Algorithms

Quantum algorithms can find their way out of mazes exponentially faster than classical ones, at the cost of forgetting the path they took. A new result suggests that the trade-off may be inevitable.

A new algorithm brings together the advantages of randomness and deterministic processes to reliably construct large prime numbers.

A new paper finds a faster method for determining when two mathematical groups are the same.

When he invented Turing machines in 1936, Alan Turing also invented modern computing.

Unpredictability can help computer scientists solve otherwise intractable problems.

Researchers can now find the shortest route through a network nearly as fast as theoretically possible, even when some steps can cancel out others.

Random circuit sampling, a popular technique for showing the power of quantum computers, doesn’t scale up if errors go unchecked.

Computer scientists this year learned how to transmit perfect secrets, why transformers seem so good at everything, and how to improve on decades-old algorithms (with a little help from AI).

A quantum approach to data analysis that relies on the study of shapes will likely remain an example of a quantum advantage — albeit for increasingly unlikely scenarios.