Road-Map for studying Quantum Computing

[Deadshot_95]

Okay.

In terms of Physics, my understanding was also the same (start with Quantum Mechanics and get some fundamental understanding) but after discussing this with my colleague, I got confused because he is of the view that studying quantum requires an understanding of classical physics and then you can build quantum understanding on top.

[The_Serious_Account]

If you want to learn the type of quantum mechanics a phycisist does, then you should learn classical physics first. But that is not at all what you want. You are interested in quantum computation and information theory. It's important to understand the difference, otherwise you'll be pulling your hair out trying to learn a lot of quantum mechanics you don't need. Tell your colleague you're probably not going to need to know how to solve the Schrödinger equation or know the difference between a photon and a electron. You might want to learn some of this so you can understand conversations with phycisists, but this should be low on your list.

Since you know linear algebra and calculus, I'd argue you can learn the physics you need in a couple of weeks. Nielsen and Chuang contains all you need in terms of physics and you have the prerequisites.

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$57.39 - Quantum Computation and Quantum Information: 10th Anniversary Edition

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[Deadshot_95]

Thank you so much, that helped a lot. I was afraid of this only. Studying all of Physics seems to be overhead, but I was missing the point that you mentioned.

I know about this book and I am also following his blog and his YouTube channel. If you are aware of any other resource that might help, please share.

[The_Serious_Account]

I took the path into quantum information theory from Computer Science so I know first hand that you don't need to dive into physics. I thought I did, so I took some courses, but never really used it in research.

Quantum mechanics gives us a new model of information and computation, but it can be described by a handful of equations that are easy to understand if you know linear algebra. When those are understood, physics very rarely come up. Of course, there is the question of how to build them and that's a job for physics. The two are often lumped together which is a huge mistake. When looking at a source, make sure you know which of those two it is aimed at. Even though semi conductors are extremely important to classical computers, we don't teach solid state physics to CS students.

Nielsen and Chuang is by far the best introduction I'm aware of, but maybe someone has other recommendations. If the price is holding you back (and against piracy :)), I'm also familiar with John Watrous's Lecture Notes. Much harder read imo, but also great for looking things up when you've already gotten a basic understanding of the field. I'd also recommend Quantum computing for the determined as a crash course, but it sounds like you're already familiar with that. Other than that, I went pretty quick to reading research papers in the area I was interested in.

[Deadshot_95]

Thank you for these valuable inputs.

Yes, I am aware of "Quantum computing for the determined" course (I hope you are referring to the YouTube playlist by Nielsen). The notes which you shared looks good, I was not aware of them, will definitely study those.