Book Image

Essential Mathematics for Quantum Computing

By : Leonard S. Woody III
5 (1)
Book Image

Essential Mathematics for Quantum Computing

5 (1)
By: Leonard S. Woody III

Overview of this book

Quantum computing is an exciting subject that offers hope to solve the world’s most complex problems at a quicker pace. It is being used quite widely in different spheres of technology, including cybersecurity, finance, and many more, but its concepts, such as superposition, are often misunderstood because engineers may not know the math to understand them. This book will teach the requisite math concepts in an intuitive way and connect them to principles in quantum computing. Starting with the most basic of concepts, 2D vectors that are just line segments in space, you'll move on to tackle matrix multiplication using an instinctive method. Linearity is the major theme throughout the book and since quantum mechanics is a linear theory, you'll see how they go hand in hand. As you advance, you'll understand intrinsically what a vector is and how to transform vectors with matrices and operators. You'll also see how complex numbers make their voices heard and understand the probability behind it all. It’s all here, in writing you can understand. This is not a stuffy math book with definitions, axioms, theorems, and so on. This book meets you where you’re at and guides you to where you need to be for quantum computing. Already know some of this stuff? No problem! The book is componentized, so you can learn just the parts you want. And with tons of exercises and their answers, you'll get all the practice you need.
Table of Contents (20 chapters)
1
Section 1: Introduction
4
Section 2: Elementary Linear Algebra
8
Section 3: Adding Complexity
13
Section 4: Appendices
Appendix 1: Bra–ket Notation
Appendix 2: Sigma Notation
Appendix 5: References

Chapter 2: The Matrix

In the famous movie, The Matrix, Morpheus says, "The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room." Morpheus was not far off the mark, for there is a theory in physics called the matrix string theory where essentially, reality is governed by a set of matrices. But while a matrix is one entity in the movie, a matrix in physics is a concept that is used again and again to model reality.

Figure 2.1 – This screenshot of the GLmatrix program by Jamie Zawinski is licensed with his permission

As you will see, the definition of a matrix is deceptively simple, but its power derives from all the ways mathematicians have defined that it can be used. It is a central object in quantum mechanics and, hence, quantum computing. Indeed, if I were forced to select the most important mathematical tool in quantum computing, it would be a matrix.

In this chapter, we are going to cover the following main topics...