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Ben Brubaker

Staff Writer

Latest Articles

To Move Fast, Quantum Maze Solvers Must Forget the Past

July 20, 2023

Quantum algorithms can find their way out of mazes exponentially faster than classical ones, at the cost of forgetting the path they took. A new result suggests that the trade-off may be inevitable.

How Randomness Improves Algorithms

April 3, 2023

Unpredictability can help computer scientists solve otherwise intractable problems.

Bob Metcalfe, Ethernet Pioneer, Wins Turing Award

March 22, 2023

The American researcher was recognized for his central role in inventing, standardizing and commercializing the ubiquitous networking technology.

In Neural Networks, Unbreakable Locks Can Hide Invisible Doors

March 2, 2023

Cryptographers have shown how perfect security can undermine machine learning models.

Q&A

The Computer Scientist Who Finds Life Lessons in Games

January 25, 2023

In Shang-Hua Teng’s work, theoretical and practical questions have long been intertwined. Now he’s turning his focus to the impractical.

Finally, a Fast Algorithm for Shortest Paths on Negative Graphs

January 18, 2023

Researchers can now find the shortest route through a network nearly as fast as theoretically possible, even when some steps can cancel out others.

New Algorithm Closes Quantum Supremacy Window

January 9, 2023

Random circuit sampling, a popular technique for showing the power of quantum computers, doesn’t scale up if errors go unchecked.

AI Reveals New Possibilities in Matrix Multiplication

November 23, 2022

Inspired by the results of a game-playing neural network, mathematicians have been making unexpected advances on an age-old math problem.

Chaos Researchers Can Now Predict Perilous Points of No Return

September 15, 2022

A custom-built machine learning algorithm can predict when a complex system is about to switch to a wildly different mode of behavior.

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