Quantum Computing: From Alice to Bob

Abstract

Abstract Quantum Computing: From Alice to Bob provides a distinctive and accessible introduction to the rapidly growing fields of quantum information science (QIS) and quantum computing (QC). The book is designed for undergraduate students and upper-level secondary school students with little or no background in physics, computer science, or mathematics beyond secondary school algebra and trigonometry. While broadly accessible, the book provides a solid conceptual and formal understanding of quantum states and entanglement—the key ingredients in quantum computing. The authors give detailed treatments of many of the classic quantum algorithms that demonstrate how and when QC has an advantage over classical computers. The book provides a solid explanation of the physics of QC and QIS and then weds that knowledge to the mathematics of QC algorithms and how those algorithms deploy the principles of quantum physics to solve the problem. This book connects the physics concepts, the computer science vocabulary, and the mathematics, providing a complete picture of how QIS and QC work. The authors give multiple representations of the concept—textual, graphical, and symbolic (state vectors, matrices, and Dirac notation)—which are the lingua franca of QIS and QC. Those multiple representations allow the readers to develop a broader and deeper understanding of the fundamental concepts and their applications. In addition, the book provides examples of recent experimental demonstrations of quantum teleportation and the applications of quantum computational chemistry. The last chapter connects to the growing commercial world of QC and QIS and provides recommendations for further study.