Quantum Computing and Computational Law
Loyola Law School, Los Angeles Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2019-38
Jeffery Atik & Valentin Jeutner (2021): Quantum computing and computational law, Law, Innovation and Technology, DOI: 10.1080/17579961.2021.1977216
24 Pages Posted: 21 Nov 2019 Last revised: 29 Nov 2021
Date Written: March 21, 2021
Abstract
Quantum computing technology will greatly enhance the abilities of the emerging field of computational law to express, model, and operationalize law in algorithmic form. In anticipation of the legal sector’s utilization of quantum computing technology, this essay identifies, with reference to computational complexity theory, the categories of computational problems which quantum computers are better equipped to deal with than are classical computers (‘quantum supremacy’). Subsequently, the essay demarcates the possible contours of legal ‘quantum supremacy’ by showcasing three anticipated legal fields of quantum technology: optimization problems, standards of proof, and machine learning. Acknowledging that the exact manifestation of quantum computing technology in the legal sector remains difficult to predict, the essay posits that the meaningful utilization of quantum computing technology at a later stage presupposes the creative imagination of possible use-cases at the present.
Keywords: quantum computing, quantum law, legal theory, computational law
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