Explaining Grover's algorithm with a colony of ants: a pedagogical model for making quantum technology comprehensible
M.A. Schalkers (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)
K.T. Dankers (TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre, TU Delft - Technology, Policy and Management, Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft)
M.T. Wimmer (TU Delft - Applied Sciences, Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft, TU Delft - QuTech Advanced Research Centre)
P.E. Vermaas (TU Delft - Technology, Policy and Management)
More Info
expand_more
Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.
Abstract
The rapid growth of quantum technologies requires an increasing number of physicists, computer scientists, and engineers who can work on these technologies. For educating these professionals, quantum mechanics should stop being perceived as incomprehensible. In this paper we contribute to this change by presenting a pedagogical model for explaining Grover's search algorithm, a prominent quantum algorithm. This model visualizes the three main steps of Grover's algorithm and, in addition to explaining the algorithm itself, introduces three key principles of quantum mechanics: superposition, interference, and state collapse at measurement. The pedagogical model, visualized by a video, is called the ant colony maze model. It represents the search problems as finding the exit of a maze, and visualizes Grover's search algorithm as a strategy by which a colony of ants finds that exit.
help_outline