Algorithm Foundations
Elena Yndurain · 2025
Q uantum algorithms follow a sequence of instructions designed to perform a calculation or solve a problem using the principles of quantum mechanics described earlier in Section 1.2 of this book. Unlike classical algorithms, which operate on bits in a deterministic manner, quantum algorithms work on qubits that are influenced by probabilistic outcomes of quantum states. We could say that quantum computing algorithms are non-deterministic, in the sense that at any point where there are multiple possible actions, the non-deterministic machine can “choose” any of them, potentially exploring many different paths of execution simultaneously.