Arthur Fuller
fuller.artful at gmail.com
Thu Aug 23 07:00:23 CDT 2012
This snippet from iProgrammer: A Quantum Computer <http://www.i-programmer.info/news/112/4679.html#> Finds FactorsWritten by Mike James Tuesday, 21 August 2012 10:00 The Shor quantum factoring algorithm has been run for the first time on a solid state device and it successfully factored a composite number. Is this the start of the quantum computing revolution? Quantum computing is promised to provide many amazing advantages, but the one that is uppermost in the collective consciousness is its ability to factor numbers. The reason for this concern is that the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) depends on the factoring of large numbers (600 digits or more) being a difficult task for a standard algorithm. In simple terms, public cryptography depends on the asymmetry between multiplying two primes together - easy - and factoring the number that results - difficult. A quantum computer, on the other hand, promises to factor a number of any size in one operation and, if one can be built, the future of the PKI looks bleak and we would have to find encryption methods that were safe against a quantum attack. The summary of this can be found here: http://www.i-programmer.info/news/112/4679.html The original article published in Nature Physics can be found here: http://www.nature.com/nphys/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nphys2385.html (subscription required). -- Arthur Cell: 647.710.1314 Prediction is difficult, especially of the future. -- Niels Bohr