World's first programmable quantum chip

[Tom62]

A team of engineering geniuses from the University of Bristol, England has developed the world's first re-programmable, multi-purpose quantum photonic computer chip that relies on quantum entanglement to perform calculations. Most importantly, though, unlike existing quantum photonic setups which require apparatus the size of a "large dining table," this new chip is tiny: just 70mm (2.7 inches) by 3mm (pictured below) — not exactly a 22nm component size, then, but small enough to squeeze inside a computer; and really, that's the whole point. This chip, fundamentally, is like a very basic electronic chip, but for light. This chip, for the first time, brings the possibility of quantum computing to home and mobile computers.

Source: http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/108573-worlds-first-programmable-quantum-photonic-chip

[Tank]

Bloody hell! Fascinating.

[Pharaoh Cat]

Cool!  Now I want a sci-fi story where the proliferation of quantum entanglement events inside computers does something very unexpected to the universe, like, say, open up a wormhole from the Earth to some other planet where quantum entanglement computing has also just started...

[xSilverPhinx]

Moore's Law...meh

The reality is that the same thing can be at two places at once, and so can do more things at once than a normal non entangled chip...who would've thought it!

[Crocoduck]

I tried reading Entanglement by Amir Aczel but it made my brain hurt.

[Happy_Is_Good]

Cool!  Now I want a sci-fi story where the proliferation of quantum entanglement events inside computers does something very unexpected to the universe, like, say, open up a wormhole from the Earth to some other planet where quantum entanglement computing has also just started...

Nope...it just won't do that.  I studied optical computing way back in the late 1980's and I am amazed that the subject holds so much fascination today, for it certainly has not seemed to have advanced much since then!

Back in the 1980's we were experimenting with electrically-modulated, Mach-Zehnder Interferometers and, from reading this universities website, they are doing much the same today (except overcoming a lot lower signal-to-noise ratio than we would have conceived as practical.).  Nevertheless, I'd love to see their photon detectors....I mean they must be liquid cooled (nitrogen, at least) and HUGE - and so must the photonic source be huge!  We would have never considered such impractical stuff!

When we were working with Lithium Niobate technology back in the 1980's, the signal-to-noise ratio screwed us, and I figure it is still the same with the so-called current "Silicon" technology or these guys would be talking about how they overcame the signal-to-noise ratio problem instead of using such confusing terms as "Quantum Entaglement" - which mean nothing other than simple "Optical Diffraction" to these guys (at least what I could tell form the diagrams at the university website).

Today, we have electro-optic driven Mach-Zehnder Interferometers on sale on the market: and they are very fast.  I just don't know why anyone would want one, for the optical signal-to-noise ratio associated with these devices are still a bitch.  Nevertheless, they exist....although they are not what makes these ultra-fast optical modulators run the internet by a very long shot - and may never well be for a long time.

All I am saying is this...just don't get too excited yet about these so-called "Breakthroughs".   There is way to much hype, and too little substance right now.

Eventually, it will happen...just not yet.