In the talk, I presented an algorithm which combines the Nand tree evaluation quantum algorithm of Farhi, Goldstone, and Gutmann^[2] with Grover’s search in a clever way (if I do say so myself) to evaluate Min-Max trees, with the same asymptotic cost in queries as for Nand trees.

I’ve uploaded the slides to SlideShare, and also embedded them in this post below. If I’ve done my job properly, they should be understandable without my accompanying narration to anyone with a background in computer science and a little knowledge of quantum computing.

I’ve attended many presentations in academia, and I’ve often wished that a presentation would be accompanied by a blog post or forum thread where the audience could review (or even preview) the slides, and leave comments or engage in discussions with the presenter or with each other.

While a few people may stick around after a presentation for discussions, more often than not, what happens is that people generally disperse afterwards or turn their attention towards something else (especially at a conference, where a presentation might be immediately followed by another event). Furthermore, people might not want to loiter around a discussion if they feel that they have nothing to contribute. They might also not want to ask questions or make comments during the presentation itself if they feel that doing so would make them look ignorant, or if they think that their remarks might be taken negatively or embarrass the speaker, or if a proper response by the speaker would cut into the presentation’s allotted time.

A forum where people can discuss a presentation after it is given, for an indefinite period of time, and where people can loiter and comment anonymously, would solve these problems — and perhaps inspire more discussions, and more fruitful ones, than currently take place.

The next time I give a presentation, I’ll try to implement the ideas I’ve written about in this post.

– davinci 11739

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