Non-Mechanism in Quantum Oracle Computing

Abstract

A typical oracle problem is finding which software program is installed on a computer, by running the computer and testing its input-output behaviour. The program is randomly chosen from a set of programs known to the problem solver. As well known, some oracle problems are solved more efficiently by using quantum algorithms; this naturally implies changing the computer to quantum, while the choice of the software program remains sharp. In order to highlight the non-mechanistic origin of this higher efficiency, also the uncertainty about which program is installed must be represented in a quantum way.