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Quantum Computing Explained

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Re: Quantum Computing Explained

#41
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever heard the expression if an expert tells you something can be done, s/he's prolly right. If s/he tells you it can't be done it's not quite certain. Im not convinced that our understanding is quite there to say it can or can't be done.

If your only response to a reasoned argument is a dubious aphorism, you’ve already lost the discussion. You are literally just arguing from disbelief.

I don’t agree that certain things are necessarily impossible. I don’t have a proof yet. Wait ten years.

Re: Quantum Computing Explained

#42
Very well done. Short, yet covers all the necessary details.

Shameless plug, check out my book https://www.amazon.com/dp/0992001021/noBSLA for an in-depth view of the linear algebra background necessary for quantum computing.

If you know linear algebra well, then quantum mechanics and quantum computing is nothing fancy: just an area of applications (See Chapter 9 on QM). Here is an excerpt: https://minireference.com/static/excerpts/noBSguide2LA_previ...

Re: Quantum Computing Explained

#43
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a serious misconception in your claim. Yes, analog computers, whether quantum or classical solve even NP-complete problems in polynomial time. No, they can not be constructed in the real world because analog computing does not permit error correction, and in the real world you have to deal with noise. Only very small analog computers (nothing scalable, nothing solving general problems) can be constructed bef…

I love Aaronson's book but it's not "gentle-for-newbies". Not because it's not gentle! It just explicitly skips over a lot of the material. You're expected to already know about quantum computing since he doesn't feel he can add to existing authors on the subject. Instead, it's really a survey of quantum complexity theory , with some sampling of background material where the author felt he had something new to say.

What's a good book for Quantum Computing? When I took Aaronson's class last semester I got so wrecked by everything, and it just felt like everything was so conflicting from many different resources

Re: Quantum Computing Explained

#44
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love Aaronson's book but it's not "gentle-for-newbies". Not because it's not gentle! It just explicitly skips over a lot of the material. You're expected to already know about quantum computing since he doesn't feel he can add to existing authors on the subject. Instead, it's really a survey of quantum complexity theory , with some sampling of background material where the author felt he had something new to say.

What's a good book for Quantum Computing? When I took Aaronson's class last semester I got so wrecked by everything, and it just felt like everything was so conflicting from many different resources

I learned from a coursera course some number of years ago. It was actually quite good. (This should also give you the correct impression that I am not an expert here and you should take my suggestions with a grain of salt.) I think it was this one: https://www.edx.org/course/quantum-mechanics-quantum-computa... (Taught by Aaronson's advisor.)

Re: Quantum Computing Explained

#45

Very well done. Short, yet covers all the necessary details. Shameless plug, check out my book https://www.amazon.com/dp/0992001021/noBSLA for an in-depth view of the linear algebra background necessary for quantum computing. If you know linear algebra well, then quantum mechanics and quantum computing is nothing fancy: just an area of applications (See Chapter 9 on QM). Here is an excerpt: https://minireference.com/…

Hey, love your book. I don't remember how far back I purchased it, but it was back in the days where it wasn't done and we were getting updates pushed via email.

Keep up the good work!

Re: Quantum Computing Explained

#46
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love Aaronson's book but it's not "gentle-for-newbies". Not because it's not gentle! It just explicitly skips over a lot of the material. You're expected to already know about quantum computing since he doesn't feel he can add to existing authors on the subject. Instead, it's really a survey of quantum complexity theory , with some sampling of background material where the author felt he had something new to say.

What's a good book for Quantum Computing? When I took Aaronson's class last semester I got so wrecked by everything, and it just felt like everything was so conflicting from many different resources

To add to the answer already given, keep in mind that it depends on what you want to learn.

Theory from the point of view of physics (as in, less focus on algorithms, but some focus on building hardware): see Preskill's notes or Chuang&Nielsen's book.

I would suggest quickly skimming them once before trying to read them cover to cover.

And some lighter online introductions might help as a first step.

You definitely will need very good knowledge of college level linear algebra (linear operators, basis, diagonalization, eigenvalues).

Re: Quantum Computing Explained

#47

Maybe a stupid question but does anyone here know how quantum computing would effect bitcoin/crypto in general?

Unless you can find a way to implement a way to reverse a hash efficiently using a quantum algorithm, I wouldn't hold my breath.

Would a quantum computer be capable of brute forcing private keys?

Re: Quantum Computing Explained

#48

Very well done. Short, yet covers all the necessary details. Shameless plug, check out my book https://www.amazon.com/dp/0992001021/noBSLA for an in-depth view of the linear algebra background necessary for quantum computing. If you know linear algebra well, then quantum mechanics and quantum computing is nothing fancy: just an area of applications (See Chapter 9 on QM). Here is an excerpt: https://minireference.com/…

I'm definitely going to check your book out, but in the mean time I was wondering if you could help me zort something out from this article. Author states:

Check these quantum states out as examples, which cannot be broken into a tensor product of two other states, they are unseparable -

Ex.1: 1/sqrt(2)∣00⟩ + 1/sqrt(2)∣11⟩ !=∣ψ1​⟩⊗∣ψ2​⟩

Ex.2: 1/sqrt(2)∣01⟩ − 1/sqrt(2)∣10⟩ !=∣ψ1​⟩⊗∣ψ2​⟩

So, in all previous 2 qubit examples he showed yielded 4 states (00, 01, 10, 11). Is the author saying that some two-qubit systems can be achieved such that not all 4 possible discrete states can participate in superposition? (i.e. in the system of ex. 1, states 10 and 01 are not possible and in ex. 2, states 00 and 11 are not possible?)

Re: Quantum Computing Explained

#49

Very well done. Short, yet covers all the necessary details. Shameless plug, check out my book https://www.amazon.com/dp/0992001021/noBSLA for an in-depth view of the linear algebra background necessary for quantum computing. If you know linear algebra well, then quantum mechanics and quantum computing is nothing fancy: just an area of applications (See Chapter 9 on QM). Here is an excerpt: https://minireference.com/…

I'm definitely going to check your book out, but in the mean time I was wondering if you could help me zort something out from this article. Author states: Check these quantum states out as examples, which cannot be broken into a tensor product of two other states, they are unseparable - Ex.1: 1/sqrt(2)∣00⟩ + 1/sqrt(2)∣11⟩ !=∣ψ1​⟩⊗∣ψ2​⟩ Ex.2: 1/sqrt(2)∣01⟩ − 1/sqrt(2)∣10⟩ !=∣ψ1​⟩⊗∣ψ2​⟩ So, in all previous 2 qubit exa…

The four states |00⟩, |01⟩, |10⟩, |11⟩ form a basis so any two-qubit state can be written as a linear combination of these vectors: ∣ψ⟩ = a|00⟩ +b|01⟩ +c|10⟩ + d|11⟩. If a certain coefficients in the linear combination are zero, e.g., b and c for the 00+11 state, or a and d for the second one, this doesn't have any special meaning.

The classification of states as separable vs entangled refers to the existence of a local description for the two qubits. Remember that |00⟩ is shorthand for |0⟩⊗|0⟩, meaning the state of the two-qubit system when qubit 1 is in state |0⟩ and qubit 2 is in state |0⟩.

Separable states can be written in the form (α|0⟩+β|1⟩)⊗(γ|0⟩+δ|1⟩) = ∣ψ1​⟩⊗∣ψ2​⟩. Note there is a clear local description for the first qubit ∣ψ1​⟩ and and a separate local description of the state ∣ψ2⟩. If Alice prepares her qubit 1 in the state ∣ψ1​⟩ and Bob prepares his qubit 2 in the state ∣ψ2⟩ then the combine description of their two qubits is what's shown above. The state of the combined system is describable as the tensor product of two separate local descriptions.

Entangled states, on the contrary, are states that cannot be described as the tensor product of two local descriptions. Specifically, there exist configurations a,b,c,d for a two-qubit quantum system such that

      a|00⟩ +b|01⟩ +c|10⟩ + d|11⟩   ≠   (α|0⟩+β|1⟩) ⊗ (γ|0⟩+δ|1⟩)
no matter what choice of α,β,γ,δ you make. The phenomenon of entanglement is a quantum-only thing, that can't really be understood via classical analogies, since classical systems can necessarily be described as the combination of two local descriptions. The examples given are two of the four Bell states, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_state , but there are many more entangled states. Here is a concrete physics example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singlet_state#Singlets_and_Ent...

Interestingly, many of the quantum computing experiments perform involve the manipulation of entabgled states because they serve as proof that something quantum is going on...

Re: Quantum Computing Explained

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm definitely going to check your book out, but in the mean time I was wondering if you could help me zort something out from this article. Author states: Check these quantum states out as examples, which cannot be broken into a tensor product of two other states, they are unseparable - Ex.1: 1/sqrt(2)∣00⟩ + 1/sqrt(2)∣11⟩ !=∣ψ1​⟩⊗∣ψ2​⟩ Ex.2: 1/sqrt(2)∣01⟩ − 1/sqrt(2)∣10⟩ !=∣ψ1​⟩⊗∣ψ2​⟩ So, in all previous 2 qubit exa…

The four states |00⟩, |01⟩, |10⟩, |11⟩ form a basis so any two-qubit state can be written as a linear combination of these vectors: ∣ψ⟩ = a|00⟩ +b|01⟩ +c|10⟩ + d|11⟩. If a certain coefficients in the linear combination are zero, e.g., b and c for the 00+11 state, or a and d for the second one, this doesn't have any special meaning. The classification of states as separable vs entangled refers to the existence of a lo…

Holy smokes - that is an amazing response! I can't claim that I'm fully grasping the mathematics of entangled vs separable states at this moment, but what you've written seems very clear and I think if I go through it a few more times with the links, I may finally get it after all these years of bewilderment. Thank you!
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