The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine.
For computer scientists, solving problems is a bit like mountaineering. First they must choose a problem to solve—akin to identifying a peak to climb—and then they must develop a strategy to solve it. Classical and quantum researchers compete using different strategies, with a healthy rivalry between the two. Quantum researchers report a fast way to solve a problem—often by scaling a peak that no one thought worth climbing—then classical teams race to see if they can find a better way.
This contest almost always ends as a virtual tie: When researchers think they’ve devised a quantum algorithm that works faster or