Instead of millions of rigidly fixed particles — 10,000 atoms, working as beads on a quantum abacus. Each bead can be both zero and one at the same time. But the key is: if an error creeps into the calculation, the atoms can be physically moved: as if you could rearrange the abacus on the fly so that the glitch doesn't ruin the result. This trick is pulled off by laser tweezers, guided by spectroscopy — the art of analyzing light. Special codes tame entropy (growing disorder), and the algorithm devised by Peter Shor in 1994 suddenly becomes practical: cracking RSA-2048 could be done in days. Physicists can already trap thousands of atoms and perform error-free operations on them — all thanks to understanding the Standard Model.
10,000 atoms — about as many as can fit on the tip of a needle if lined up in a chain.
The threat of quantum hacking has been looming from the pages of science fiction: as early as in Hannu Rajaniemi's novel "The Quantum Thief", a similar scenario was described.