Quantum Computation: Basic Concepts and Physical Implementations

Bernhard Ömer

Despite many common concepts with classical computer science, quantum computing is still widely considered as a special discipline within the broad field of theoretical physics. One reason for the slow adoption of QC by the computer science community is the confusing variety of formalisms (Dirac notation, matrices, gates, operators, etc.), none of which has any similarity with classical programming languages, as well as the rather “physical” terminology in most of the available literature. QCL (Quantum Computation Language) tries to fill this gap: QCL is a hight level, architecture independent programming language for quantum computers, with a syntax derived from classical procedural languages like C or Pascal. This allows for the complete implementation and simulation of quantum algorithms (including classical components) in one consistent formalism. Chapter 1 is an introduction into the basic concepts of quantum programming,

Reinaldo Padilha França, Ana Carolina Borges Monteiro, Rangel Arthur +1 more

Gavin K. Brennen, Daegene Song, Carl J. Williams

Several authors have described the basic requirements essential to build a scalable quantum computer. Because many physical implementation schemes for quantum computing rely on nearest-neighbor interactions, there is a hidden quantum communication overhead to connect distant nodes of the computer. In this paper, we propose a physical solution to this problem, which, together with the key building blocks, provides a pathway to a scalable quantum architecture using nonlocal interactions. Our solution involves the concept of a quantum bus that acts as a refreshable entanglement resource to connect distant memory nodes, providing an architectural concept for quantum computers analogous to the von Neumann architecture for classical computers.

H.E. Caicedo-Ortiz, Elizabeth Santiago-Cortes

James Taylor Lewis Grimmelmann

Reyes Juárez‐Ramírez, Christian X. Navarro, Samantha Jiménez +5 more

Abstract Quantum computing is based on the principles of quantum mechanics, such as superposition, entanglement, measurement, and decoherence. The basic units of computation are qubits, which are abstract objects with a mathematical expression to implement the quantum mechanics principles. Alongside quantum hardware, software is a principal element for conducting quantum computing. The software consists of logic gates and quantum circuits that implement algorithms for the execution of quantum programs. Due to those characteristics, quantum computing is a paradigm that non-physics experts cannot understand. Under this new scheme for developing software, it is important to integrate a conceptual framework of the fundamentals on which quantum computing is based. In this paper, we present a kind of taxonomical view of the fundamental concepts of quantum computing and the derived concepts that integrate the emerging discipline of quantum software engineering. We performed a quasi-systematic mapping for conducting the systematic review because the objective of the review only intends to detect the fundamental concepts of quantum computing and quantum software. The results can help computer science students and professors as a starting point to address the study of this discipline.