Quantum network science algorithms

One new and promising avenue for network science algorithm development is quantum computing. Quantum computing leverages many of the advantageous properties of physics at the quantum level to improve computing power and tackle difficult problems. While there are many flavors of quantum computing, we’ll focus on qubit systems, where bits are replaced with their quantum version.

Qubits offer many advantages over bits within computing frameworks. Superposition is a property in quantum physics that allows particles, such as qubits, to exist in multiple states at the same time. Thus, whereas bits must exist in a 0 or 1 configuration, qubits can exist as a 1 and a 0 simultaneously until the qubit is measured, collapsing to the usual state of a bit. This allows for massively parallel searches for solutions.

In addition to being able to exist as a 1 and a 0 at the same time, superposition allows for fractional values where the qubit exists as...