VI Fast Workshop on Applied and Computational Mathematics

THE MATHEMATICS OF QUANTUM BITS

BY RENSSO CHUNG

GOOD BYE BITS

The most basic piece of information is called a bit. Mathematically:

The field GF(2), the simplest Galois Field, is extremely useful for (classical) computer.
Physically:

we can implement a bit with an electric circuit, e.g., zero volts(binary 0) or +5 volts(binary 1), etc.
We are dealing with a two-state system.

START THINKING ABOUT QUANTUM MECHANICS

Where computers are concerned, quantum mechanics are the future.

Raymond Laflamme ,
executive director of the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo.

QUANTUM MECHANICS: THIS tiny WORLD IS STRANGE

Particles being described

by waves.
The position and momentum

being represented as operators.

The dynamics being defined

by Schrdinger equations .
The measurements

characterized by probabilities.
The entanglement Schrdingers cat. Uncertainty Principle. Quantum superposition, etc.

The Quantum Bits (Qubits)

This basic unit of information in quantum computing is called the qubit, which is short for quantum bit. Like a bit, a qubit can also be in one of two states. A qubit can exist in the state |0> or the state |1>, but it can also exist in what we call a superposition state.

The Quantum Bits (Qubits)

This is a state that is a linear combination of the states |0> and |1>. If we label this state |>, a superposition state is written as |>= |0> + |1>, (1)

here , are complex numbers. The laws of quantum mechanics tell us that the modulus squared of , in (1) gives us the probability of finding the qubit in state |0 > or |1 >, respectively.

THE BLOCH SPHERE

It is useful to express a state of a single qubit graphically. Let us parameterize a one-qubit state | > with and as

|(, ) > =
cos (/2)|0 > + exp(i) sin( /2)|1 >.

PETER SHORS ALGORITHM

A quantum algorithm for factoring exponentially faster than the best currently-known algorithm running on a classical computer. Shor's algorithm solves the discrete logarithm problem and the integer factorization problem in polynomial time.

(Shor, P. W. (1997). "Polynomial-Time Algorithms

for Prime Factorization and Discrete Logarithms on a Quantum Computer". SIAM Journal on Scientific and Statistical Computing 26: 1484. arXiv:quant-ph/9508027)

All things are numbers.

Pythagoras QUANTUM MECHANICS(MATH INSIDE) + COMPUTER SCIENCE(MATH INSIDE)=

QUANTUM COMPUTING(MATH)

AN INVITATION TO QUBIT PARTY

The seminal paper on quantum computing are in the web page: http://arxiv.org/ (open access!)

John Preskills page:

web

http://theory.caltech.e du/people/preskill/ph22 9/