An accessible introduction to quantum information and computation, starting from a prerequisite of only trigonometry. We employ an open-source text along with interactive simulations and tools to elaborate quantum rules, notation, mathematics, and visualization of quantum states, and then motivate methods to encode, manipulate, and compute with qubits. Topics include: classical bits and logic gates; qubits and quantum superpositions; imaging and measurement of quantum states; physical qubits; the Bloch sphere; reversibility; quantum gates and circuits; developing linear algebra from algebra and state space; entanglement; no-cloning and no-signaling principles; universal quantum gates; decoherence and error correction; superdense coding; teleportation; entanglement protocols and algorithms; optional quantum programming tools. Students completing this IntroSem will be well-placed to tackle further studies and pursue research or internship opportunities in this nascent field. NOTE: Students who took PHYSICS PHYSICS 14N in Academic Year 2024-2025 should not enroll in this course.
3 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit
An accessible introduction to quantum information and computation, starting from a prerequisite of only trigonometry. We employ an open-source text along with interactive simulations and tools to elaborate quantum rules, notation, mathematics, and visualization of quantum states, and then motivate methods to encode, manipulate, and compute with qubits. Topics include: classical bits and logic gates; qubits and quantum superpositions; imaging and measurement of quantum states; physical qubits; the Bloch sphere; reversibility; quantum gates and circuits; developing linear algebra from algebra and state space; entanglement; no-cloning and no-signaling principles; universal quantum gates; decoherence and error correction; superdense coding; teleportation; entanglement protocols and algorithms; optional quantum programming tools. Students completing this IntroSem will be well-placed to tackle further studies and pursue research or internship opportunities in this nascent field. NOTE: Students who took PHYSICS 14N in Academic Year 2024-2025 should not enroll in this course.
Offered in Autumn 2026 at Stanford University.