>Does the NSA have a quantum computer in the basement of its headquarters in Maryland (pictured above)? It is theoretically possible, but pretty unlikely...
A Canadian firm called D-Wave is presently selling a specialised kind of quantum computer—Lockheed Martin, an American defence giant, and Google have each bought one—but it is not suitable for this kind of work.
In-Q-Tel - "About Us"
>"We make investments in startup companies that have developed commercially-focused technologies that will provide strong, near-term advantages (within 36 months) to the IC mission. We design our strategic investments to accelerate product development and delivery for this ready-soon innovation, and specifically to help companies add capabilities needed by our customers in the Intelligence Community.
"D-Wave Systems, Inc., the World's First Commercial Quantum Computing Company, Secures $30 Million in a New Equity Round From Investors Including Bezos Expeditions and In-Q-Tel" [0]
"Burnaby, BC - Milpitas, CA - October 4, 2012 -
D-Wave Systems, Inc. today announced that it has closed a $30 million round of equity funding. Bezos Expeditions and In-Q-Tel (IQT) have joined the investment round. Bezos Expeditions is the personal investment company of Jeff Bezos. IQT is the strategic investment firm that delivers innovative technology solutions in support of the missions of the U.S. Intelligence Community."
The most advanced math a quantum computer has done to date is "factored 21 into 3×7, with high probability (Martín-López et al. 2012)."
Remember: companies are in the game of marketing hype to ride your scifi hopes and dreams. When you see a company saying "quantum" anything, discount their unqualified claims greatly. (Investors are not immune to being manipulated by hype. Claiming "they must be good because they have fancy investors!" provides no more weight to their ability than a hobo claiming he keeps the airplane aloft by snapping his fingers every 3.2 seconds.)
> a hobo claiming he keeps the airplane aloft by snapping his fingers every 3.2 seconds
Interesting comparison :p Sounds like it might be rooted in personal experience. Is it?
The D-Wave machine is not a general quantum computer.
For example, the quantum computer that factored 21 into 3 x 7 did it by using Shor's algorithm for quantum factoring in polynomial time. The D-Wave machine cannot implement Shor's algorithm.
The D-Wave machine would be more capable on a different problem, one that maps efficiently onto the D-Wave machine's problem space. But we're talking about factoring here.
>Does the NSA have a quantum computer in the basement of its headquarters in Maryland (pictured above)? It is theoretically possible, but pretty unlikely...
A Canadian firm called D-Wave is presently selling a specialised kind of quantum computer—Lockheed Martin, an American defence giant, and Google have each bought one—but it is not suitable for this kind of work.
In-Q-Tel - "About Us"
>"We make investments in startup companies that have developed commercially-focused technologies that will provide strong, near-term advantages (within 36 months) to the IC mission. We design our strategic investments to accelerate product development and delivery for this ready-soon innovation, and specifically to help companies add capabilities needed by our customers in the Intelligence Community.
"D-Wave Systems, Inc., the World's First Commercial Quantum Computing Company, Secures $30 Million in a New Equity Round From Investors Including Bezos Expeditions and In-Q-Tel" [0]
"Burnaby, BC - Milpitas, CA - October 4, 2012 - D-Wave Systems, Inc. today announced that it has closed a $30 million round of equity funding. Bezos Expeditions and In-Q-Tel (IQT) have joined the investment round. Bezos Expeditions is the personal investment company of Jeff Bezos. IQT is the strategic investment firm that delivers innovative technology solutions in support of the missions of the U.S. Intelligence Community."
[0] http://www.dwavesys.com/en/pressreleases.html#investment_201...