Toward quantum computation: A five-qubit quantum processor

Abstract

A nuclear magnetic-resonance (NMR) quantum computer demonstrating a quantum algorithm that exponentially outperforms classical algorithms is described. A NMR quantum computer consists of a molecule with several atoms with a spin-1/2 nucleus. The description of the fundamental concepts behind quantum computations, qubits, quantum parallelism, quantum algorithms, and challenges of building a quantum computer are discussed.