About how far does this leave us from a usable quantum processor? How far from all current cryptographic algorithms being junk?
The latest versions of TLS already have support post-quantum crypto, so no, it's not all of them. For the ones that are vulnerable, we're way, way far off from that. It may not even be possible to have enough qbits to break those at all.
Things like simulating medicines, folding proteins, and logistics are much closer, very useful, and more likely to be practical in the medium term.
Is there gov money in folding proteins though? I assume there’s a lot of 3 letter agencies what want decryption with a lot more funding.
There's plenty of publicly funded research for that, yes.
Three letter agencies also want to protect their own nation's secrets. They have as much interest in breaking it as they do protecting against it.
yes of course, and nuclear arsenal build up doesn't exist because govts have that kinda foresight
Except there's evidence they do, in fact, go both directions.
For example, DES had its s-boxes messed with by the NSA. At the time, the thought was that they were intentionally weakening it. Some years later, public cryptographers developed differential cryptanalysis for breaking ciphers. They found that the new s-boxes in DES made it resistant to differential cryptanalysis. It appears the NSA had already developed the technique and had made DES stronger, not weaker. Because again, they need to protect their own stuff, too, and they used and promoted DES to get there.
They also gave it a really short key that was expected to be broken by the '90s, which is also exactly what happened.
They appear to be going a similar direction with elliptic curves. They seem to be resistant against certain attacks, and the NSA was promoting them earlier than most public cryptographers.
At least a week, probably more
Algorithms will be easier and faster to fix than the process of getting this breakthrough to viability
Just in time for the fall of American democracy. What could possibly go wrong.
Maybe they can use the same techniques for keeping their product management and feature roadmap for more than an hour.
108 qubits, but error correction duty for some of them?
What size RSA key can it factor "instantly"?
Currently none, I think it's allegedly 2000 qbits to break RSA
afaik, without a need for error correction a quantum computer with 256 bits could break an old 256 bit RSA key. RSA keys are made by taking 2 (x-1 bit) primes and multiplying them together. It is relatively simple algorithms to factor numbers that size on both classsical and quantum computers, However, the larger the number/bits, the more billions of billions of years it takes a classical computer to factor it. The limit for a quantum computer is how many "practical qubits" it has. OP's article did not answer this, and so far no quantum computer has been able to solve factoring a number any faster than your phone can in under a half second.
Seeing quantum computers work will be like seeing mathemagics at work, doing it all behind the scenes. Physically (for the small ones) it looks the same, but abstractly it can perform all kinds of deep mathematics.
google can walk up the passageway of elton john for all i care!
I know a good therapist, if need be!
Which hour ? If they create real quantum computer they can start identifying person that creates reality for all of us, assuming reality is broadcasted by collective mind, I doubt they can do it right now and I am sure the moment they start that person will log out from internet. Good bye then.
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