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posted by janrinok on Tuesday June 23 2015, @05:24PM   Printer-friendly
from the but-does-it-run-linux? dept.

D-Wave Systems Inc. has announced that it has built a quantum annealer with over 1000 qubits. Previously, D-Wave promised to deliver 1152 qubit systems in March 2015.

D-Wave's quantum computer runs a quantum annealing algorithm to find the lowest points, corresponding to optimal or near optimal solutions, in a virtual "energy landscape." Every additional qubit doubles the search space of the processor. At 1000 qubits, the new processor considers 21000 possibilities simultaneously, a search space which dwarfs the 2512 possibilities available to the 512-qubit D-Wave Two. ‪In fact, the new search space contains far more possibilities than there are particles in the observable universe.

The new processors comprise over 128,000 Josephson junctions (tunnel junctions with superconducting electrodes) in a 6-metal layer planar process with 0.25µm features, believed to be the most complex superconductor integrated circuits ever built.

The press release goes on to explain that the new generation of D-Wave processors runs at a 40% colder temperature (closer to absolute zero than before), reduces noise levels, and allows for "new modes of use."

A blog post explains that specific delivered systems will vary in qubit count, but should have around 1152 qubits.


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  • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Tuesday June 23 2015, @09:40PM

    by kaszz (4211) on Tuesday June 23 2015, @09:40PM (#200113) Journal

    So how far are we from quantum computers smashing public key and asymmetrical encryption?

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  • (Score: 2) by arslan on Wednesday June 24 2015, @12:33AM

    by arslan (3462) on Wednesday June 24 2015, @12:33AM (#200170)

    With QC? No idea.. but just smashing public key and asymmetrical encryption, the NSA is already effectively achieving the same results in other ways.

  • (Score: 2) by mtrycz on Wednesday June 24 2015, @10:01AM

    by mtrycz (60) on Wednesday June 24 2015, @10:01AM (#200308)

    About 5$
    https://xkcd.com/538/ [xkcd.com]

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    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by kaszz on Wednesday June 24 2015, @10:30AM

      by kaszz (4211) on Wednesday June 24 2015, @10:30AM (#200313) Journal

      Requires physical violence access. Not always possible.