DARPA to Invest $2.8 Billion in Research and Development for Quantum Computing

Strategic Insights -

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plans to invest over $2.8 billion in 2004 on research and development for the Pentagon, with a significant portion of this investment dedicated to quantum computing. This emerging field has the potential to revolutionize computing by solving complex problems in seconds that would take centuries to solve on current silicon-based computers. Companies such as AT&T, Hewlett-Packard (HP), IBM, and Microsoft are already exploring the possibilities of quantum computing, and DARPA's Focused Quantum Systems (foqus) program aims to build a quantum computer capable of factoring a 128-bit number in 30 seconds with 99.99 percent accuracy.

Key Takeaways:

  • DARPA will spend over $2.8 billion in 2004 on research and development for the Pentagon, with a significant portion dedicated to quantum computing.
  • Quantum computers have the potential to solve complex problems in seconds that would take centuries to solve on current silicon-based computers.
  • Companies such as AT&T, Hewlett-Packard (HP), IBM, and Microsoft are already exploring the possibilities of quantum computing.
  • The DARPA program, Focused Quantum Systems (foqus), aims to build a quantum computer capable of factoring a 128-bit number in 30 seconds with 99.99 percent accuracy.
  • Supercomputers built to the arcane laws of quantum physics often run at temperatures near absolute zero and occupy spaces that look like a vial of liquid more than they resemble an electronic box.
  • Pratt & Whitney would benefit from a ten-times-over performance in quantum computing, but notes it is likely a decade or two away.
  • Topics covered by the DARPA program include Microsoft's interest in quantum computing, the possibility of building quantum computers of useful size in the known universe, and alternative successors to silicon-based computers such as hexagonal boron nitride nanoribbons or other forms of thin, two-dimensional crystals.

Statistics:

  • DARPA will spend over $2.8 billion in 2004 on research and development for the Pentagon.
  • The Focused Quantum Systems (foqus) program aims to build a quantum computer capable of factoring a 128-bit number in 30 seconds with 99.99 percent accuracy.
  • Quantum computers have the potential to solve complex problems in seconds that would take centuries to solve on current silicon-based computers.
  • Companies such as AT&T, Hewlett-Packard (HP), IBM, and Microsoft are already exploring the possibilities of quantum computing.

Sources:

  • Ricadela, Aaron

The Wall Street Journal