Book Description

This book presents the basics of quantum computing and quantum information theory. It emphasizes the mathematical aspects and the historical continuity of both algorithms and information theory when passing from classical to quantum settings. The book begins with several classical algorithms relevant for quantum computing and of interest in their own right. The postulates of quantum mechanics are then presented as a generalization of classical probability. Complete, rigorous, and self-contained treatments of the algorithms of Shor, Simon, and Grover are given. Passing to quantum information theory, the author presents it as a straightforward adaptation of Shannon's foundations to information theory. Both Shannon's theory and its adaptation to the quantum setting are explained in detail. The book concludes with a chapter on the use of representation theory in quantum information theory. It shows how all known entropy inequalities, including the celebrated strong subadditivity of von Neumann entropy, may be obtained from a representation theory perspective. With many exercises in each chapter, the book is designed to be used as a textbook for a course in quantum computing and quantum information theory. Prerequisites are elementary undergraduate probability and undergraduate algebra, both linear and abstract. No prior knowledge of quantum mechanics or information theory is required.