Quantum computing could be useful faster than anyone expected

New quantum algorithms could significantly boost the efficiency of some critical financial operations on hardware that might be available in only five years' time.
Image: Teradat Santivivut / Moment / Getty Images
For most scientists, a quantum computer that can solve large-scale business problems is still a prospect that belongs to the distant future, and one that won't be realized for at least another decade. But now researchers from US banking giant Goldman Sachs and quantum computing company QC Ware have designed new quantum algorithms that they say could significantly boost the efficiency of some critical financial operations – on hardware that might be available in only five years' time.
Rather than waiting for a...