From: norm@netcom.com (Norman Hardy)
Date: Thu, 5 Jan 95 01:07:06 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: another factoring thing. . . .
Message-ID: <ab2d005d03021004c39a@DialupEudora>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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At 11:04 PM 12/30/94, camp@industrial.com wrote:
>Hey did anyone see the artical, some time ago in Science News (May 14,
>1994) their was this artical on using a 'quantum computer'.  Through
>the marvels of quantum mechanics it is theroretically possible to
>build a computer that would be really good at factoring large numbers
>such as the ones used in RSA.  This combined with team sieving could
>possibly be used to signifigantly reduce the time required to factor
>a key.  Any thougts, did anyone else see the artical, has there already
>been a really stimulating discusion that I missed?  Well let me know.
....
I think that that kind of quantum computer is much less likely to be built
to impact RSA style crypto, than some revolutionary sort of factoring
algorithm. It is not clear whether the tolerances required for the quantum
computer can ever be met and it is not entirely clear if the quantum
principles are correct. I don't entirely rule it out however.