Lecturer	Bob Coecke
Degrees	Schedule C1 — Computer Science Schedule C1 — Mathematics and Computer Science Schedule C — MSc in Advanced Computer Science MSc in Mathematics and Foundations of Computer Science
Term	Michaelmas Term 2014  (24 lectures)

Overview

Both physics and computer science have been very dominant scientific and technological disciplines in the previous century. Quantum Computer Science aims at combining both and may come to play a similarly important role in this century. Combining the existing expertise in both fields proves to be a non-trivial but very exciting interdisciplinary journey. Besides the actual issue of building a quantum computer or realising quantum protocols it involves a fascinating encounter of concepts and formal tools which arose in distinct disciplines.

Remark: Students who intend to write their MSc thesis in the Quantum Group at the Department of Computer Science should also take the Categories, Proofs and Processes course in Michaelmas term.

This course provides an interdisciplinary introduction to the emerging field of quantum computer science, explaining basic quantum mechanics (including finite dimensional Hilbert spaces and their tensor products), quantum entanglement, its structure and its physical consequences (e.g. non-locality, no-cloning principle), and introduces qubits. We give detailed discussions of some key algorithms and protocols such as Grover's search algorithm and Shor's factorisation algorithm, quantum teleportation and quantum key exchange, and analyse the challenges their significance for computer science, mathematics etc. We also provide a more conceptual semantic analysis of some of the above. Other important issues such as quantum information theory (including mixed states) will also be covered, although not in great detail. We mainly discuss the circuit model and briefly mention alternative computational paradigms like measurement-based quantum computing, we argue the need for high-level methods, provide some recent results concerning a graphical language and categorical semantics for quantum informatics and delineate the remaining scientific challenges for the future.

Learning outcomes

The student will know by the end of the course what quantum computing and quantum protocols are about, why they matter, and what the scientific prospects of the field are. This includes a structural understanding of some basic quantum mechanics, knowledge of important algorithms such as Grover's and Shor's algorithm and important protocols such as quantum teleportation. The student will also know where to find more details and will be able to access these. Hence this course also offers computer science and mathematics students a first stepping-stone for research in the field, with a particular focus on the newly developing field of quantum computer science semantics, to which Oxford University Computing Laboratory has provided pioneering contributions.

Prerequisites

We do not assume any prior knowledge of quantum mechanics. However, a solid understanding of basic linear algebra (finite-dimensional vector spaces, matrices, eigenvectors and eigenvalues, linear maps etc.) is required as a pre-requisite. The course notes and the slides contain an overview of this material, so we advise students with a limited background in linear algebra to consult the course notes before the course starts.

Synopsis

Lecture 1. October 8. A taster of quantum information and computation.  Supporting materials include notes on linear algebra entitled QCS_intro.pdf and the slides of this lecture entitled QCS_1st_lecture.pdf.

Lecture 2 & 3. October 15 & 17. Mathematical concepts in Hilbert space and their diagrammatic representation.  Lecture notes are now available as QCS_lecture_notes_week2.pdf.

Syllabus

TBC.

Reading list

Lecture notes, slides and additional handouts will be provided a the course progresses.

Feedback

Students are formally asked for feedback at the end of the course. Students can also submit feedback at any point here. Feedback received here will go to the Head of Academic Administration, and will be dealt with confidentially when being passed on further. All feedback is welcome.

Taking our courses

This form is not to be used by students studying for a degree in the Department of Computer Science, or for Visiting Students who are registered for Computer Science courses

Other matriculated University of Oxford students who are interested in taking this, or other, courses in the Department of Computer Science, must complete this online form by 17.00 on Friday of 0th week of term in which the course is taught. Late requests, and requests sent by email, will not be considered. All requests must be approved by the relevant Computer Science departmental committee and can only be submitted using this form.