University Times

Using today's fastest computers, calculating the prime numbers of a 400-digit number would take longer than the age of the universe. Using quantum computers, in theory, the calculation would take less than a second.

"Quantum computers are not simply faster computers," said Jeremy Levy, Pitt assistant professor of physics and astronomy. "They exploit the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics to enable staggering speed-ups of certain kinds of calculations."

Quantum computers would be capable of massive parallel calculations. A traditional computer bit can take on only two values, 0 or 1. By contrast, a quantum bit can be in a superposition of both 0 and 1.

The promise of ultra-fast computing is why the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), U.S. Department of Defense, has funded a new Pitt research center to develop the core technologies necessary to create quantum computers.

The five-year, $5.8 million effort will fund the Center for Oxide-Semiconductor Materials for Quantum Computation, which will develop the quantum mechanical equivalents of the transistors and bits of traditional computers. The center is a multi-institutional, international effort involving five universities and three national laboratories.

According to Levy, who will direct the center, the task of factoring numbers into primes forms the basis of the encryption schemes used on the Internet. Quantum computers, if they can be built, would be powerful enough to crack the codes that protect the security of individuals, corporations and government agencies on the Internet.

"Quantum computers are the 'atom bomb' of information technology," said Levy. "If this technology is feasible, the entire infrastructure for secure communication will have to be overhauled."