Quantum Computing ─ A Gentle Introduction

The combination of two of the twentieth century's most influential and revolutionaryscientific theories, information theory and quantum mechanics, gave rise to a radically new view ofcomputing and information. Quantum information processing explores the implications of using quantummechanics instead of classical mechanics to model information and its processing. Quantum computingis not about changing the physical substrate on which computation is done from classical to quantumbut about changing the notion of computation itself, at the most basic level. The fundamental unitof computation is no longer the bit but the quantum bit or qubit. This comprehensive introduction tothe field offers a thorough exposition of quantum computing and the underlying concepts of quantumphysics, explaining all the relevant mathematics and offering numerous examples. With its carefuldevelopment of concepts and thorough explanations, the book makes quantum computing accessible tostudents and professionals in mathematics, computer science, and engineering. A reader with no priorknowledge of quantum physics (but with sufficient knowledge of linear algebra) will be able to gaina fluent understanding by working through the book.

Eleanor Rieffel is Research Scientist at NASA Ames Research Center. Wolfgang Polak is a computer science consultant.