Sparse Vectors and Hybrid Search Interview Questions | Qdrant | NextRound

1What is the IDF modifier on a sparse vector configuration, and what problem does it address?Advanced

2What is a sparse vector, and how does it differ structurally from the dense vectors used in semantic search?Intermediate

3Why would you combine dense and sparse vector search instead of relying on dense embeddings alone?Intermediate

4How would you build a hybrid search query that retrieves candidates from both a dense embedding and a BM25-style sparse vector, then fuses the results?Advanced

5What are the tradeoffs of hybrid search in terms of indexing cost, storage, and query latency compared to dense-only search?Advanced