Introduction to Quantum Physics and Information Processing

Chapter 2

A Simple Quantum System

To obtain a basic understanding of how and why quantum computing works,

one needs to understand quantum theory. In this book we treat quantum

mechanics as an axiomatic theory, with some interpretations where possible.

The implications of quantum mechanics are often counter intuitive, or rather,

beyond intuition, since we have no direct experience of the quantum world as

we do the classical. We assume no prior knowledge of quantum mechanics, and

will develop all the basic tools and ideas necessary for a sound grasp of the

fundamentals of the theory, especially what is relevant for two-state systems

that we’ll use as