3 ms·
It is just around the corner though! We’re not able to make long lived qubits able to survive multiple gate operations necessary for Shor’s algorithm. But the i
by adastra22 2y ago
It is just around the corner though! We’re not able to make long lived qubits able to survive multiple gate operations necessary for Shor’s algorithm. But the issue here is error rates and decoherence time, and these decreasing at a geometric rate. We are getting very close to the tipping point enabling practical crypto breaks.
- fluoridation 2y agoThat reminds me of when galvanic batteries were discovered, and it was thought that the corrosion on the electrodes was something that could be worked on and eliminated. If you don't have a prototype that demonstrates all the properties that you're trying to develop, you have not demonstrated the viability of the technology. It could be that it's possible to achieve those properties with a little more work, or that a device that combines all of those properties simultaneously is simply impossible.
- adastra22 2y agoPeople have shown Shor's algorithm for factoring very small numbers, e.g. 15 and 21. That's been shown to work, even if it doesn't feel impressive. There is no reason to expect it won't continue to work as quantum compute advances.
- fluoridation 2y agoAs I understand it, they had to tweak the circuits to remove the codepaths that they knew the input wouldn't hit because otherwise it wouldn't have worked. So... no, Shor's algorithm has not been demonstrated in practice. What's been demonstrated is a similar algorithm that requires you already knowing the factorization of the number you're trying to factor.