11

Searching for the Quantum Improvement

The improvement of understanding is for two ends: first, our own increase of knowledge; secondly, to enable us to deliver that knowledge to others.

—John Locke

By considering new approaches and getting clever, we can develop classical algorithms that are faster than you might have expected. Using quantum techniques, we can go a step further: perform some operations faster than seems possible.

This chapter compares classical and quantum search techniques to see how extending our basic information unit from the bit to the qubit can show remarkable improvements. Note that I only discuss mainstream “universal” quantum computing and not limited-purpose systems that perform operations like simulated annealing. ...

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