In quantum computers those 2 effects should be seen:
1) If an operator acts on an arbitrary QuBit Qn of a quantum system S consisting of several QuBits than we get a new quantum system S' where the amplitues of ALL QuBits have changed.
2) If an operator acts on one QuBit of a quantum system T consisting of two entangled QuBits than both QuBits are affected.
So which one of these is the reason for the exponential speed-up expected from quantum computers?
None.
As of 2020-Q2, the so far available Q-devices operate in constant
[TIME], i.e. havingO(1)(in)-dependency of TimeDOMAIN duration of operations on the problem-complexity, so neither the isolated assumption 1) nor the isolated assumption 2) make any difference on their own, but both are the part of the quantum Level-of-Detail observed World, as we know it, that is ( by design intrinsically )Q-[PARALLEL].Actually,
the World as we know it, is the Q-SpaceTime continuum itself, internally discrete in both Time and Space at such a LoD, we will never have a trouble with in any foreseeable Q-device computing, if considering The Universe not being a Q-device of it's own kind, which it obviously is
;)All happens "now", not one after another ( as if sequenced in some pipelined fashion ).
( The full depth of this topic way exceeds the format of this Q/A-site. )
Sure,
pedantic and Q-orthodox users may claim a need to use some
[SPACE]-Domain downscaling tricks due to current Q-devices limits of the physical-Q-engine, yet even these retain theO(1)(in)-dependence, as the asymptotic complexity (in)-dependence model of the QPU-based computing.Given the above, there is but a market-making motivation to call Q-devices "expected" to have
(cit.): "exponential speed-up".
Given the target Q-device operates on
O(1)scaling, all the previously known technologies are compared to a constant-Time "processing".In this context,
the category of Speedup
will be the way more "showing the better factor of comparison", the worse the original processing is (was).
The Q-device ( no matter how easy or bad the original processing was )
will be
and
will always remain a constant-Time Q-"processor"
The BONUS Part :