But these packets, called photons, are also endowed with the indeterminate properties that make them quantum objects - so an optical computer can also be a quantum computer.
In May Jurvetson invested in Vancouver, Canada-based D-Wave Systems, which aims to build a solid-state quantum computer.
The Air Force is working to see if it can develop a low-power quantum computer using holograms and off the shelf parts.
FORBES: The Air Force Is Working On A Holographic Quantum Computer
Just simulating the abilities of a 40-qubit quantum computer would use all the resources of any of the most advanced supercomputers in the world.
In theory, this uncertainty should allow a full-sized quantum computer to do lots of calculations in parallel, and thus to solve problems that would take forever or, at least, several billion years on a traditional machine.
Two weeks ago a team led by Isaac Chuang at IBM (nyse: IBM - news - people) disclosed that it had built a 5-qubit quantum computer and used it to solve a relatively simple mathematical problem.
The D-Wave computer operates as an adiabatic quantum computer, and consists of a superconducting 128-qubit chip in a cryogenics system within a 10 square meter room.
The Canadian-based company, which was founded in 1999, plans to use this round of financing to build on its hardware success by developing more applications for its D-Wave One quantum computer system.
FORBES: Jeff Bezos And The CIA Invest In D-Wave's Quantum Computer
The IBM team's quantum computer was a straw-thin vial filled with a rust-colored liquid packed with millions of copies of a single organic molecule.
This ability would allow a quantum computer to do the mathematical heavy-lifting required for, say, cracking secret codes, while even the fastest and most advanced supercomputers plod along on the same problem.
If practical, development of a quantum computer could create a supercomputer with a billion-fold increase in performance.
D-Wave Systems announced today that it has signed a multi-year contract with Lockheed Martin that includes the sale of its D-Wave One system, which is the first commercially available quantum computer.
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