Type-II Quantum Computers

This paper discusses a computing architecture that uses both classical parallelism and quantum parallelism. We consider a large parallel array of small quantum computers, connected together by classical communication channels. This kind of computer is called a type-II quantum computer, to differentiate it from a globally phase-coherent quantum computer, which is the first type of quantum computer that has received nearly exclusive attention in the literature. Although a hybrid, a type-II quantum computer retains the crucial advantage allowed by quantum mechanical superposition that its computational power grows exponentially in the number of phase-coherent qubits per node. Only short-range and short-time phasecoherence is needed, which significantly reduces the level of engineering facility required to achieve its construction. Therefore, the primary factor limiting its computational power is an economic one and not a technological one, since the volume of its computational medium can in principle scale indefinitely.