Quantum Computing by Practice: Python Programming in the Cloud with Qiskit and IBM-Q

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to APress Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2024

V. SilvaQuantum Computing by Practice https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-9991-3_5

5. Mathematical Foundation: Time to Dust Up That Linear Algebra

Vladimir Silva¹  

(1)

CARY, NC, USA

 

Matrices, complex numbers, and tensor products are the holy trinity of quantum computing. During my quantum learning curve on the mathematical background, I wondered as you may: Where is the quantum magic in all this? How can a complex number or a matrix tell me about superposition or entanglement? Where is the spookiness? My immature understanding of superposition was that a system existed in multiple states at the same time: Like the cat in the box, it is dead and alive at once. ...