ECE 770 topic 11 - Winter 2015

ECE 770 topic 11 - Implementations of Quantum Information Processing

Instructor

Professor Christopher Wilson
Office: QNC 3122
Office Hours: by appointment (via email)
Email: chris.wilson@uwaterloo.ca

Lecture hours

Thursday 8:30-11:20, EIT 3151

Tutorial hours

Friday 10:00-10:50, QNC 1201

Description

This course gives an introduction to physical implementations of quantum computers with an emphasis on common and connecting themes.

Prerequisite

Quantum mechanics, linear algebra

Syallabus

1. Review of modern Quantum Mechanics

   State vectors and operators; Dirac notation; time-evolution and the Hamiltonian; The quantum harmonic oscillator; The 2-level system (spin 1/2); Coupling between a HO and TLS

2. Spin-based Quantum Computing

   Nuclear magnetic resonance; Quantum dots and electron spins

3. Superconducting Qubits

   Quantized circuits. The superconducting zoo. Circuit Quantum Electrodynamics

4. Ion Traps

   Trapping ions. Raman transitions. Motional gates.

5. Photonic Quantum Information

   Polarization and time-bin encoding; quantum key distribution; the Knill-Laflamme-Milburn proposal

6. Special Topics

   Students will give presentations on topics of interest to themselves drawn from the literature

Textbook

There will be no required textbook.

General references

• Course Notes, Frank Wilhelm
• Modern Quantum Mechanics, J.J. Sakurai. Addison-Wesley Publishing, (1994).

Marking scheme

• Homework: 30%
• Oral presentation: 20%
• Term Project: 50%