Quantum Computing with Silq Programming

Get up and running with quantum computing with the simplicity of this new high-level programming language

Srinjoy Ganguly, Thomas Cambier

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781800569669
• eBook ISBN: 9781800561212
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Informatique
• Subtopic: Sciences générales de l'informatique

Learn the mathematics behind quantum computing and explore the high-level quantum language Silq to take your quantum programming skills to the next level

Key Features

• Harness the potential of quantum computers more effectively using Silq
• Learn how to solve core problems that you may face while writing quantum programs
• Explore useful quantum applications such as cryptography and quantum machine learning

Book Description

Quantum computing is a growing field, with many research projects focusing on programming quantum computers in the most efficient way possible. One of the biggest challenges faced with existing languages is that they work on low-level circuit model details and are not able to represent quantum programs accurately. Developed by researchers at ETH Zurich after analyzing languages including Q# and Qiskit, Silq is a high-level programming language that can be viewed as the C++ of quantum computers! Quantum Computing with Silq Programming helps you explore Silq and its intuitive and simple syntax to enable you to describe complex tasks with less code.

This book will help you get to grips with the constructs of the Silq and show you how to write quantum programs with it. You'll learn how to use Silq to program quantum algorithms to solve existing and complex tasks. Using quantum algorithms, you'll also gain practical experience in useful applications such as quantum error correction, cryptography, and quantum machine learning. Finally, you'll discover how to optimize the programming of quantum computers with the simple Silq.

By the end of this Silq book, you'll have mastered the features of Silq and be able to build efficient quantum applications independently.

What you will learn

• Identify the challenges that researchers face in quantum programming
• Understand quantum computing concepts and learn how to make quantum circuits
• Explore Silq programming constructs and use them to create quantum programs
• Use Silq to code quantum algorithms such as Grover's and Simon's
• Discover the practicalities of quantum error correction with Silq
• Explore useful applications such as quantum machine learning in a practical way

Who this book is for

This Silq quantum computing book is for students, researchers, and scientists looking to learn quantum computing techniques and software development. Quantum computing enthusiasts who want to explore this futuristic technology will also find this book useful. Beginner-level knowledge of any programming language as well as mathematical topics such as linear algebra, probability, complex numbers, and statistics is required.

Section 1: Essential Background and Introduction to Quantum Computing

This part deals with the mathematical prerequisites that are essential for understanding quantum computing and the challenges faced by users who perform quantum programming in their daily lives. The construction of a real quantum computer will also be touched upon briefly. After completing this part, you will feel confident in your mathematical abilities and understand the challenges faced by the quantum computing community.

This section comprises the following chapters:

• Chapter 1, Essential Mathematics and Algorithmic Thinking
• Chapter 2, Quantum Bits, Quantum Measurements, and Quantum Logic Gates
• Chapter 3, Multiple Quantum Bits, Entanglement, and Quantum Circuits
• Chapter 4, Physical Realization of a Quantum Computer

Chapter 1: Essential Mathematics and Algorithmic Thinking

Quantum computing utilizes the phenomena and properties of quantum mechanics to perform computational tasks. This is done using a quantum computer, which is made using the principles of quantum physics. Today, quantum computers are still in their early stages, but the field is rapidly evolving as more and more communities from different backgrounds get involved in the field. Quantum computers will soon be able to solve challenges that are too complex for classical computers.

This chapter is intended to develop your understanding of the mathematical concepts that are required for quantum computing. This will help you to understand the ideas behind the applications of mathematical concepts to quantum computation. We will cover the following topics:

• Linear algebra
• Coordinate systems, probability, and complex numbers
• Computational thinking and computer algorithms
• The time and space complexity of algorithms

Introducing linear algebra for quantum computing

The concepts and techniques of linear algebra are so important and central to the field of quantum computing because almost all of the operations that take place in quantum computing use the language of linear algebra to describe the details and processes that happen within a quantum computer.

Linear algebra deals with the study of vector spaces and matrices. It primarily covers linear mapping and transformations of vectors and matrices. The geometric representation of linear algebra, such as in 2D Cartesian systems, makes it a lot easier to visualize operations happening on vectors and matrices.

In this section, we will cover the essential topics of linear algebra that are relevant to the world of quantum computing. The mathematical terms will be related to their equivalent quantum computing terms so that you can get a full understanding of the technical terms in quantum language. Let's start with the basic building blocks of linear algebra – vectors and vector spaces.

Vectors and vector spaces

In this section, you will develop a fundamental understanding of vectors and vector spaces. You will also learn about the relationship between vectors and the quantum computing world and will come to appreciate the practical nature of the mathematics involved. In quantum computing and quantum mechanics, vector spaces constitute all the possible quantum states, and they obey the rules of addition and multiplication. Vectors and vector spaces also play an important role in fluid mechanics, wave propagation, and oscillators.

Vectors

In the world of classical computation, we represent classical bits as 0, which represents the voltage level being off, and 1, which represents it being on. However, in the world of quantum computing, we use the term qubit, or quantum bit, to represent bits. Quantum bits compri...

Table of contents

• Quantum Computing with Silq Programming
• Contributors
• Preface
• Section 1: Essential Background and Introduction to Quantum Computing
• Chapter 1: Essential Mathematics and Algorithmic Thinking
• Chapter 2: Quantum Bits, Quantum Measurements, and Quantum Logic Gates
• Chapter 3: Multiple Quantum Bits, Entanglement, and Quantum Circuits
• Chapter 4: Physical Realization of a Quantum Computer
• Section 2: Challenges in Quantum Programming and Silq Programming
• Chapter 5: Challenges in Quantum Computer Programming
• Chapter 6: Silq Programming Basics and Features
• Chapter 7: Programming Multiple-Qubit Quantum Circuits with Silq
• Section 3: Quantum Algorithms Using Silq Programming
• Chapter 8: Quantum Algorithms I – Deutsch-Jozsa and Bernstein-Vazirani
• Chapter 9: Quantum Algorithms II – Grover's Search Algorithm and Simon's Algorithm
• Chapter 10: Quantum Algorithms III – Quantum Fourier Transform and Phase Estimation
• Section 4: Applications of Quantum Computing
• Chapter 11: Quantum Error Correction
• Chapter 12: Quantum Cryptography – Quantum Key Distribution
• Chapter 13: Quantum Machine Learning
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