Introduction to Quantum Computing


Book Description

This book provides a self-contained undergraduate course on quantum computing based on classroom-tested lecture notes. It reviews the fundamentals of quantum mechanics from the double-slit experiment to entanglement, before progressing to the basics of qubits, quantum gates, quantum circuits, quantum key distribution, and some of the famous quantum algorithms. As well as covering quantum gates in depth, it also describes promising platforms for their physical implementation, along with error correction, and topological quantum computing. With quantum computing expanding rapidly in the private sector, understanding quantum computing has never been so important for graduates entering the workplace or PhD programs. Assuming minimal background knowledge, this book is highly accessible, with rigorous step-by-step explanations of the principles behind quantum computation, further reading, and end-of-chapter exercises, ensuring that undergraduate students in physics and engineering emerge well prepared for the future.




Materials Research for Manufacturing


Book Description

This book is about applied materials research in industry. It presents various important topics and challenges and gives guidance to materials researchers who move to industry. The book focuses on the materials manufacturing issues for industrial application. It deals with developments and challenges in traditional materials areas, such as metals and ceramics, and new opportunities that have risen from nanotechnology and additive manufacturing. The chapters, written by senior people from large companies, include successful manufacturing undertakings, several distinct and unresolved manufacturing challenges, with the focus on approaches, timelines and the skills needed for future company research and development. The book provides a cross-section of current and future approaches valuable for new employees and academics working in industry.




X-Ray Diffraction for Materials Research


Book Description

X-ray diffraction is a useful and powerful analysis technique for characterizing crystalline materials commonly employed in MSE, physics, and chemistry. This informative new book describes the principles of X-ray diffraction and its applications to materials characterization. It consists of three parts. The first deals with elementary crystallography and optics, which is essential for understanding the theory of X-ray diffraction discussed in the second section of the book. Part 2 describes how the X-ray diffraction can be applied for characterizing such various forms of materials as thin films, single crystals, and powders. The third section of the book covers applications of X-ray diffraction. The book presents a number of examples to help readers better comprehend the subject. X-Ray Diffraction for Materials Research: From Fundamentals to Applications also • provides background knowledge of diffraction to enable nonspecialists to become familiar with the topics • covers the practical applications as well as the underlying principle of X-ray diffraction • presents appropriate examples with answers to help readers understand the contents more easily • includes thin film characterization by X-ray diffraction with relevant experimental techniques • presents a huge number of elaborately drawn graphics to help illustrate the content The book will help readers (students and researchers in materials science, physics, and chemistry) understand crystallography and crystal structures, interference and diffraction, structural analysis of bulk materials, characterization of thin films, and nondestructive measurement of internal stress and phase transition. Diffraction is an optical phenomenon and thus can be better understood when it is explained with an optical approach, which has been neglected in other books. This book helps to fill that gap, providing information to convey the concept of X-ray diffraction and how it can be applied to the materials analysis. This book will be a valuable reference book for researchers in the field and will work well as a good introductory book of X-ray diffraction for students in materials science, physics, and chemistry.




New Developments in Photon and Materials Research


Book Description

This book presents the most recent updates in the field of photon and optical materials research. It is devoted to various interdisciplinary subjects such as fundamental photon physics, bio and medical photon physics, ultrafast non-linear optics, quasiparticle excitation and spectroscopy, coherent mid-infrared (IR) light sources, functional optoelectronic materials and optical fibres, and quantum nano-structured devices for various important technological applications. It contains 19 authoritative peer-reviewed chapters regarding experimental and theoretical research in these fields, contributed by young scientists and engineers (assistant or associate professor level) along with well-established experts. The response of materials to electromagnetic fields, namely light-matter interaction, has been of special concern in fundamental optical sciences. The ability to fabricate and/or engineer new materials and structures is giving rise to revolutionary changes in the field, which also includes soft condensed matter and nanoscale systems. On the other hand, significant demand for new coherent light sources at mid-IR ranges has caused new laser technologies to flourish, which utilise innovative optical materials and quantum structures. Important mid-IR applications include IR countermeasures, optical telecommunications, broadband Internet, environmental monitoring, remote sensing of chemical and biological species, minimally invasive medical surgery and medical diagnosis, and direct imaging of biological structures and relevant processes. Most of the chapters presented in this book address key issues on light-matter interaction in various systems and the next generation of light sources aiming at practical applications. Included with these applications are some fundamental topics such as photon Bose-Einstein condensation, vacuum polarisation field, and polarisational bremsstrahlung. This collection of fresh updates on such stimulating areas makes this book quite unique, as it provides an in-depth review on the most recent progress as well as suggesting future research directions.




Materials Research to Meet 21st-Century Defense Needs


Book Description

In order to achieve the revolutionary new defense capabilities offered by materials science and engineering, innovative management to reduce the risks associated with translating research results will be needed along with the R&D. While payoff is expected to be high from the promising areas of materials research, many of the benefits are likely to be evolutionary. Nevertheless, failure to invest in more speculative areas of research could lead to undesired technological surprises. Basic research in physics, chemistry, biology, and materials science will provide the seeds for potentially revolutionary technologies later in the 21st century.




Frontiers of Materials Research: Electronic and Optical Materials


Book Description

Frontiers of Materials Research/Electronic And Optical Materials: Volume I is part of a five-volume compilation of the proceedings of C-MRS International 1990 Conference held in Beijing, China. The said conference discusses the areas of research in materials science. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 covers topics involved in the development and progress of materials such as the focused beam ion; intermetallic compounds; polymers; and the application of computers in the field. Part 2 includes studies related to high Tc superconductors such as methods related to the field; the effects of oxygen and partial pressure on the properties of superconducting; and the study of superconductivity and crystallography. Part 3 presents papers related optoelectronic materials and functional crystals, which are mostly about the growth, properties, and uses of the different crystals being studied in each paper. The text is recommended for scientists and engineers who would like to know more about the field of materials science, especially those who would like to be involved in materials research.







Impact of Electron and Scanning Probe Microscopy on Materials Research


Book Description

This book presents a coherent synopsis of a rapidly evolving field. Subjects covered include diffraction contrast and defect analysis by conventional TEM lattice imaging, phase contrast and resolution limits in high resolution electron microscopy. Specialised electron diffraction techniques are also covered, as is the application of parallel electron energy loss spectroscopy and scanning transmission EM for subnanometer analysis. Materials analyzed include thin films, interfaces and non-conventional materials. WDS and EDS are treated, with an emphasis on phi(rhoZeta) techniques for the analysis of thin layers and surface films. Theoretical and practical aspects of ESEM are discussed in relation to applications in crystal growth, biomaterials and polymers. Recent developments in SPM are also described. A comprehensive survey of the state of the art in electron and SPM, future research directions and prospective applications in materials engineering.




Mathematical Models for Dental Materials Research


Book Description

This book presents a mechanistic approach—mathematical modeling—for carrying out dental materials research. This approach allows researchers to go beyond the null hypothesis and obtain a solution that is more general and therefore predictive for conditions other than those considered in a study. Hence it can be used either on its own or to complement the commonly used statistical approach. Through a series of practical problems with wide-ranging application, the reader will be guided on: How to construct a mathematical model for the behavior of dental materials by making informed assumptions of the physical, chemical, or mechanical situation How to simplify the model by making suitable simplifications How to calibrate the model by calculating the values of key parameters using experimental results How to refine the model when there are discrepancies between predictions and experiments Only elementary calculus is required to follow the examples and all the problems can be solved by using MS Excel© spreadsheets. This is an ideal book for dental materials researchers without a strong mathematical background who are interested in applying a more mechanistic approach to their research to give deeper insight into the problem at hand. Advance praise for Mathematical Models for Dental Materials Research: “This is a nice addition for research students on how to conduct their work and how to manage data analysis. It brings together a number of important aspects of dental materials investigations which has been missing in the literature. The practical examples make it much easier to understand.” – Michael F. Burrow, Clinical Professor in Prosthodontics, The University of Hong Kong “The great strengths of this volume are the real world examples of dental materials research in the successive chapters. In turn, this is an outcome of the outstanding expertise of both authors. I warmly recommend this book to the dental biomaterials community worldwide.” – David C. Watts, Professor of Biomaterials Science, University of Manchester, UK




Advanced Tomographic Methods in Materials Research and Engineering


Book Description

Tomography provides three-dimensional images of heterogeneous materials or engineering components, and offers an unprecedented insight into their internal structure. By using X-rays generated by synchrotrons, neutrons from nuclear reactors, or electrons provided by transmission electron microscopes, hitherto invisible structures can be revealed which are not accessible to conventional tomography based on X-ray tubes. This book is mainly written for applied physicists, materials scientists and engineers. It provides detailed descriptions of the recent developments in this field, especially the extension of tomography to materials research and engineering. The book is grouped into four parts: a general introduction into the principles of tomography, image analysis and the interactions between radiation and matter, and one part each for synchrotron X-ray tomography, neutron tomography, and electron tomography. Within these parts, individual chapters written by different authors describe important versions of tomography, and also provide examples of applications to demonstrate the capacity of the methods. The accompanying CD-ROM contains some typical data sets and programs to reconstruct, analyse and visualise the three-dimensional data.