Matrices and Quantum Computing
Matrices and Quantum Computing
Quantum gates are usually represented as matrices. A gate which acts on k qubits is
represented by a 2k x 2k unitary matrix. The number of qubits in the input and output of the
gate have to be equal. The action of the gate on a specific quantum state is found by
multiplying the vector which represents the state by the matrix representing the gate. In the
following, the vector representation of a single qubit is
The Hadamard gate acts on a single qubit. It maps the basis state |0 to |0+|1 2 and |1 to
|0|1 2 , which means that a measurement will have equal probabilities to become 1 or 0.
It represents a rotation of about the axis (x + z)/ 2 . Equivalently, it is the combination of
two rotations, about the X-axis followed by /2 about the Y-axis. It is represented by the
Hadamard matrix:
The Pauli-X gate acts on a single qubit. It is the quantum equivalent of a NOT gate (with
respect to the standard basis |0 , |1 , which privileges the Z-direction) . It equates to a
rotation of the Bloch sphere around the X-axis by radians. It maps |0 to |1 and |1 to |0 .
Due to this nature, it is sometimes called bit-flip. It is represented by the Pauli matrix:
1) Replace bit with qubit: two state quantum system, states |0>|1>
Quantum Circuits
Any two-qubit
one-qubit, and CNOTs
For X = NOT =
Good quantum circuit design: find tensor factors of computation u
two-qubit Givens rotation: G10,11 acts on |10> and |11> by 2x2 matrix v
QR reduction of 4 x 4 unitary
Summary of QR Circuit Synthesis
Cosine-Sine Decomposition
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