先说说这位Peter Shor是谁。
他在上世纪90年代提出了基于量子计算机的质因数分解算法,即Shor算法,从理论上证明,在当前最快的计算机上需要上万年才能完成的计算任务,量子计算机瞬间即能完成。他被称为质因数分解算法的发明人,是量子计算奠基人之一。
麻省理工学院数学系主任Michel Goemans曾经如此评价Peter Shor:
Peter Shor's quantum algorithms, starting from his factoring algorithm — known as Shor's algorithm — has revolutionized the field of quantum computing. One could even say that the field would never have taken off without his deep and significant contributions to it. Peter Shor的量子算法从他的分解算法起步(即Shor算法),为量子计算领域带来了革命。可以说,如果没有他做出的深刻而重大的贡献,这一领域的研究就永远不会起步。
关于写这首诗的目的,Peter Shor本人是这样说的:
In celebration of Jian-Wei Pan's amazing quantum advantage experiment (which was in yesterday's print edition of Science,) here is another poem for quantum computing skeptics. 为了庆祝潘建伟等人令人惊叹的量子计算优越性实验(昨天《科学》杂志刊登了这篇文章),我写了一首诗,送给那些对量子计算持怀疑态度的人。