Computer Science Program and Mathematics Program Present

A Gentle Overview of Quantum Computing

Since the 1920s, physicists and philosophers have been trying to understand the strangeness of the subatomic world as revealed by quantum theory, but it wasn't until the 1980s that computer scientists first began to suspect that this strangeness might represent a source of immense computational power. This realization was soon followed by key theoretical advances, including the discovery of algorithms that harness the quantum phenomena of superposition and entanglement, enabling quantum computers in principle to solve certain problems far more efficiently than any conventional computer. Around the same time, researchers built the first working quantum computers, albeit on a very small scale. Today the multidisciplinary field of quantum computing lies at the intersection of computer science, mathematics, and physics, and is one of the most fascinating areas in science, with potentially far-reaching consequences for the future. In this talk I will give an overview of the basic mathematical ideas behind quantum computing, and use them to illustrate two particularly interesting results: the quantum search algorithm, and quantum teleportation.

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For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].

Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EST/GMT-5

Location: RKC 111

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