'Optical oracle' could quickly solve complex computing problems
Monday, March 31, 2014 - 09:33
in Physics & Chemistry
(Phys.org) —The optical fiber network that spans the globe consists of millions of miles of fibers that bring us our Internet, cable TV, and telephone services. Now researchers have shown that this global network offers an untapped computing potential due to its ability to act as an "optical oracle" that can solve the Hamiltonian path problem—determining whether a route exists between multiple towns so that each town is visited only once—hundreds of times faster than conventional computers. Although using the existing optical fiber network for computing would be unrealistic, the study shows that optical fibers could offer a powerful new computing platform in the future.