Quantum computers will be able to solve certain problems much faster than regular (classical) computers, sometimes so fast that a problem that took so long as to be considered totally infeasible to solve, will be solvable in minutes, Jeffery states in her inaugural lecture. This is because we have fast quantum algorithms for these problems, and we are continually searching for more, but this is difficult, because our understanding of quantum algorithms is still very much in development.

Random walks, where a metaphorical "walker" wanders from place to place looking for a place with a particular recognizable property, are used to model many classical algorithms. Such random walks can also inspire quantum algorithms that are faster than their classical counterparts, called quantum walk algorithms. It turns out that actually all quantum algorithms can be cast as some very general kind of quantum walk algorithm, where now randomness can be positive or negative, with the possibility for strange and wonderful interference patterns, like waves rippling through a lake.

Prof. dr. Stacey Jeffery, professor by special appointment in Quantum Information: Quantum algorithms are a (random) walk in the park.

In addition to the professorship, Stacey Jeffery works for Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI), the national research institute for mathematics and computer science in the Netherlands..

This inaugural lecture will be streamed live through this link.