Lecture 2

Quantum Computing Foundations

• Max Planck and the Quantum
Hypothesis: In 1900, German
theoretical physicist Max Planck
introduced the revolutionary concept
of quantized energy levels to explain
black-body radiation. He proposed
that energy is emitted in discrete
packets, called quanta, rather than
continuously. Planck’s quantum
hypothesis ushered in a new era in
physics, laying the groundwork for
the development of quantum
mechanics.
 Quantum Computing Foundations
• Albert Einstein and the
Photoelectric Effect: In 1905, Albert
Einstein published a seminal paper
on the photoelectric effect, where he
proposed that light is composed of
particles called photons. Each
photon carries a specific amount of
energy, proportional to its frequency.
Einstein’s work provided strong
support for Planck’s quantum
hypothesis and advanced the
understanding of the particle-like
behavior of light.
 Quantum Computing Foundations
• Niels Bohr and the Bohr Model of
the Atom: In 1913, Danish physicist
Niels Bohr introduced the Bohr
model of the atom, proposing that
electrons orbit the nucleus in
discrete energy levels. Bohr’s model
offered a profound understanding of
atomic structure and the quantized
nature of energy. It also introduced
the concept of quantum jumps,
where electrons transition between
energy levels by absorbing or emitting
photons, highlighting the importance
of quantization in atomic systems
 Quantum Computing Foundations
• Werner Heisenberg and the
Uncertainty Principle: In 1927,
German physicist Werner Heisenberg
formulated the uncertainty principle,
a cornerstone of quantum
mechanics. This principle asserts
that it is impossible to
simultaneously know both the
position and momentum of a particle
with perfect accuracy. Heisenberg's
uncertainty principle underscored
the inherent limitations in measuring
quantum systems, which later proved
crucial in the development of
quantum computing
 Quantum Computing Foundations
• John von Neumann and the
Mathematical Framework for
Quantum Mechanics: In the
1930s, Hungarian-American
mathematician and physicist
John von Neumann developed
the mathematical framework for
quantum mechanics. His work,
including the formalism of
quantum states and operators,
provided a rigorous foundation
for understanding the behavior of
quantum systems.
Quantum Computing Milestones

1965 1980 1981 1985 1991 1994

•Feynman: The •Yuri Manin: •Feynman: •David Deutsch: •Artur Ekert: • Peter Shor:
Development of the Propose the first “Simulating Physics Quantum theory, Quantum Algorithm to find
Space-Time View of idea of Quantum with Computers” the Church-Turing cryptography. prime factors of a
Quantum Computing Quantum principle and the Introduced number
Electrodynamics Phenomenon to universal quantum entanglement-
compute computer based QKD
Zhang, S., & Li, L. (2022). A brief introduction to quantum algorithms. CCF
Transactions on High Performance Computing, 4(1), 53-62.
Challenges Today
• Scaling Up Quantum Computers
• Error Correction and Fault Tolerance
• New Quantum Algorithms
• Quantum Cryptography and Post-Quantum Cryptography
• Applications
Basic Unit: Qubit
A Quantum bit (qubit) describes the states of each individual two-
level systems. In the computational bases:
|𝜓⟩ = 𝑎|0⟩ + 𝑏|1⟩
where
𝑎 + 𝑏 =1
In theory a Qubit can store infinite amount of information,
conserved during evolution. Measurement yields only one of the
two values.
 An Optics Approach

Detector

Detector

Source Beam-splitter

Sarkar, A., Bhattacharyya, T. K., & Patwardhan, A. (2006). Quantum Logic Processor: A Mach Zehnder
Interferometer based Approach. arXiv preprint cond-mat/0603695.
 Understanding the Qubit

Detector 50%

Detector 50%

Source Beam-splitter

Beam-splitter acts as a classical coin-flip, randomly sending each photon

one way or the other.
Understanding the Qubit
Detector ????

Mirror
Detector ????

Source Beam-splitter
Understanding the Qubit
Detector

Mirror
Detector 100%

Source Beam-splitter
You could expect that each detector measures 50% of the light again.
But this is wrong!
 Understanding the Qubit
Detector • There is a quantity that we’ll
call the “amplitude” for each
possible path that a photon
can take.
Detector • The amplitudes can interfere
constructively and
destructively, even though
each photon takes only one
path.
• The amplitudes at detectors
Source Beam-splitter interfere destructively and
constructively.
 Understanding the Qubit
Arrows flip 180⁰ at mirrors,
Detector rotate 90⁰ counter-clockwise
when reflected from beam
splitters
Detector

The two position states of a photon in a

Mach-Zehnder apparatus is just one
example of a quantum bit or qubit
Source Beam-splitter
 Understanding the Qubit
Arrows flip 180⁰ at mirrors,
rotate 90⁰ counter-clockwise 1 1
when reflected from beam Detector −
2
|0⟩ +
2
|0⟩

splitters
1
− |1⟩ 1 1
2 − |1⟩ − |1⟩
Detector 2 2

1 1
|1⟩ |0⟩
1 2
2 − |0⟩
−|0⟩ 2

Source Beam-splitter
Reading Qubits
• A single qubit quantum memory register exhibits the interesting
property that even though its contents may be definite, i.e., it may
be precisely in the state |𝜓⟩ = a|0⟩ + b|1⟩, the outcome we obtain
from reading it is non-deterministic.
• Sometimes we will find it in state |0⟩ and sometimes we will find it
in state |1⟩.
• The instant after the measurement is made, the state is known
with certainty to be |0⟩ or |1⟩ consistent with result we obtained.
Multiple Qubits
• Collection of n-qubits, which are assumed to be ordered, indexed
and addressable so that selective operations can be applied to
any single qubit or any pair of qubits at will.
• n-qubit memory register could be found in a superposition of all
the 2 possible bit strings |00 … 0⟩, |00 … 1⟩, … , |11 … 1⟩
Computational Basis
• We describe the state of a multi-qubit quantum memory register as
a superposition of its possible bit-string configurations, we say the
state is represented in the computational basis.
• The most general form for a pure state of a 2-qubit quantum
memory register can be written as:

where 𝑐 + 𝑐 + 𝑐 + 𝑐 =1
Computational Basis
• In general for a pure state of an n-qubit quantum memory

where ∑ 𝑐 = 1 and |𝑖 ⟩ represents the “computational basis

eigenstate” whose bit values match those of the decimal number i
expressed in base-2 notation
Re-normalization
The state vector describing two qubits is:

the measurement result x (00, 01, 10 or 11) occurs with probability 𝛼 ,

with the state of the qubits after the measurement being |𝑥 ⟩.
• We could measure just a subset of the qubits.
• For example, measuring the first qubit alone gives 0 with probability
𝛼 + 𝛼 , leaving the post-measurement state:
The Postulates of Quantum Mechanics
Postulates of Quantum Mechanics
• State Space: Describes the state of a closed system.
• Evolution: describes the evolution of a closed system.
• Measurement: describes how information is extracted from a
closed system via interactions with an external system.
• Composite systems: describes the state of a composite system
in terms of its component parts
Postulate 1: State Space
• Associated to any isolated physical system is a complex vector
space with inner product (that is, a Hilbert space) known as the
state space of the system. The system is completely described by
its state vector, which is a unit vector in the system’s state space.
• Qubit: Arbitrary state vector |𝜓⟩ = a|0⟩ + b|1⟩
Normalization condition: - |𝜓⟩ is a unit vector
- ⟨𝜓│𝜓⟩=1
- 𝑎 + 𝑏 =1
Postulate 1. State Space
• Any physical system whose state space can be described by ℂ can
serve as an implementation of a qubit.
• spin of an electron
• polarization of a photon
• current in a superconducting circuit
 Quantum State (qubit)
Mathematically represented as a vector, or a point on the surface of the
Bloch sphere:
𝜃 𝜃
|𝜓⟩ = 𝑐𝑜𝑠
2
|0⟩ + 𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑛
2
|1⟩ 𝛼 + 𝛽 =1

 
Measurement = projection of state to a basis vector
(changes the state – superposition is destroyed)

Quantum gate is a transformation from one qubit state to another.

Single-qubit gate = rotation around Bloch sphere. Reversible.
Represented by a matrix (unitary, …) acting on the vector.

NOTE: There are many possible basis vector sets – any antipodal points
on the Bloch sphere are orthogonal. “Standard” basis is {|0〉,|1〉}.
Postulate 2: Evolution (Part A)
• The evolution of a closed quantum system is described by a
unitary transformation. That is, the state |𝜓⟩ of the system at time
𝑡 is related to the state |𝜓′⟩ of the system at time 𝑡 by a unitary
operator 𝑈 which depends only on the times 𝑡 and 𝑡

Pauli Matrices are an example of this unitary operators

This postulate requires that the system being described be closed.
That is, it is not interacting in any way with other systems.
Postulate 2: Evolution (Part B)
• The time evolution of the state of a closed quantum system is
described by the Schrödinger equation

ℏ is the Planck’s constant and H is the Hamiltonian defined as:

E is the energy of the state, |𝐸 ⟩ stationary state (eigenstate)

Quantum Processing
An unitary operation is done over the qubits to perform Quantum
computations:
|𝜓 𝜓 𝜓 … 𝜓 ⟩ → 𝑈|𝜓 𝜓 𝜓 … 𝜓 ⟩=|𝑓 𝜓 𝜓 𝜓 … 𝜓 ⟩

The Hamiltonian H has to generate this evolution according to

Schrödinger's equation:

∫
|𝜓 ⟩=𝑒 ℏ |𝜓 ⟩=U|𝜓 ⟩
Postulate 3: Quantum Measurements
Quantum measurements are described by a collection 𝑀 of measurement
operators. These are operators acting on the state space of the system being
measured. The index m refers to the measurement outcomes that may occur in
the experiment. If the state of the quantum system is |𝜓⟩ immediately before the
measurement, then the probability that result m occurs is

and the state of the system after the measurement is

The measurement operators satisfy the completeness equation. The

completeness equation expresses the fact that probabilities sum to one.
Postulate 4: Composite System
• The state space of a composite physical system is the tensor
product of the state spaces of the individual component physical
systems. If one component is in state |𝜓 ⟩ and a second
component is in state |𝜓 ⟩, the state of the combined system is
|𝜓 ⟩⊗ |𝜓 ⟩.
Density Operator - Ensembles
• Suppose a quantum system is in one of a number of states 𝜓 ,
where 𝑖 is an index, with respective probabilities 𝑝 .
• 𝑝 , 𝜓 is an ensemble of pure states. The density operator for
the system is defined by:
Density Operator - Ensembles
• Suppose, for example, that the evolution of a closed quantum
system is described by the unitary operator U. If the system was
initially in the state 𝜓 with probability 𝑝 then after the evolution
has occurred the system will be in the state 𝑈 𝜓 with probability 𝑝 .
Thus, the evolution of the density operator is described by the
equation

A quantum system whose state |𝜓⟩ is known exactly is said to be in a

pure state. In this case the density operator is simply 𝜌 = |𝜓⟩⟨𝜓|.
Otherwise, ρ is in a mixed state; it is said to be a mixture of the
different pure states in the ensemble for ρ
Observables in Quantum Mechanics
Observables of a quantum mechanical system are realized as self-
adjoint operators O in Hilbert space that act on the ket |𝜓⟩characterizing
the system. Such self-adjoint operators have a diagonal representation

In terms of the set of eigenvalues {oi } and the corresponding eigenvectors 𝑒 . This
Called spectral representation, is unique and allows to calculate analytic functions
f of the observable according to the formula
Observables in Quantum Mechanics
In general, expectation values of a quantum mechanical observable
O can be calculated as

For a system in a pure state 𝜌 = |𝜓⟩⟨𝜓|, the expression for the

expectation value of an observable reduces to
Entanglement
• This is a state of a composite quantum system that involves
unusually strong correlations between parts of the system.
• A multi-qubit pure state is entangled if and only if it cannot be
factored into the direct product of a definite state for each qubit
individually.
A and B, are entangled if and only if their joint
state |𝜓⟩ cannot be written as the product of a
state for qubit A and a state for qubit B. They are
entangled if and only if |𝜓⟩ ≠ |𝜓⟩ ⊗ |𝜓⟩ for
any choice of states |𝜓⟩ and|𝜓⟩ .
• In a multi-qubit memory register if qubits are entangled then
actions performed on one subset of qubits can have an impact on
another, “untouched”, subset of qubits.