Quantum Computing and Communications: An Engineering Approach

Preface

Quantum computing and communications is one of the promising new fields of the new millennium. This emerging topic has reached the age when not only physicists and mathematicians but also engineers are becoming more and more interested in it. This book is based on the first semester of a two-semester subject dedicated to Ph.D. students and undergraduates in electrical engineering and computer sciences at Budapest University of Technology and Economics. This first semester covers a thorough basic introduction to the quantum computing world and discusses quantum-assisted computing and communications where we use the new paradigm to improve (assist) the performance of classical systems (e.g. searching in an unsorted database or strengthening communication security). In addition the second semester deals with quantum-based communications or more precisely with quantum information theory (e.g. channel capacity, error correction). After six semesters of experience we decided to prepare a book which can be used both as lecture notes and as a standalone learning aid for colleagues with engineering practice.

Although there are several good books on the market none of them has been written by engineers to engineers. The so-called ‘engineering’ approach has minor and major differences compared to materials authored by experts of physics, despite the fact that they cover more or less the same topic. As a simple example for the former category let us mention that engineers use j rather ...