Quantum algorithms

Abstract As computers get faster and faster, the size of the circuitry imprinted onto silicon chips decreases. The size of the circuitry becomes so small that its behavior is governed by the laws of quantum mechanics. Such a computer, whose computations would be fully quantum mechanical, is called a quantum computer. Any computational task such as addition, multiplication, displaying graphics, or updating databases is performed by a computer according to an algorithm — an abstract set of instructions. Quantum computers would accomplish tasks by performing quantum algorithms. A quantum algorithm is a sequence of unitary evolutions carried out on a quantum string made up of qubits, which can exist as a superposition of classical strings. This chapter discusses the computational complexity of a quantum algorithm, Deutsch's algorithm and its efficiency as quantified by the Holevo bound, Oracles, Grover's search algorithm, quantum factorisation, quantum Fourier transform, and phase estimation.