Much of the disruptive force of quantum computing can be reduced to a single and relatively old idea: Shor’s algorithm. Devised in 1994 by MIT mathematician Peter Shor, the algorithm is designed to ...

Quantum factor: the Paul trap used by Monz and colleagues. (Courtesy: C Lackner/Quantum Optics and Spectroscopy Group, University of Innsbruck) A quantum computer made of five trapped ions has been ...

You're catching up on some emails. Verifying your identity with a passport picture. Paying an invoice with your bank details. In the background, a "bad actor" is collecting all of your encrypted ...

A quantum computer algorithm that is used to find the prime factors in an encryption key. Created by applied mathematician Peter Shor in the mid-1990s, Shor's algorithm may be used to break the codes ...

Shor's algorithm is the main practical example of an algorithm that runs more quickly on a quantum computer than a classical computer — at least in theory. Shor's algorithm allows large numbers to be ...

When people talk about the “cryptopocalypse,” in which classical encryption methods are summarily rendered obsolete by quantum computing technology, they’re usually talking about Shor’s algorithm, ...

Scott Aaronson, quantum computer expert, explains the most famous quantum computer algorithm using minimal math. 1. Find a property that is shared by all of possible answers which can be compared. For ...

In 1994, MIT professor of applied mathematics Peter Shor developed a groundbreaking quantum computing algorithm capable of factoring numbers (that is, finding the prime numbers for any integer N) ...

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American Peter Shor is a poet. Here is a limerick he ...