Introduction

In this lesson, we'll discuss the phase estimation problem and how to solve it with a quantum computer. We'll then use this solution to obtain Shor's algorithm — an efficient quantum algorithm for the integer factorization problem. Along the way, we'll encounter the quantum Fourier transform, and we'll see how it can be implemented efficiently by a quantum circuit.

Lesson video

In the following video, John Watrous steps you through the content in this lesson on quantum phase estimation. Alternatively, you can open the YouTube video for this lesson in a separate window. Download the slides for this lesson.