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Comment by joak | Hacker News Reader

The hardware is progressing, we have a issue though: we don't have algorithms to run on quantum computers. Besides Shor's algorithm, useful to break RSA, we have nothing.

Just vague ideas like: it could be useful for quantum simulations or optimisation or maybe ...

If tomorrow we have a full running quantum computing what would we run on it? We are in a vacuum.

The only hope is a breakthrough in quantum algorithms. Nothing in sight, not much progress on this side.

Oh yes, Zapata Computing, the best funded company in quantum algorithms just went under this year.

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> Oh yes, Zapata Computing, the best funded company in quantum algorithms just went under this year.

It's kinda hard to make money by developing algorithms for imaginary magic computers.

For one, we could just start simulating quantum chemistry, though at that point it's more like "actually running quantum chemistry" rather than simulating.

Will AI take that use case though?

AI isn't magic. It's still subject to the limits of classical computing.

Sorry but you need to cite some sources... The fact that random adtech devs on HN have no algorithms useful to them to run on a QC does not mean much to me.

You’ve provided me with a beautiful framing to understand some of the most obtuse and self-serving arguments I see on here: “random adtech devs”.

laugh as we may, they get the money.

No-nonsense roll-up of what algorithms a quantum computer can run in principle, along with their big-O speed ups (which don't necessarily reflect practical speed ups): https://quantumalgorithmzoo.org/

Here is another paper about its applicability on a range of problems: https://cacm.acm.org/research/disentangling-hype-from-practi...

This is not true.

There are plenty of quantum algorithms.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_algorithm

Qualification: Quantum Algorithms that provide superpolynomial speedup, have an application, and don't need quantum memory or rely on quantum data.

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