CS 1613 QUANTUM COMPUTATION

This is a one-semester (gentle) introductory course on quantum computation. The course will explore the implications of using quantum mechanics, instead of classical mechanics, to model information and computing. Quantum computing is not about changing the physical substrate on which computation is done from classical to quantum, but rather changing the notion of computation itself. The change starts at the most basic level: the fundamental unit of computation is no longer the bit, but rather the quantum bit, or qubit. Placing computation on a quantum mechanical foundation led to the discovery of faster algorithms, novel cryptographic mechanisms, and improved communication protocols. The course will start with the basic building blocks of quantum information processing: quantum bits and quantum gates. The course will cover common elements of quantum computation and include discussion of concepts of computational complexity. We will also discuss known bounds on the power of classical, randomized, and quantum computation. Finally, the course will explore entanglement and robust quantum computation. We will extensively cover the elegant and important topic of quantum error correction, and techniques to achieve fault tolerance.

Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: Letter Grade
Course Requirements: PREQ: CS 1501 and CS 1502
Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3

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