The quantum algorithms of Deutsch, Simon and Shor are described in a way which highlights their dependence on the Fourier transform. The general construction of the Fourier transform on an Abelian group is outlined and this provides a unified way of understanding the efficacy of the algorithms. Finally we describe an efficient quantum factoring algorithm based on a general formalism of Kitaev and contrast its structure to the ingredients of Shor’s algorithm.

We give new bounds on the circuit complexity of the quantum Fourier transform (QFT). We give an upper bound of O(log n + log log(1/ε)) on the circuit depth for computing an approximation of the QFT with respect to the modulus 2 n with error bounded by ε. Thus, even for exponentially small error, our circuits have depth O(log n). The best previous depth bound was O(n), even for approximations with constant error. Moreover, our circuits have size O(n log(n/ε)). We also give an upper bound of O(n(log n) 2 log log n) on the circuit size of the exact QFT modulo 2 n, for which the best previous bound was O(n 2). As an application of the above depth bound, we show that Shor’s factoring algorithm may be based on quantum circuits with depth only O(log n) and polynomial-size, in combination with classical polynomial-time pre- and post-processing. In the language of computational complexity, this implies that factoring is in the complexity class ZPP BQNC, where BQNC is the class of problems computable with bounded-error probability by quantum circuits with polylogarithmic depth and polynomial size. Finally, we prove an Ω(log n) lower bound on the depth complexity of approximations of the

ABSTRACT In this paper we give a polynomial-time quantum algorithm for computing orders of solvable groups. Several other problems, such as testing membership in solvable groups, testing equality of subgroups in a given solvable group, and testing normality of a subgroup in a given solvable group, reduce to computing orders of solvable groups and therefore admit polynomial-time quantum algorithms as well. Our algorithm works in the setting of black-box groups, wherein none of these problems have polynomial-time classical algorithms. As an important byproduct, our algorithm is able to produce a pure quantum state that is uniform over the elements in any chosen subgroup of a solvable group, which yields a natural way to apply existing quantum algorithms to factor groups of solvable groups. 1.

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We discuss the fundamental role of entanglement as the essential non-classical feature providing the computational speed-up in the known quantum algorithms. We review the construction of the Fourier transform on an Abelian group and the principles underlying the fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithm. We describe the implementation of the FFT algorithm for the group of integers modulo 2 n in the quantum context, showing how the group-theoretic formalism leads to the standard quantum network, and identify the property of entanglement that gives rise to the exponential speed-up (compared to the classical FFT). Finally, we outline the use of the Fourier transform in extracting periodicities, which underlies its utility in the known quantum algorithms.