Jonathan Jones: Graduate Class


A&L Graduate Class: Quantum Information

This course is not currently taught!

Outline

This course is an introduction to quantum information theory based on Nielsen and Chuang (see below), and it is effectively essential to obtain a copy of this text. There are no lectures; instead a number of problems will be set each week which should be attempted before attending the class. In the class students will be required to present their solutions to one another and discuss them; I will only step in if things are becoming unclear. In principle everything you need to know can either be found by reading the course text or by using a little thought. How far we get will depend on the speed we manage to move at! I would hope to reach the end of section 2.1 (problem 2.50) during Hilary. Classes in Trinity term will be given by Professor Steane and he may continue with the book or use a different approach.

Prerequisites

This course will assume a familiarity with elementary quantum information theory such as might be obtained from the Oxford 4th year course C2. As a rough guide, read chapter 1 of Nielsen and Chuang; if most of it seems familiar you should be OK.

Classes

Classes will be held in the Audrey Wood seminar room from 2pm-4pm on Tuesdays afternoons in weeks 7 and 8 of Hilary.

Work and marking

You should do the problems assigned and assess your own performance by providing a mark on the following scale: A full understanding of all problems, A- only minor difficulties, B+ good understanding of key areas, B basic understanding of key areas and good understanding of some areas, B- basic understanding of some areas, C understand the questions but little idea of how to answer them, D don't even understand the questions. Work should be handed in by 5pm on the preceding Monday; it will not be formally marked but a sample of scripts will be checked! Marks may also be adjusted based on your performance in class.

Set problems

Hilary 7
Exercises 2.1-2.25
Hilary 8
Exercises 2.26-2.47

Registering

Please email me at jonathan.jones@qubit.org if you would like to attend, giving your name, a photo or a link to a photo (for ease of identification in the class!), and a one sentence summary of your background in QIP. Graduate students who are not members of the first year graduate class may be permitted to attend if there is space but priority will be given to those who are.

Recommended Text Books

Quantum Computing and Quantum 
Information* Quantum Computation and Quantum Information, by Michael A. Nielsen and Isaac L. Chuang is widely available in college libraries and copies are owned by many research groups. It can be bought at Blackwells or click on the cover to buy a copy from Amazon.