A New Quantum Algorithm Speeds Up Solving a Huge Class of Problems

The original version from This story appeared in How much magazine.

For computer scientists, solving problems is a bit like mountaineering. First you have to choose a problem to solve it – to identify a climax to climb – and then you have to develop a strategy to solve it. Classic and quantum researchers compete with different strategies with a healthy rivalry between the two. Quantum researchers report a quick path to solve a problem – often by scaling a highlight that no one thinks that is worth it to see classic teams to see if they can find a better way.

This competition almost always ends as a virtual draw: when the researchers believe to develop a quantum algorithm that works faster or better than anything else, classic researchers usually find one that is the same for him. Only last week, an alleged quantum acceleration published in the journal Sciencewas met with immediate skepticism by two separate groups that showed how to follow similar Calculations on classic machines.

But in a paper that was published last year on the scientific preprint -website arxiv.org, the researchers described what it looks like A quantum laying that is both convincing and useful. The researchers described a new quantum algorithm that works faster than all known classic to find good solutions for a broad class of optimization problems (which search for the best possible solution under an enormous number of options).

So far, no classic algorithm has the new algorithm, which is known as decoded quantum interferometry (DQI). It is “a breakthrough in quanta algorithms,” said collegeA mathematician at Reichman University and A prominent skeptic of the quantum computer. Reports about quantum algorithms are enthusiastic, partly because they can shed light on new ideas about difficult problems, and partly because it is not clear what problems will actually benefit from them. A quantum algorithm that exceeds all known classic at optimization tasks would be an important step forward to use the potential of quantum computers.

“I’m thrilled with it,” said Ronald de WolfA theoretical computer scientist at CWI, the National Research Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science in the Netherlands, which was not involved in the new algorithm. At the same time, he warned that it is still possible that researchers will eventually find a classic algorithm that works just as well. And due to the lack of quantum hardware, it will take a while before you can empirically test the new algorithm.

The algorithm could inspire new work on the classic side, so Ewin Tangan computer scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, who as a teenage of von von Creation of classic algorithms that correspond to quantum. The new claims “are interesting enough that I would tell classic algorithms,” Hey, you should look at this paper and work on this problem, “she said.

The best way forward?

When classic and quantum algorithms compete, they often do this on the battlefield of optimization, a field that focuses on finding the best options for solving a thorny problem. The researchers usually focus on problems in which the number of possible solutions explodes when the problem increases. What is the best way for a delivery van to visit 10 cities in three days? How should you put the packages in your back? Classic methods for solving these problems, which are often passed through in a clever way through possible solutions, quickly become unsustainable.

The specific optimization problem that concerns DQI is about the following: You will receive a collection of points on a sheet of paper. You have to find a mathematical function that goes through these points. In particular, their function must be a polynomial-a combination of variables that are raised to exponent with full number and multiplied by coefficients. But it cannot be too complicated, which means that the forces cannot get too high. This gives you a curved line that moves over the side. Your job is to find the shaky line that touches most points.

Variations of this problem are displayed in various forms in computer science, especially in incorrect coding and cryptography – from the areas that are encoding to safe and accurate when it is transmitted. The DQI researchers basically recognized that drawing a better line of shifting a loud, coded message is similar to their precise meaning.