Photo: Jonathan Matthews/University of BristolFrom IEEE Spectrum:
Experimental chip does part of code-cracking quantum algorithm.
3 September 2009—Modern cryptography relies on the extreme difficulty computers have in factoring huge numbers, but an algorithm that works only on a quantum computer finds factors easily. Today in Science, researchers at the University of Bristol, in England, report the first factoring using this method—called Shor’s algorithm—on a chip-scale quantum computer, bringing the field a tiny step closer to realizing practical quantum computation and code cracking.
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Update: Quantum Computer Factors the Number 15 -- Scheneider Security