Patent ID: 7310623

Claim:
A method for allocating contributions toward a cooperative effort, the method comprising: constructing a state vector representing a plurality of pairs of entangled qubits, wherein the plurality of pairs of entangled qubits consists of N pairs; selecting 2N operators to be respectively applied to the 2N qubits, wherein selecting the 2N operators includes each of a plurality of players selecting one or more of the 2N operators for a set of the qubits assigned to the player, wherein the plurality of players consists of n players, N is equal to a product of n(n−1) and a probability p, the probability p is less than 1, and the operators are selected by each player according to a choice of the player regarding the cooperative effort; applying each of the 2N operators only to a portion of the state vector that represents the qubit corresponding to the operator; evaluating a final state vector that results from the application of the 2N operators to thereby assign respective results to the players; and the players contributing according to the results respectively assigned, the results designating whether respective players will cooperate in or defect from the cooperative effort.