Ultimate Zero and One: Computing at the Quantum Frontier [Hardcover]

As miniaturization deepens, and nanotechnology and its machines become more prevalent in the real world, the need to consider using quantum mechanical concepts to perform various tasks in computation increases. Such talks include: the teleporting of information, breaking heretofore unbreakable codes, communicating with messages that betray eavesdropping, and the generation of random munbers. To date, there has been no book written which applies quantum physics to the basic operations of a computer. This one does, thus presenting us with the ideal vehicle for explaining the complexities of quantum mechanics to students, researchers and computer engineers, alike, as they prepare to design and create the computing and information delivery systems for the future. Both authors have solid backgrounds in the subject matter at the theoretical and research level, as well as experience on a more practical plane. While also intended for use as a text for senior/grad level students in computer science/physics/engineering, this book has its primary use as an up-to-date reference work in the emerging interdisciplinary field of quantum computing. It does require knowledge of calculus and familiarity with the concept of the Turing machine.1 Computing at the Edge of Nature.- Rethinking Computers.- Shrinking Technology.- A Peek Into Quantumland.- The Qubit: Ultimate Zero and One.- Are Bits Driving Us Bankrupt?.- An Overview of This Book.- 2 Quantum Computing.- Tricks of the Trade.- Quantum Memory Registers.- The PREPARE-EVOLVE-MEASURE Cycle.- Quantum Gates and Quantum Circuits.- Example of a Quantum Computation.- Summary.- 3 What Can Computers Do?.- The Turing Machine.- Quantum Turing Machines.- Universality.- Computability.- Proving versus Providing Proof.- Complexity.- Searching a Quantum Phone Book.- 4 Breaking Unbreakable Codes.- The Art of Concealment.- Encryption Schemes.- Public Key Cryptography.- Code Breaking on a Classical Cló@