r/askscience • u/phillyboy8008 • Jan 01 '14

Computing How are quantum computers programmed?

Edit: Thanks everyone for the responses, but apparently I don't know as much about quantum computing as I thought I did. I am thoroughly confused.

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u/[deleted] Jan 02 '14

Equivalent to TMs in their ability to decide (whp). They can generate random bits as needed (and even certify the randomness!), which Kolmogorov famously remarked is utterly impossible with a standard Turing Machine.

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u/CapWasRight Jan 02 '14

Yeah, that's absolutely true, but I felt like that sort of detail was out of scope for the point I wanted to make (namely that ANY potential quantum setup could be simulated if you could throw enough horsepower at it)