CODEWITHSUNDEEP
computer-sciencequantum-computing
revolstit
revolstit

Reputation: 21

How much I should know in Computer Science to work with Quantum Computing

I browsed some books about quantum computers and there is some concepts from computer science (for example, Turing machine) except quantum physics and mathematics. So, if I want to study quantum computing what I should know from computer science? Is it useful to read SICP, for example?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 730

Answers (3)

Sophia Gold
Sophia Gold

Reputation: 751

All you really need to know from CS is how to count in binary and use bitwise operators, really stuff you could just glean from a Wikipedia article. It would also be helpful to learn some basic discrete math to evaluate the efficiency of algorithms. However, a CS course in algorithms would't be that helpful beyond comparison since quantum algorithms are completely different since they use additional logic gates not possible in binary computation. More important for working with quantum gates is quite a bit of higher math. Understanding the principles of quantum mechanics from a lay standpoint is rather easy and probably best covered by the The Feynman Lectures. But in order to understand transformations on qubits you're going to need a good foundation in linear algebra and differential equations.

Upvotes: 0

user2869038
user2869038

Reputation: 16

Theory of computation is the basic science and mathematics behind computer science. It's the theory of computing machines, read up on complexity classes and some basic algorithms. I don't however see the need to go too deep into it, quantum computing is more in the domain of physics than computer science. Look for a book or videos by Jeffrey D. Ullman, that's what we used in college.

Upvotes: 0

Rick
Rick

Reputation: 1814

Chapters 2 and 3 of Nielsen and Chuang should give you the background you need.

The Feynman Lectures on Computation provides an easy to understand introduction to CS for physicists.

Beyond that, you can read some of Kitaev's Arxiv papers to see whether you're a genius.

SICP may not be directly applicable, but it may very well be the best programming book ever written, so it's always useful!

Upvotes: 3

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