Mar 4, 2016
The beginning of the end for encryption schemes? New quantum computer, based on five atoms, factors numbers in a scalable way
Posted by Karen Hurst in categories: computing, education, encryption, nanotechnology, quantum physics
Replacing traditional encryption schemes.
What are the prime factors, or multipliers, for the number 15? Most grade school students know the answer — 3 and 5 — by memory. A larger number, such as 91, may take some pen and paper. An even larger number, say with 232 digits, can (and has) taken scientists two years to factor, using hundreds of classical computers operating in parallel.