First quantum gates in silicon

[Johan Wevers]

On 06-10-2015 16:07, Robert J. Hansen wrote:

> Australian researchers have figured out how to make a quantum gate on a
> silicon chip.  This is interesting work, because we've spent a *lot* of
> money learning how to etch silicon.  Being able to build quantum gates
> on the same material that our current systems use is really important
> from an engineering perspective.
> 
> So far they've only been able to build a two-qubit chip.  This means
> there's absolutely nothing to panic over.  Still, it's fascinating news.
>  We live in interesting times.  :)
> 
> http://www.engineering.unsw.edu.au/news/quantum-computing-first-two-qubit-logic-gate-in-silicon

I just saw this posted in sci.crypt:

http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/10/nsa-advisory-sparks-concern-of-secret-advance-ushering-in-cryptoapocalypse/

Short quote from the article linked to above:

    In August, National Security Agency officials advised US agencies
    and businesses to prepare for a not-too-distant time when the
    cryptography protecting virtually all sensitive government and
    business communications is rendered obsolete by quantum computing.
    The advisory recommended backing away from plans to deploy elliptic
    curve cryptography, a form of public key cryptography that the NSA
    spent the previous 20 years promoting as more secure than the older
    RSA cryptosystem.

    Almost immediately, the dramatic about-face generated questions and
    anxiety. Why would the NSA abruptly abandon a series of ECC
    specifications it had championed for so long? Why were officials
    issuing the advice now when a working quantum computer was 10 to 50
    years away, and why would they back away from ECC before
    recommending a suite of quantum-resistant alternatives? The fact
    that the NSA was continuing to endorse use of RSA, which is also
    vulnerable to quantum computing, led some observers to speculate
    there was a secret motivation that had nothing to do with quantum
    computing.

    On Tuesday, researchers Neal Koblitz and Alfred J. Menezes
    published a paper titled A Riddle Wrapped in an Enigma that
    compiles some of the competing theories behind the August advisory.
    The researchers stressed that that their paper isn't academic and
    at times relies on unsourced facts and opinions. And sure enough,
    some of the theories sound almost conspiratorial. Still, the paper
    does a good job of evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the
    NSA's highly unexpected abandonment of ECC in a post quantum crypto
    (PQC) world.


-- 
ir. J.C.A. Wevers
PGP/GPG public keys at http://www.xs4all.nl/~johanw/pgpkeys.html