Pagerank and Quantum Physics
Pagerank is vital to a search engines ability to tailor important results to a specific result. It is a main factor in how the search engine Google provides search results. Typically, the higher the Pagerank, the more important the webpage and therefore the higher its placing in the results. Pagerank is easy to describe in a simple network using the Basic Pagerank update rule. However, in as complex of a network as the worldwide web it can be tough to implement. In order to work, complex data structures from all parts of the web must be explored. Some algorithms that could possibly do this are impossibly complex: not able to be solved by today’s computer. Another way of doing this then is through a random walk through the web. However, since randomness is impossible to achieve, quantum physics and its probabilistic nature can help. Using quantum physics, tiny particles are used to explore the network that utilizes their randomness and interactions. This drastically simplifies the problem of exploring the vast array of nodes and edges.
This article relates to what we have studied in class because as we have learned the web is nothing more than a network. It has nodes and edges to describe web pages and links just like other networks we have studied in class. However, the web is also extremely complex. It is composed of billions and trillions of different nodes and connections between them. We have only studied relatively simple network structures and concepts such as Pagerank. In these cases, it is not bad to apply the Pagerank rule and describe how the network behaves. However, in such a vast and complicated network as the web, other tools are necessary. In this case, quantum physics could potentially play a role in helping to navigate and categorize the array of webpages that make up the worldwide web.