The researchers have shown that the arithmetic used in factoring numbers into their prime factors can be translated into the physics of a device—a "quantum simulator"—that physically mimics the arithmetic rather than trying to directly calculate a solution like a computer does.
Although the researchers have not yet built a quantum simulator, they show that the prime factors of large numbers would correspond to the energy values of the simulator. Measuring the energy values would then give the solutions to a given factoring problem, suggesting that factoring large numbers into primes may not be as difficult as currently thought.
"The work opens a new avenue to factor numbers, but we do not yet know about its power," Rosales told Phys.org. "It is very striking to find a completely new way to factor that comes directly from quantum physics. It does not demonstrate that factoring numbers is easy, but finding new ways to factor certainly does not add to the strength of algorithms based on its assumed complexity."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 29 2016, @05:57AM
Yes, but analog computers, unlike quantum ones, are no more powerful than digital computers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 29 2016, @08:21AM
uhm... it makes no sense to talk about the power of an analog computer.
think of it this way: a mirror is an analog computer, a cell phone with a self facing camera, with the camera turned on, is a digital computer.