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Well this seems like a big deal. Quantum algorithm to factor integers using resources (both qubit # and gate depth) that scale sub-linearly! For comparison Shor's algorithm requires O(n) qubits and a gate depth of O(n³).

So claim is RSA-2048 can be broken with 372 qubits and a gate depth of ~1000

arxiv.org/abs/2212.12372

Factoring integers with sublinear resources on a superconducting quantum processor

Shor's algorithm has seriously challenged information security based on public key cryptosystems. However, to break the widely used RSA-2048 scheme, one needs millions of physical qubits, which is far beyond current technical capabilities. Here, we report a universal quantum algorithm for integer factorization by combining the classical lattice reduction with a quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA). The number of qubits required is O(logN/loglog N), which is sublinear in the bit length of the integer $N$, making it the most qubit-saving factorization algorithm to date. We demonstrate the algorithm experimentally by factoring integers up to 48 bits with 10 superconducting qubits, the largest integer factored on a quantum device. We estimate that a quantum circuit with 372 physical qubits and a depth of thousands is necessary to challenge RSA-2048 using our algorithm. Our study shows great promise in expediting the application of current noisy quantum computers, and paves the way to factor large integers of realistic cryptographic significance.

arXiv.org

So far my biggest worry is the fact that the authors don't seem to address how many times you have to run the quantum circuit, especially as you scale to larger problem sizes.

@punk_physicist if this is right, it's a big enough deal that I'm kinda shocked it was published!

@elilevensonfalk @punk_physicist From the conclusion: “It should be pointed out that the quantum speedup of the algorithm is unclear due to the ambiguous convergence of QAOA.” 🤔🤔🤔

@Colinvparker @elilevensonfalk that's where my skepticism of this result lies, i.e. the number of times you have to sample grows too fast to be useful/show advantage

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