artificial intelligence is possible, but if you shove enough information into a quantum computer, it certainly can mimic thinking,” he said. Some of this forward thinking landed UNL much sought after funding. In May 2003, the W.M. Keck Foundation in Los Angeles granted $750,000 to UNL to establish the Center for Mesospin and Quantum Information Systems as well as The Fast Dynamic Laboratory to reside in Behlen Laboratory. According to the W.M. Keck Center Web site, these labs are pioneering work in areas of maximizing data storage density, increasing processing speed, and decreasing power consumption. Just last fall, Dr. Herman Batelaan and his associates captured light. This polarized bit of light within a cell of vaporized rubidium atoms is the first step towards creating a qubit. According to a UNL news release, storing this light is important to storing information in a quantum computer system. “If you have light going a certain way, you have an electric field that oscillates,” Batelaan explained. “It can oscillate horizontally or it can oscillate vertically. Those are the zeroes and ones of your qubit in this case.” Storing the light like this means that something can actually be done with it. In a Daily Nebraskan interview, Ben Williams, then a junior physics and computer engineering major who was on the research team, discussed what this could mean for the field of quantum computing. “It would exponentially increase computer speed and processing beyond any computer we have now,” Williams said. Among other benefits, coding problems that cannot be worked on now will someday be possible with quantum computers. With so many research opportunities in this area right here at UNL, the future may not be now, but it may be sooner than we think. |
At the time, the quantum computing research team, made up of electrical engineers Rod Dillon, Ned Ianno, Latika Menon, Paul Snyder, and P. Frazer Williams, had been working on the research for three years. Even now, we are still at least a few years away from any kind of working small-scale quantum computer in the lab. We can expect this technology to appear on our desktop within the next 25 years, give or take.