The RIKEN Institute of Science and Technology and the University of Tokyo have announced the development of a new type of optical quantum computer capable of general-purpose computing. This quantum computer uses light as an information carrier and is more capable of high-speed and large-scale quantum computation than previous quantum computers.

The quantum computer is a brand new computer based on the principles of quantum mechanics, which cleverly utilizes features such as quantum entangled states and quantum superposition states to process information, said a joint press release issued by the research institutions. Realizations of quantum computers include superconductivity, neutral atoms, ions, silicon and light.

Optical quantum computers use photons to encode quantum bits and realize quantum computation through quantum manipulation and measurement of photons, which is expected to solve computational tasks that are difficult or poorly solved by conventional computers, such as code-breaking and molecular simulation. Unlike other quantum computers, such as superconducting quantum computers, which must operate at extremely low temperatures, optical quantum computers can operate at near room temperature.

The optical quantum computer developed here uses a combination of time-division multiplexing, measurement induction and other techniques to realize large-scale and efficient quantum computation. The types of calculations that previous quantum computers were not good at are also expected to be solved by the new optical quantum computer.

Article source: Xinhua News Agency