QUANTUM COMPUTING

(19EPH471)
Unit 1: Introduction to quantum computing
Lecture 1_1
M Chaitanya Varma [email protected]
Department of Physics 9440236906
GITAM School of Science
GITAM
To me quantum computation is a new and deeper and better way to
understand the laws of physics, and hence understanding physical reality
as a whole. We are really only scratching the surface of what it is telling
us about the nature of the laws of physics.

David Deutsch
The evolution of the modern computer has involved a series of changes from one type of
physical realization to another: from gears to relays to transistors to integrated circuits
Since then, computers have evolved to become faster, smaller and more powerful, and this
evolution has been made possible by new discoveries, new techniques and new physical and
engineering models.

According to Moore’s law, processor speeds, or overall processing power for computers
should double every 18 months, but as all exponential growth, this evolution is reaching its
limits.

As the size of the computer’s processor is reduced to the microscopic scale, electrons in the
electrical circuits begin to reveal their quantum nature, and Classical Physics are no longer
valid. Therefore, to solve this problem the following issue arises: whether we develop new
semiconductor chips that allow us to evade the electron’s quantum nature, or we use the
principles of Quantum Mechanics to develop new computers and new ways of processing
information.
Quantum Mechanics (QM) is certainly one of the most important physical theories of the
twentieth century. Up until the late nineteenth century, Newtonian Mechanics were used to
understand physical phenomena linked to the motion of matter, and Maxwell’s
Electromagnetism to describe those related with radiation.

This revolutionary theory led physicists and scientists to rethink and re-evaluate physics as
it was known to date, thus introducing a whole new way of describing physical systems. For
instance, they discovered the fact that, in general, the state of a quantum system cannot be
described from the states of it’s constituents due to the existence of quantum correlations
between them.
In 1935, Einstein, Podolski and Rosen were the firsts to put the spotlight on quantum correlated states, and it was
Erwin Schrödinger who coined the term “entanglement” to name those quantum correlations.

Entanglement is one of the most unique and surprising quantum phenomena, and such as Heisenberg uncertainty
principle, it has no classical analog.

One of the most important consequences of the existence of entanglement is related to the quantity of
information necessary to describe the state of a system. In a classical system, the number of parameters needed to
characterize it’s state (the number of degrees of freedom) is equal to the sum of the degrees of freedom of each of
its components. However, for a quantum system, the number of parameters needed to describe it’s state grows
exponentially with the number of constituents. And this makes the task of simulating a quantum system a very
difficult one (even for systems with few constituents), since the computational resources needed for the
simulation quickly become unreachable using computational techniques based on classical computers. However,
in 1982 Richard Feynman conjectured that these limitations could be overcome using computers based on
quantum systems.

Based on this conjecture, physicists started using the potential of QM to develop new computers capable not only
of simulating quantum systems but also capable of solving other problems that were (until that moment)
intractable on classical computers. This gave birth to a new interdisciplinary field of study called Quantum
Information.
Thus, in 1985 David Deutsch proposed the first quantum algorithm, and proved that it could
perform a task with greater efficiency than it’s classical counterpart. Deutsch also proposed one of the
first universal quantum computers.

From this moment on, several quantum algorithms have been proposed, being one of the most
important the one that Shor proposed in 1994. With his algorithm, Shor showed that quantum
computers can factor large numbers exponentially faster than any classical computer.

Another quantum algorithm of great interest is Grover’s search algorithm, discovered in 1997. This
algorithm achieves a quadratic reduction in the number of steps required to search an item in
a disordered database.

Furthermore, quantum teleportation protocol demonstrated that Quantum Mechanics can also be
used to generate new ways of transmitting information.
Quantum computing holds the promise to solve some of our planet's biggest challenges - in the
areas of environment, agriculture, health, energy, climate, materials science, and others we haven't
encountered yet. For some of these problems, classical computing is increasingly challenged as the
size of the system grows. When designed to scale, quantum systems will presumably have some
capabilities that exceed our most powerful supercomputers.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/quantum/overview-understanding-quantum-computing
Quantum Computing future is still in the realm of speculation.

The scientific community have claimed (F. Arute et al. Nature 574, 505–510; 2019) about the use
of the term quantum supremacy, inciting to use the word ‘advantage’ instead of ’supremacy’ to
avoid both false illusions and misunderstandings.

Scott Aaronson points out that if we can separate ourselves from the physics (which is perplexing
and counterintuitive) and the “hype,” applications with quantum processors open up a new world
of “real” possibilities for ML and other digital technologies.

We don’t know where it will arrive, but we can see some interesting developments very close to us
right now.
Google, Amazon, Facebook, IBM, and Microsoft began investing in this field over ten years ago.
According to their own words, they will not be able to develop reliable quantum processors with low
errors and sufficient capabilities until 2030. The largest successfully tested quantum processor known to
date is Google’s Sycamore, which has 54 qubits. However, this processor is still from the “non-default-
tolerant” generation, which is also referred to as “small-scale” or “near-term” to indicate that it is still in
its early stages.

Physicists formally defines current state of the art as NISQ (Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum
technology) to highlight the source of the current technical problems: noise. The reader could wonder
that 54 quantum bits is something limited but we have to think that in the quantum world computing
capabilities grows exponentially with the number of qubits.

However, the more qubits that are linked, the more difficult it is to keep their fragile states while the
device is operating, and the higher the errors. Physicists believe that there is still much work to be done
before quantum computers can run advanced algorithms without errors (noise-free).
The De Broglie Hypothesis
 Schrodinger wave equation

Time Independent wave equation

Time Dependent wave equation

  px Et 
Wave Function i − 
=e  h h 

Normalize a wave function over domain − to   

  * dx = A  e
−2 ax 2
 ( x) = Ae − ax 2
2
dx = 1
− −


e
−2 ax 2
dx =
−
2a
1/4
 2a  − ax2
A=  e
 
1/4
 2a 
 ( x) =  
 
Coin Toss Probability

When a coin is tossed, there are only two possible outcomes.

Therefore, using the probability formula:

•On tossing a coin, the probability of getting head is:

P(Head) = P(H) = ½

•Similarly, on tossing a coin, the probability of getting a tail is:

P(Tail) = P(T) = 1/2
Classical Bit Qubit
A qubit (pronounced “cue-bit” and short for quantum bit) is the physical carrier of quantum
information. It is the quantum version of a bit, and its quantum state can be written in terms of
two levels, labelled |0> and |1>, which can be represented in the “computational basis” by two-
dimensional vectors:
any arbitrary state can be represented as:

where α and β are complex probability amplitudes. α and β are constrained by the equation
∣α∣2 + ∣β∣2 = 1.
The probability that the qubit will be measured in the state ∣0⟩ is ∣α∣2 and the probability that
it will be measured in the state ∣1⟩ is ∣β∣2. Hence the total probability of the system being
observed in either state ∣0⟩ or ∣1⟩ is 1.
This is significantly different from the state of a classical bit, which can only take the value 0
or 1.
A qubit's most important distinction from a classical bit, however, is not the continuous nature
of the state (which can be replicated by any analog quantity), but the fact that multiple qubits
can exhibit quantum entanglement.

Entanglement is a nonlocal property that allows a set of qubits to express superpositions of

different binary strings (01010 and 11111, for example) simultaneously. Such "quantum
parallelism" is one of the keys to the potential power of quantum computation.

In essence, each independent state of the quantum particle used in the computer can follow its
own independent computation path to conclusion while its other states are observed and
changed.

A number of qubits taken together is a quantum register. Quantum computers perform

calculations by manipulating qubits.
Bloch Sphere representation
Bloch sphere is a physical representation of all possible qubit states.
Each qubit is in its essence a vector on Bloch’s sphere. Each vector on the sphere can be represented
in two basis: θ and ϕ. The first is θ which is the angle between the vector and the z-axis. The second
is ϕ which is the angle between the vector and the positive x-axis measuring counter-clockwise.
INNER PRODUCTS

To compute the length of a vector, even if it’s a length in an abstract sense, we

need a way to find the inner product.
We write the inner product between two vectors |u>, |v> with the notation <u|v>.

If the inner product between two vectors is zero,

<u|v> = 0
We say that |u>, |v> are orthogonal to one another.
When considering the inner product of a vector with a superposition or linear combination of vectors,
the following linear and anti-linear relations hold:

To compute the inner product between two vectors, we must calculate the Hermitian conjugate of a
vector
In quantum physics <u| is sometimes called the dual vector or bra corresponding to |u>.

If a ket is a column vector, the dual vector or bra is a row vector whose elements are the complex

conjugates of the elements of the column vector. In other words, when working with column vectors, the

Hermitian conjugate is computed in two steps:

1. Write the components of the vector as a row of numbers.

2. Take the complex conjugate of each element and arrange them in a row vector.
Find

(a)<a|, <b|

(b) <a|b>, <b|a>

(c) |c>=|a>+2|b>, <c|a>

ORTHONORMALITY

When the norm of a vector is unity, we say that vector is normalized. That is, if

<a|a> = 1
then we say that |a> is normalized.
If a vector is not normalized, we can generate a normalized vector by computing the norm (which
is just a number) and dividing the vector by it.
Outer Product — |ΨΦ|
A product of two quantum states, |Ψ> and <Φ|, is called an outer product, producing a
matrix. An outer product is also called a projection.
Tensor Product — |ΨΦ>
A product of two quantum states, |Ψ> and |Φ> is called a tensor product, producing a column vector with
length 2ⁿ (where n is the number of qubits).
If we square all individual vector elements and sum them up, the total must be 1.

It means that the following normalization constraint applies:

|αγ|², |αδ|², |βγ|², and |βδ|² represent the probability of measuring 00, 01, 10, and 11, respectively —
which is 16%, 48%, 9%, and 27%.
HERMITIAN, UNITARY, AND NORMAL OPERATORS

a Hermitian matrix (or self-adjoint matrix) is a complex square matrix that is equal to its own conjugate transpose—
that is, the element in the i-th row and j-th column is equal to the complex conjugate of the element in the j-th row
and i-th column

The Hermitian adjoint of an operator ˆA is denoted by ˆA† and is defined as follows:

Unitary Operator

An operator is said to be unitary if its adjoint is equal to its inverse. Unitary operators are often denoted
using the symbol U and we can state its definition as

Unitary operators are important because they describe the time evolution of a quantum state. The Pauli
operators are both Hermitian and Unitary.
Normal Operator

An operator A is said to be normal if

Measurement

When it comes to the measurement of physical observables, quantum mechanics can tell us what
measurement results are possible and what the probability is of obtaining each measurement result.
It is also important to focus on what the state of the system is after a measurement is made.
Measurement has a profound impact on a quantum mechanical system—altering its state in an
irreversible way.

When a measurement is made, the qubit will be forced into the state |ψ → |0> or |ψ → |1>. After
measurement the original state is lost. It isn’t possible to make a measurement and determine
what α and β are
The measurement of a quantum system involves some type of interaction or coupling of that system
with a measuring device. That device can be thought of as part of the larger environment which the
quantum system is a part of. Frequently the measuring apparatus or larger environment is known as
the ancilla. A system coupled to an environment is known as an open system.
The result of a measurement is a projection and the state is projected onto the basis state | i ⟩ with
probability |αi|2 ---the same properties are true of this more general system.
To summarize, if a measurement is made on the system | Ψ ⟩, the result | i ⟩ is obtained with probability
|αi|2. Assuming that | i ⟩ results from the measurement, the state of the system has been projected into the
state | i ⟩. Therefore, the state of the system immediately after the measurement is | i ⟩.
Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors
Procedure :Finding Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors
What are eigenvalues?
• Given a matrix, A, x is the eigenvector and  is the
corresponding eigenvalue if Ax = x
• A must be square and the determinant of A -  I must be
equal to zero
Ax - x = 0 iff (A - I) x = 0
• Trivial solution is if x = 0
• The nontrivial solution occurs when det(A - I) = 0
• Are eigenvectors unique?
• If x is an eigenvector, then x is also an eigenvector and  is
an eigenvalue
A(x) = (Ax) = (x) = (x)
 Problem

Solution
Calculating the Eigenvectors/values
• Expand the det(A - I) = 0 for a 2 x 2 matrix
  a11 a12  1 0 
det ( A − I ) = det   −   =0

 a21 a22   0 1 
a11 −  a12 
det   = 0  (a11 −  )(a22 −  ) − a12 a21 = 0
 a21 a22 −  
2 −  (a11 + a22 ) + (a11a22 − a12 a21 ) = 0

• For a 2 x 2 matrix, this is a simple quadratic equation with two solutions

(maybe complex)
 = (a11 + a22 ) 
(a11 + a22 )
2

4(a11a22 − a12 a21 )

• This “characteristic equation” can be used to solve for x
Eigenvalue example
• Consider,
2 − (a11 + a22 ) + (a11a22 − a12 a21 ) = 0
1 2 
A=     2
− (1 + 4) + (1 4 − 2  2) = 0
 2 4   2
= (1 + 4)   = 0,  = 5

• The corresponding eigenvectors can be computed as
 1 2  0 0    x  1 2  x  1x + 2 y  0
 = 0    −   
   = 0      =   = 
  2 4  0 0    y   2 4   y   2 x + 4 y  0 
 1 2  5 0    x   − 4 2   x   − 4 x + 2 y  0 
 = 5    − 0 5    y  = 0   2 − 1   y  =  2 x − 1y  = 0
 2 4             
• For  = 0, one possible solution is x = (2, -1)
• For  = 5, one possible solution is x = (1, 2)
(Finding eigenvalues and eigenvectors)
2 − 12
A= 
 1 − 5 

Sol: Characteristic equation:

 −2 12
det(I − A) =
−1  +5
= 2 + 3 + 2 = ( + 1)( + 2) = 0
  = −1, − 2

Eigenvalue s :  1 = −1, 2 = −2
 − 3 12  x1  0
(1)1 = −1  (1I − A) x =     = 
 − 1 4   x2   0 
− 3 12 1 − 4  x1  4t  4
  ~     =   = t  , t  0
 − 1 4  0 0   x2   t   1 

− 4 12  x1  0
(2)2 = −2  (2 I − A) x =     = 
 − 1 3   x 2  0 
− 4 12 1 − 3  x1  3t  3
  ~     =   = t  , t  0
 − 1 3  0 0   x2   t  1

Check : Ax =  xi