The dream of super-powerful quantum computers is one step closer, thanks in part to theoretical research performed at the University of B.C.

“I would guess that in the next five or ten years, there will be a working design that can do (simple) quantum computations,” predicted UBC physicist Phil Stamp.

Stamp compares a classical computer to a bunch of coins: each shows either heads or tails, and the computer processes information by flipping them.

In a quantum computer, each coin shows both heads and tails simultaneously; because every possible combination is present, calculations can be done exponentially faster.

In 2006, Stamp helped publish a theory of how a magnetic molecule, Iron-8, can be made to sit in both states simultaneously before decoherence, the process by which matter settles in a single state, sets in.

“A whole bunch of experimental groups around the world tried to do the experiment … and finally it was this group at Santa Barbara that succeeded,” Stamp explained.

“What was even more amazing was that they found that the results they got matched the theoretical expectations.