On 21-09-2019 14:52, Alan Grayson wrote:
On Saturday, September 21, 2019 at 6:40:50 AM UTC-6, John Clark wrote:
On Sat, Sep 21, 2019 at 8:29 AM Alan Grayson <[email protected]>
wrote:
_> What I don't understand is why a computer programmed to assume
a superposition, say of two states, represents a system in both
states simultaneously (which I find to be false for reasons
previously stated), would speed up any calculation. Can anyone
answer this question? AG _
Well, if you're right about superposition then a Quantum Computer
can't speed up a calculation, therefore if this rumor turns out to
be true that would prove you are not right about superposition.
John K Clark
My question is a conceptual one; why would assuming a superposition
means what I earlier stated, speed up any calulation? AG
Richard Feynman who invented the conceptional idea of a quantum computer
had answered this question long before quantum algorithms that are used
today were invented. He simply argued that it the time it takes for a
classical computation to compute the properties of an interacting
quantum system with N degrees of freedom, increases exponentially as a
function of N. So, if a classical computer is running a particular
algorithm that can be mathematically shown to be equivalent to computing
a property of an N part quantum system, then you could just build that
quantum system and measure that property. One can then consider doing
that in a more practical way by constructing a universal quantum
computing device.
Saibal
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