Quantum computing offers the hope of dramatic increases in computational capabilities. That’s the promise of quantum computers that can handle hundreds of thousands or millions of quantum bits or qubits.
But for the moment, the state-of-the-art machines barely manage a few dozen qubits and cannot yet outperform classical computers in any meaningful way. Part of the problem is that quantum algorithms generally require hundreds or thousands of qubits, even for simple problems. So mathematicians and computer scientists are desperately searching for more elegant algorithms that depend on fewer qubits.
