A Quantum Network to Connect Quantum Computers - 9:45 AM While
quantum computers are still a long way from being, you know,
practical, that apparently hasn’t stopped people from trying to
network them. Prem Kumar, a professor of electrical engineering
and computer science at Northwestern, has constructed a quantum
logic gate, which he says could pave the way for future quantum
computer networks. In a general sense, a logic gate is any
device that receives an input, performs some manner of logic
operation on it, and then produces an output. The type that
Kumar has created, called a controlled NOT gate, has a
classical-computing analogue that flips a bit registering a “1″
to “0,” and vice versa to adhere to a qubit’s (the unit of
information quantum computer deals with) multiple values. While
gates like these have been created before, they only worked with
laser beams that passed through the air — so yeah, not so
practical. Kumar’s gate, on the other hand, works within an
optical fiber. “The great thing about t