Comment Quantum Computing -- viable or mere speculation? (Score 1) 498
As the semiconductor industry is slowing pushing the theoretical limits of deep sub-micron, do quantum computers offer a viable alternative to standard Von Neumann architectures, in the forseeable future?
In the field of VLSI layout in particular (I'm referring mostly to FPGAs and CPLDs, although the same problems apply to large ASICs as well), feared problems such as mutual inductance and power dissipation through heat are becoming bigger and bigger issues that the industry, as a whole, must deal with.
Does quantum computing promise a new model of computation that would introduce a high enough degree of nondeterminism that we might even be able to apply facets of probability theory and fuzzy logic to exponentially increase our computational muscle? If it does indeed have merit, what kinds of implications might it entail from an architecture standpoint? Would the algorithms and computation models that we've developed over the last thirty years or so be moot? Would we have to return to the proverbial drawing board?
Or is there a slight chance that there might be a sufficient problem mapping from a (deterministic) Von Neumann architecture problem space to a (nondeterministic?) quantum computing problem space?
Is quantum computing merely a solution that is "theoretically applicable, empirically not"?
And finally, I've read that quantum computing does indeed offer some degree of computational nondeterminism. To what extent is this true?
Thank you for your time.
