Quantum Algorithms for Searching Manifolds

Quantum computing is a system of computation that exploits the quantum-mechanical nature of reality at nano-scales in order to perform certain operations in a way that can scale better than is possible with classical computing. While the hardware sideof quantum computing is still in its infancy, many quantum algorithms - sets of instructions to run on a quantum computer in order to complete particular tasks - have been designed and analyzed. One of the most famous of these is Grover’s algorithm, an algorithm for searching a database. Two types of generalizations of Grover’s algorithm have been studied: spatial search algorithms (algorithms for searching discrete spaces) and “analog” search algorithms (algorithms performed by the evolution of physical systems). We develop and analyze algorithms that are generalizations of both those generalizations – an analog search algorithm for searching continuous, rather than discrete, spaces