1 research outputs found
Grover's Quantum Search Algorithm and Diophantine Approximation
In a fundamental paper [Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 325 (1997)] Grover showed how a
quantum computer can find a single marked object in a database of size N by
using only O(N^{1/2}) queries of the oracle that identifies the object. His
result was generalized to the case of finding one object in a subset of marked
elements. We consider the following computational problem: A subset of marked
elements is given whose number of elements is either M or K, M<K, our task is
to determine which is the case. We show how to solve this problem with a high
probability of success using only iterations of Grover's basic step (and no
other algorithm). Let m be the required number of iterations; we prove that
under certain restrictions on the sizes of M and K the estimation m <
(2N^{1/2})/(K^{1/2}-M^{1/2}) obtains. This bound sharpens previous results and
is known to be optimal up to a constant factor. Our method involves
simultaneous Diophantine approximations, so that Grover's algorithm is
conceptualized as an orbit of an ergodic automorphism of the torus. We comment
on situations where the algorithm may be slow, and note the similarity between
these cases and the problem of small divisors in classical mechanics.Comment: 8 pages, revtex, Title change