A Refinement of Shor's Algorithm

Abstract

A refinement of Shor's Algorithm for determining order is introduced, which determines a divisor of the order after any one run of a quantum computer with almost absolute certainty. The information garnered from each run is accumulated to determine the order, and for any k greater than 1, there is a guaranteed minimum positive probability that the order will be determined after at most k runs. The probability of determination of the order after at most k runs exponentially approaches a value negligibly less than one, so that the accumulated information determines the order with almost absolute certainty. The probability of determining the order after at most two runs is more than 60%, and the probability of determining the order after at most four runs is more than 90%.