Quantum Computing for Beginners: Understanding the Basics of Quantum Algorithms

by Ben Davies

Quantum computing is a type of computation that harnesses the collective properties of quantum states, such as superposition, interference, and entanglement, to perform calculations. The devices that perform quantum computations are known as quantum computers. Why do we need quantum computers? Quantum computers take advantage of the quantum-evident behaviors of light and matter to perform quantum algorithms. When scientists and engineers encounter difficult problems, they turn to supercomputers. These are very large classical computers, often with thousands of classical CPU and GPU cores. However, even supercomputers struggle to solve certain kinds of problems. The purpose of a quantum computer is to run quantum algorithms. Algorithms are used to solve specific problems, and different algorithms take different amounts of time to run. Quantum algorithms are ones that require being run on a quantum computer.

Any quantum algorithm can be converted into a classical algorithm that can be run on an ordinary computer, but this conversion slows down the algorithm significantly. As such, quantum computers are usually faster for solving problems that we do have a quantum algorithm for. The most famous problem that we have discovered a quantum algorithm for is prime factorization. This is important because most security protocols rely on the fact that multiplying numbers is fast, but factoring is slow. Quantum computers will break these protocols by being able to factor quickly, and thus one clear purpose of quantum computers is using them to crack encrypted data.

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84 pages, Paperback

Published April 23, 2022