IBM mathematician Subhash Khot is rethinking computing’s hardest problems

The June appointment makes him a senior mathematician at IBM Research.

“Subhash’s arrival reflects the seriousness of our commitment to foundational research,” Jay Gambetta, IBM Fellow and Director of IBM Research, said in an IBM Research article.

Researchers know of no efficient algorithm that always finds the shortest one, Khot said, and most do not believe such an algorithm exists.

A quantum computer uses quantum bits, or qubits, which manipulate information through effects unavailable to ordinary bits.

For some problems, quantum machines may eventually provide another path.