English

Unconditional correctness of recent quantum algorithms for factoring and computing discrete logarithms

Number Theory 2026-02-11 v2 Computational Complexity Quantum Physics

Abstract

In 1994, Shor introduced his famous quantum algorithm to factor integers and compute discrete logarithms in polynomial time. In 2023, Regev proposed a multi-dimensional version of Shor's algorithm that requires far fewer quantum gates. His algorithm relies on a number-theoretic conjecture on the elements in (Z/NZ)×(\mathbb{Z}/N\mathbb{Z})^{\times} that can be written as short products of very small prime numbers. We prove a version of this conjecture using tools from analytic number theory such as zero-density estimates. As a result, we obtain an unconditional proof of correctness of this improved quantum algorithm and of subsequent variants.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2404.16450,
  title  = {Unconditional correctness of recent quantum algorithms for factoring and computing discrete logarithms},
  author = {Cédric Pilatte},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2404.16450},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

To appear in Forum of Mathematics, Pi. Includes a new explanatory section. 25 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-28T16:06:00.403Z