http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- Donhee Ham, Gordon McKay Professor of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics, uses his personal energy and understanding of physics to design innovative integrated circuits. http://www.physorg.com/news179085037.html Physics Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:50:02 EST news179085037 Quantum computing promises ultra-fast communication, computation and more powerful ways to encrypt sensitive information. But trying to use quantum states as carriers of information is an extremely delicate business. Now two physicists have shown, mathematically, how to gently tease out unwanted knots in quantum communication, while keeping the information intact. Their work is reported in the current issue of Physical Review Letters and highlighted with a Viewpoint in Physics. http://www.physorg.com/news178211021.html Physics Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:20:01 EST news178211021 Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have demonstrated the first "universal" programmable quantum informationprocessor able to run any program allowed by quantum mechanics -- the rules governing the submicroscopic world -- using two quantum bits (qubits) of information. The processor could be a module in a future quantum computer, which theoretically could solve some important problems that are intractable today. http://www.physorg.com/news177515046.html Physics Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:45:25 EST news177515046 (PhysOrg.com) -- In a recently published paper, Aram Harrow at the University of Bristol and colleagues from MIT in the United States have discovered a quantum algorithm that solves large problems much faster than conventional computers can. http://www.physorg.com/news177011105.html Physics Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:20:02 EST news177011105 (PhysOrg.com) -- Many scientists believe that quantum entanglement is required in order for effective quantum computing. Entanglement takes place when there is a connection that exists between two objects - even when they are spatially separated - that allows what happens to one to happen to the other. The link is such that each entangled object cannot be adequately described without its counterpart. So far, entangling qubits for practical use has been difficult, since scientists want to be able to entangle several qubits at once. http://www.physorg.com/news176364815.html Physics Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:20:01 EST news176364815 (PhysOrg.com) -- For more than 50 years, physicists have been intrigued by the concept of closed time-like curves (CTCs). Because a CTC returns to its starting point, it raises the possibility of traveling backward in time. More recently, physicists have theorized that CTC-assisted computers could enable ideal quantum state discrimination, and even make classical computers (with CTCs) equally as powerful as quantum computers. However, a new study argues that CTCs, if they exist, might actually provide much less computational benefit than previously thought. http://www.physorg.com/news175421039.html Physics Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:40:01 EST news175421039 (PhysOrg.com) -- For decades, the transistors inside radios, televisions and other everyday items have transmitted data by controlling the movement of the electron`s charge. Scientists now have discovered that transistors could use less energy, generate less heat and operate at higher speeds if they exploited another property of the electron: its spin. http://www.physorg.com/news175283352.html Nanotechnology Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:40:01 EST news175283352 (PhysOrg.com) -- MIT physicist Pablo Jarillo-Herrero has won a 2009 David and Lucile Packard Fellowship, an award he will use to study a new class of materials that could have applications in the semiconductor industry and quantum computing. http://www.physorg.com/news174894793.html Physics Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:40:02 EST news174894793 Key Laboratory of Quantum Information (CAS), University of Science and Technology of China has recently demonstrated a metropolitan Quantum Cryptography Network (QCN) for Government Administration in Wuhu, China. The project is reported in Volume 54, Issue 17 (September, 2009) of the Chinese Science Bulletin authored by Fang-xing Xu et al. http://www.physorg.com/news174891921.html Physics Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:06:41 EST news174891921 With the speed of computers so regularly seeing dramatic increases in their processing speed, it seems that it shouldn't be too long before the machines become infinitely fast -- except they can't. http://www.physorg.com/news174750105.html Physics Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:42:19 EST news174750105 (PhysOrg.com) -- What if atoms could be used to perform the functions currently the province of electronic devices? The goal of atomtronics is to do just that by creating analogues to the common items found in electronic devices. Ron Pepino, a graduate student at JILA and the University of Colorado, believes that he and his colleagues have found a way to create the atomtronic versions of diode and transistor circuits. The work of Pepino, Cooper, Anderson and Holland is described in Physical Review Letters: "Atomtronic Circuits of Diodes and Transistors." http://www.physorg.com/news174303837.html Physics Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:44:44 EST news174303837 (PhysOrg.com) -- In recent years, quantum computers have lost some of their luster. In the 1990s, it seemed that they might be able to solve a class of difficult but common problems - the so-called NP-complete problems - exponentially faster than classical computers. Now, it seems that they probably can't. In fact, until this week, the only common calculation where quantum computation promised exponential gains was the factoring of large numbers, which isn't that useful outside cryptography. http://www.physorg.com/news174286879.html Physics Fri, 09 Oct 2009 06:01:53 EST news174286879 (PhysOrg.com) -- Diamonds, it has long been said, are a girl's best friend. But a research team including a physicist from the National Institute of Standards and Technology has recently found that the gems might turn out to be a patient's best friend as well. http://www.physorg.com/news172862154.html Physics Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:16:51 EST news172862154 (PhysOrg.com) -- While researchers have already demonstrated the building blocks for few-bit quantum computers, scaling these systems up to large quantum computers remains a challenge. One of the biggest problems is developing physical systems that can reliably store thousands of qubits, and enabling bits and pairs to be addressed individually for gate operations. http://www.physorg.com/news171705608.html Physics Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:02:02 EST news171705608 (PhysOrg.com) -- A primitive quantum computer that uses single particles of light (photons) whizzing through a silicon chip has performed its first mathematical calculation. This is the first time a calculation has been performed on a photonic chip and it is major step forward in the quest to realise a super-powerful quantum computer. http://www.physorg.com/news171213314.html Physics Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:15:49 EST news171213314 Key milestones in the development and growth of the Internet. http://www.physorg.com/news170931367.html Technology Mon, 31 Aug 2009 09:57:47 EST news170931367 Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have devised a new type of superconducting circuit that behaves quantum mechanically -- but has up to five levels of energy instead of the usual two. The findings are published in the August 7 issue of Science. http://www.physorg.com/news169221847.html Physics Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:04:34 EST news169221847 (PhysOrg.com) -- Physicists from The University of Queensland have found the emerging field of quantum computing may be more stable than previously thought. http://www.physorg.com/news168706585.html Physics Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:50:01 EST news168706585 The first desktop computers changed the way we managed data forever. Three decades after their introduction, we rely on them to manage our time, social life and finances -- and to keep this information safe from prying eyes and online predators. http://www.physorg.com/news168179517.html Technology Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:32:29 EST news168179517 Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have overcome a hurdle in quantum computer development, having devised a viable way to manipulate a single "bit" in a quantum processor without disturbing the information stored in its neighbors. The approach, which makes novel use of polarized light to create "effective" magnetic fields, could bring the long-sought computers a step closer to reality. http://www.physorg.com/news166182556.html Physics Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:50:36 EST news166182556 (PhysOrg.com) -- A University of Queensland physicist is seeking answers to a persistent problem throughout human history: how do I compute things? None, however, have had the same impact as what we today know as simply the computer, the harbinger of the digital age. http://www.physorg.com/news166110420.html Physics Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:20:01 EST news166110420 (PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, scientists have successfully operated a quantum gate between two remote particles of matter, marking an important step toward the development of a quantum computer. In previous experiments, researchers have used photons, which are difficult to store. Using matter qubits enables the researchers to store the obtained quantum information, opening up new possibilities for the generation of remote networks of entangled qubits. http://www.physorg.com/news165836423.html Physics Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:40:56 EST news165836423 A team led by Yale University researchers has created the first rudimentary solid-state quantum processor, taking another step toward the ultimate dream of building a quantum computer. http://www.physorg.com/news165418586.html Physics Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:37:16 EST news165418586 Physicists have found a way to drastically prolong the shelf life of quantum bits, the 0s and 1s of quantum computers. http://www.physorg.com/news165068877.html Physics Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:00:01 EST news165068877 One of the issues affecting quantum systems is coherence. Understanding coherence and how it breaks down (decoherence) is one of the keys to putting together a powerful quantum computer. And, because wires made from metal are likely to be involved, it is not surprising that some scientists are interested in finding out how decoherence comes about in metallic quantum systems. A recent experiment done with mesoscopic wires may shed light on the question of quantum coherence in metallic systems. http://www.physorg.com/news164426605.html Nanotechnology Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:32:16 EST news164426605 A huge consortium of European researchers is solving some of the fundamental obstacles blocking real quantum computing applications in the short term. At the same time, it is helping to pave the way to a quantum computer. http://www.physorg.com/news163995787.html Nanotechnology Fri, 12 Jun 2009 08:30:02 EST news163995787 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of physicists and engineers at Bristol University has demonstrated exquisite control of single particles of light - photons - on a silicon chip to make a major advance towards long-sought-after quantum technologies, including super-powerful quantum computers and ultra-precise measurements. http://www.physorg.com/news163427868.html Physics Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:39:06 EST news163427868 Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have demonstrated entanglement--a phenomenon peculiar to the atomic-scale quantum world--in a mechanical system similar to those in the macroscopic everyday world. The work extends the boundaries of the arena where quantum behavior can be observed and shows how laboratory technology might be scaled up to build a functional quantum computer. http://www.physorg.com/news163253992.html Physics Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:20:26 EST news163253992 (PhysOrg.com) -- Since 1994, when Peter Shor famously showed that a quantum computer could factor large numbers exponentially faster than any current classical algorithm, physicists have been investigating a variety of quantum computing schemes. However, truly scalable, controlled entanglement between many particles remains an elusive goal. In a recent study, physicists have proposed a new system that uses ultracold atoms trapped in an optical lattice to generate entanglement, which may be a promising method for realizing a scalable quantum computer due to the high degree of control it offers. http://www.physorg.com/news163250271.html Physics Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:18:26 EST news163250271 Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have recently demonstrated a breakthrough in the quantum control of photons, the energy quanta of light. This is a significant result in quantum computation, and could eventually have implications in banking, drug design, and other applications. http://www.physorg.com/news162814379.html Physics Fri, 29 May 2009 11:13:27 EST news162814379