Explorations in Quantum Computing

by Colin P. Williams and Scott H. Clearwater

Book Overview

It is believed that quantum computers will be able to perform certain tasks breathtakingly faster than classical computers and accomplish mind-boggling feats such as teleporting information, breaking... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 038794768X
• ISBN13: 9780387947686
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Springer
• Length: 307 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.3" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

perfect for newcomers in the area of QC

I read almost all of the book so far and i have to say this is one of the best books a beginner can buy. The fact that it is for beginners doesnt make it a bad book. It deals with almost all of the subjects and explains the connections between them. For those who doesnt know quantum physics ( or computing ) it is especially important to understand the basics and connections. This book first gives the underlying methods/concepts and then tries to show how it is/can be implemented on a quantum computer. If you are new in one of the 2 areas ( quantum physics or/and classical computing ), you should be paying attention to understanding of new concepts and connections coming in with the areas itself to gain a solid background in the field. I believe this book is giving the background a beginner needs. It is true that the book has little mathematics perspective and is more like concepts oriented in physical subjects. So even if you are an undergrad physics student who took quantum pyhsics, the language or explanations used here might seem rather simplistic. Other than that it is perfect.

Excellent book, comprehensive, and surprisingly fun!

This is a good and pretty comprehensive book on an exciting subject. It interweaves ideas from computer science and quantum physics. That might sound dry but this book made it fun! I found the software an integral part of the experience. I recommend that the authors make more mention of it in the book. It's nifty stuff. I haven't seen another book like it.

Truly outstanding!!

This book is awesome!! It explains the ideas of quantum computing in terms I can really understand. It covers topics that are not covered in detail in the summary articles on the web. I specially liked the descriptions of Feynman's quantum processor, error propagation (from mistakes in manufacturing) and Shor's factoring algorithm. The description of the RSA algorithm for public key cryptography is the best I have ever seen. The book comes with a CD-ROM containing executable computer simulations of Feynman's quantum processor, quantum teleportation, Shor's algorithm, quantum cryptography and quantum error correction! It also contains hundreds of references that I have used to track down foundational quantum computing papers that pre-date the web based materials. The code in the BraKet.nb notebook is a mini-toolkit for manipulating quantum mechanical formulas. I was able to use and adapt the code easily, and it really brought the field to life in a new way for me. It is a pity that the book does not have a demo copy of Mathematica on board as this limits the executability of the code to people who already have Mathematica. Nevertheless, this book is an outstanding tour-de-force for Drs. Clearwater and Williams. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about quantum computing from scratch. I have not seen a book this original or exciting in a long long time.

A very good introductory book

This is a very good introductory book for anybody with some technical or scientific background. It gives an overview of the major developments in the field of quantum computing and communications during the past decade. We find that the text is not intended for scientists working in the field or for physicists doing research in related fields.Chapter 1 is well written and clearly presented. It describes in a comprehensive way the current trends in computer technology from different points of view. Everybody can immensely profit from reading it. Chapter 2 considers basic notions of computer science in a very understandable way with appropriate examples. Chapter 3 gives some ideas on quantum mechanics. It can be a useful introduction to this subject. Chapter 4 on simulations is very informative with many illustrative examples. Chapter 6 considers classical cryptosystems rather extensively and well. It also gives the basics of Shor's factoring algorithm. Chapter 7 describes the applications of random numbers, mainly in classical computing. Chapters 8 and 9 present quantum cryptography and teleportation respectively. This is a good and informative presentation for nonspecialist. Decoherence and error correction are considered in chapter 10 rather briefly and their description is not very much up to date. Chapter 11 gives a notion of the current experimental realizations of quantum computers and can be very informative for nonspecialists. A more extensive text on quantum algorithms (nature, examples, applications) is maybe also appropriate in the book, as is an explanation of the original ideas of Feynman (and their evolution) regarding the simulation of a quantum system on a quantum computer.According to us the book is written intelligently and well. It responds to the current need to popularize the explosive developments in this field. The people who would profit the most of it are those who work in different areas of computer science and information technology. It provides a bridge between the ! world of computers and quantum physics with its possible applications.

Excellent book, and the only one describing this new field

If you are interested in learning about Quantum Computation, Cryptography and/or Teleportation, this is the book for you. It describes all aspects of this new field in detail, accompanied by a CD with simulations, and a text file list of journal articles to further your study of quantum computation. If you are interested in quantum computing and have a background in physics notation, buy this!