Quantum Computing: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

Quantum computing has emerged as a revolutionary paradigm that promises to solve computational problems beyond the capabilities of classical computers. This comprehensive review paper explores the fundamentals, models, algorithms, technologies, challenges, and practical applications of quantum computing. The paper begins with an introduction to quantum computing, highlighting its defining features and significance. It then discusses the fundamentals of quantum computing, including qubits, quantum gates, quantum entanglement, and quantum parallelism. The paper also examines different quantum computing models, such as the circuit model, adiabatic model, quantum annealing, and topological quantum computing. It further explores quantum algorithms, including Shor's algorithm, Grover's algorithm, the quantum phase estimation algorithm, and the quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA). Additionally, the paper delves into quantum error correction, fault-tolerant quantum computation, and error detection and correction methods. It discusses the challenges faced in quantum computing, such as decoherence, scalability, qubit connectivity, quantum software development, and quantum supremacy. The paper also reviews current quantum computing platforms, applications in cryptography, optimization, and machine learning, and future prospects and challenges in the field.