QUANTUM COMPUTATION AND QUANTUM INFORMATION

Nielsen and Chuang ask the question: What are the ultimate physical limits to computation and communication? They then go on to describe what a quantum computer is, how it can be used to solve problems faster than familiar "classical" computers, and the real-world implementation of quantum computers. Their book concludes with an explanation of how quantum states can be used to perform remarkable feats of communication, and of how it is possible to protect quantum states against the effects of noise. 91 line diagrams.

This text is the first comprehensive introduction to the main ideas and techniques of the field of quantum computation and quantum information. Michael Nielsen and Isaac Chuang ask the question: what are the ultimate physical limits to computation and communication? They describe in detail such remarkable effects as fast quantum algorithms, quantum teleportation, quantum cryptography and quantum error-correction. A wealth of accompanying figures and exercises illustrate and develop the material in more depth. The authors describe what a quantum computer is, how it can be used to solve problems faster than familiar 'classical' computers, and the real-world implementation of quantum computers. The book concludes with an in-depth treatment of quantum information, explaining how quantum states can be used to perform remarkable feats of communication, together with a discussion of how it is possible to protect quantum states against the effects of noise.

Preface; Acknowledgement; Nomenclature and notation; Part I. Fundamental Concepts: 1. Introduction and overview; 2. Introduction to quantum mechanics; 3. Introduction to computer science; Part II. Quantum Computation: 4. Quantum circuits; 5. The quantum Fourier transform and its applications; 6. Quantum search algorithms; 7. Quantum computers: physical realisation; Part III. Quantum Information: 8. Quantum noise, open quantum systems, and quantum operations; 9. Distance measurement for quantum information; 10. Quantum error-correction; 11. Entropy and information; 12. Quantum information theory; Appendix A. Notes on basic probability theory; Appendix B. Group theory; Appendix C. Approximating quantum gates: the Sölvay-Kitaev theorem; Appendix D. Number theory; Appendix E. Public-key cryptography and the RSA cryptosystem; Appendix F. Proof of Lieb's theorem; References; Index.

The first introduction to the ideas and techniques of the field of quantum computation and quantum information. Describes what quantum computers and quantum information are, how they can be used to solve problems faster than familiar 'classical' computers, and the real-world implementation of quantum computers.