For now they are only being used for research purposes. For example, simulating Quantum effects in many atom physics and implementing error correction for future quantum computers. Any real applications still need some time but the pace of development is really quite something.
Comment on IBM releases first-ever 1,000-qubit quantum chip
Smokeless7048@lemmy.world 11 months ago
This really is amazing to see. It feels like just year when we were discussing 1, 2, or 10 qubits.
Are there any/many current uses for these quantum computers?
rishabh@discuss.tchncs.de 11 months ago
Chrobin@discuss.tchncs.de 11 months ago
Currently, there is basically only one real world application we really know: Factoring numbers into prime factors. And we can’t know for sure whether there will be more even.
FooBarrington@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Sorry, but that’s completely wrong. There has been a lot of research into quantum algorithms, and we have many examples besides Shor’s algorithm, for example: amarchenkova.com/…/5-quantum-algorithms-that-coul…
Chrobin@discuss.tchncs.de 11 months ago
I am a physicist and truly appreciate the effect of quantum computing on our simulations, but with “real world” I meant proper industrial use. And for that, there are hardly any algorithms known except Shor’s. When the CEO of Deutsche Bank says he will do his bank transactions on a quantum computer, you know the topic is over-hyped.
MonkderZweite@feddit.ch 11 months ago
Wasn’t there a study that, with the current approach of evaluating an average to break it down to a few finite states, they might never be able to do for what they were developed; cracking passwords?
frezik@midwest.social 11 months ago
If by “cracking passwords” you mean reversing password hashes in a database, quantum computers aren’t going to make a big dent there. The standard industry ways of doing that wouldn’t be affected much by QCs. Breaking encryption, OTOH, with QCs is a concern, but also vastly overrated. It would take orders of magnitude more qubits to pull off than what’s been worked on so far, and it may not be feasible to juggle that many qubits in a state of superposition.
I get really annoyed when people focus on breaking encryption with QCs. They are far more interesting and useful than that.
QC can make logistics more efficient. Have you ever seen photos of someone unpacking a giant Amazon box holding one little micro SD card? Amazon isn’t dumb about these things, but our best methods of packing an entire truck is a guess. Packing algorithms would take too long to calculate how to perfectly pack it, so they come up with a solution that seems OK, and that leads to a few “filler” boxes that are unnecessarily large, among other inefficiencies. QC can solve this problem without taking the age of the universe to come up with a solution.
The order in which that truck delivers those packages can also be made more efficient with QC.
Then there’s molecular simulations, which have the promise of making medications that are more effective, more likely to pass trials, and with fewer side effects. This can be done far faster on a QC.
ADON15@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Interesting, I’ve only really heard of breaking encryption with them. Is there already a proven algorithm for packing that could be reasonably done with a qc not too far into the future
frezik@midwest.social 11 months ago
There is. Here’s a couple of papers:
Smokeless7048@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I dont think that the only use of Quantum computers is password cracking, rather that one of the types of work loads thats much easier on a quantum computer.
jaybone@lemmy.world 11 months ago
bitcoin mining.
ikidd@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Man, if something like this could make crypto obsolete, I would laugh like a mf.
hansl@lemmy.world 11 months ago
There’d just be new cryptocurrencies. There are crypto algorithms that are already quantum resistant. Monero is a great example.
You seem to be under the impression that crypto somewhat relies on current technology to exist. It’s a set of heuristics and algorithms, not a single implementation. And those can evolve for new use cases or technologies.
What you said is akin to “if something like this could make databases obsolete”.
Redredme@lemmy.world 11 months ago
The question, the problem with crypto, is not how, it’s why?
It isn’t about if we can or cannot. It’s about the usecase of it all.
For now, the only use case crypto has is wel… Betting. It’s hard to call it anything else like speculation.
You would be out of your mind to use it as a currency. The worth of crypto is too volatile. Even black market usage is problematic due to this. (did i just buy a pound of coke for 50k or 100k? Who knows? I guess we see tomorrow)
It also is too slow to use as a currency; the transaction times are off the charts compared to other forms.
It also is the most wasteful form for storing wealth.
It’s also the most risky way for storing wealth. The amount of hacks and scams are insane.
It, in its current form will never be a legal tender. Currency is about control for governments, to devalue or not, to prop up the economy, boosting it or easing it down when needed and crypto doesn’t provide that. So to use that wealth you’ll always need an exchange. A third party. Which, recent history has thought us, are very prone to abuse and regulation. they can be banned overnight. (China comes to mind)
It’s a solution. The question is for what. The popularity of it all is based on 2 things : greed and the fear of missing out. (which again boils down to greed)
Luisp@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 months ago
It mines all possible bitcoins and it’s over for the rest of crypto too
SuckMyWang@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Not how it works as far as I know. If people start mining with a quantum computers the difficulty will increase making it more secure (one of bitcoins main features). Traditional computers will drop out due to lack of rewards and more powerful quantum computers will enter and compete with the original quantum computers and the cycle continues. It’s a self balancing system.
frezik@midwest.social 11 months ago
QC would be completely devastating to bitcoin. Anyone with a sufficient QC could break any block of the bitcoin chain they want, essentially giving all the bitcoins to themselves. There are other cryptocurrencies that are quantum-resistant, but bitcoin itself would be done.
Nighed@sffa.community 11 months ago
But you have control of the network with a majority of mining right? So it’s very possible that one or more organisations could control it for long enough that it’s not trusted?
And how does proof of stake work cryptography?
800XL@lemmy.world 11 months ago
breaking encryption algorithms
Smokeless7048@lemmy.world 11 months ago
From what i heard, even 1,000 qubits isn’t close to enough for modern passwords: www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00017-0
Rin@lemm.ee 11 months ago
Paywall. Also, passwords and RSA are two different things.
aBundleOfFerrets@sh.itjust.works 11 months ago
Reversing hashing algos is what people mean when they talk about quantum computers cracking passwords / encryption, though.