Fast quantum search algorithm for databases of arbitrary size and its implementation in a cavity QED system

We propose a method for implementing the Grover search algorithm directly in a database containing any number of items based on multi-level systems. Compared with the searching procedure in the database with qubits encoding, our modified algorithm needs fewer iteration steps to find the marked item and uses the carriers of the information more economically. Furthermore, we illustrate how to realize our idea in cavity QED using Zeeman's level structure of atoms. And the numerical simulation under the influence of the cavity and atom decays shows that the scheme could be achieved efficiently within current state-of-the-art technology. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.