[MD] Quantum computing

[Magnus Berg]

Hi there

I'd better start by reintroducing myself. I'm Magnus Berg from Sweden and has
been lurking here for so long that I guess most of you here have never seen me
post. On the other hand, I recognize many of the current posters so I guess some
of you will remember me.

Anyway, as some of you might remember, I'm a computer guy and I just saw that a
new quantum computer is being demoed today. I'm afraid I was unable to attend
the demo physically, but their site is very interesting, and pretty MoQ:ish
actually.

Just read this (from http://www.dwavesys.com/index.php?page=quantum-computing)
(my *emphasis*)

"We now know that Turing was only partially correct. Not all computers are
equivalent. His work was based on an assumption — that computation and
information were abstract entities, divorced from the rules of physics governing
the behavior of the computer itself.

One of the most important developments in modern science is the realization that
information (and computation) can never exist in the abstract. *Information is
always tied to the physical stuff upon which it is written.* What is possible to
compute is completely determined by the rules of physics.

Turing's work, and conventional computer science, are only valid if a computer
obeys the rules of Newtonian physics — the set of rules that apply to large and
hot things, like baseballs and humans. If elements of a computer behave
according to different rules, such as the rules of QM, this assumption fails and
many very interesting possibilities emerge."


When quantum computers become more common, I think they will start provoking
philosophical questions in much the same lines we're doing here.

Any takers?

	Magnus