Quantum Computing For Dummies

Introduction

Quantum computing is a lot like the sulfur-spewing hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the Mariana Trench: It’s both hot and deep. (The vents in the Mariana Trench are also surrounded by strange life forms, which implies something not very nice about us, your authors.)

Quantum computing is hot because progress, activity, interest, and investment are all continuing to grow to unprecedented levels. And it’s hot also because popular culture says so. Movies like the 2023 Oscar winner, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and the Netflix series 3 Body Problem make quantum mechanics — the technology that underlies quantum computing — lively, interesting, and even funny.

And why is quantum computing deep? Because it directly applies quantum mechanics to some of the biggest problems that humanity faces today, such as drug discovery, lifespan enhancement, and climate change. And the workings of the quantum world challenge our understanding, sometimes even our grasp on, reality.

Entanglement is a core principle of quantum computing, and the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for work on entanglement. Yet no less a figure than Albert Einstein called entanglement “spooky action at a distance.” Quantum computing depends on this “spooky action” and other quantum mechanical principles to deliver incredible results.

All this makes the two of us very happy to bring you Quantum Computing For Dummies. We hope this book will direct your attention toward the big picture where needed ...