Wonderfest: Quantum Computers: Where We Are & Where We're Headed

In recent years, there has been a dramatic worldwide increase in scientific research toward - as well as financial investment in - the development of a quantum computer: a computational machine whose inner workings are governed by the laws of quantum mechanics. These tremendous efforts are motivated, in part, by the promise that quantum computers can perform tasks unthinkable for a classical computer. For example, to factor a 300 digit number on a 1-THz quantum computer would take approximately 1 second. The same task on a 1-THz classical computer would take nearly 150,000 years!

UC Berkeley physicist Norman Yao will present a broad overview of current efforts toward building a quantum computer. Then, he will give a vision for the first types of algorithms and simulations that might naturally be performed on a near-term quantum computer.